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Lecture 4: Eulerian Model

ANSYS Fluent Multiphase Flow Modeling

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 Outline

• Eulerian Model applications and classification

• Eulerian Model overview
− Interphase exchange phenomena
• Drag forces
• Non-drag forces
− Additional phenomena
• Turbulence
• Heat and mass transfer
• Solver settings and solution strategies
• Particulate flow and Eulerian-Granular Model
− Settings for granular phases and Eulerian-Granular simulations
• Summary
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 Eulerian Model Example Applications

Fluidized bed with internals

Bubble column

Three phase bubbles

rising in slurry
Wurster bed coater
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 Eulerian Model: Overview

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 Eulerian Model Approach

• In the Eulerian approach, both the continuous and dispersed phases are
considered to be interpenetrating continua

• The Eulerian model describes the motion for each phase in a macroscopic sense

• The flow description therefore consists of differential equations describing the

conservation of mass, momentum and energy for each phase separately

• Phases can be liquids, gases or solids in nearly any combination

− When one or more solids phases have been designated as "granular" phases, we refer to the
Eulerian-Granular model

• Increasing the number of secondary phases is computationally expensive and

might impact convergence behavior

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 Secondary Phase Settings

• Define primary phase and secondary phases

• Not required to use descriptive name for
phases, but you will thank yourself later when
you don't have to figure out which one is
phase-1 and which one is phase-2
• A phase diameter must be assigned for each
secondary phase
− Three methods
• Sauter-Mean
– Fluent's Population Balance model (PBM) or Interfacial Area
Concentration used to determine the mean diameter
• Constant
– Use representative diameter if non-uniform particle size
• User-Defined
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 Importance of Particle Size Distribution (PSD)
• What is size distribution modeling?
− Existence of multiple size dispersed phase objects
• Why is size distribution modeling important?
− Downstream processing
− Product quality
− Mass transfer and heat transfer depend on total interfacial surface Dispersed Phase
area density of all particles Continuous
(droplets, bubbles,
Phase
• Distribution of particle sizes within the flow evolves due to (liquid, gas) solid particles)
phenomena such as transport, agglomeration, breakage,
growth, etc., which are calculated by the population
balance model (PBM) Surface Area (A)
• PBM in Fluent can therefore be used together with the
Eulerian multiphase model to determine the particle size at
each position in the domain at each moment in time Dispersed
− Sauter mean diameter calculated by PBM is used in the volume Object
fraction, momentum, energy equations of the Eulerian model

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 Interphase Momentum Exchange

• A key question is how to model the inter-phase

momentum exchange Drag

• These are the forces that act on the secondary

phases and takes into account:
Virtual
− Effect of multi-bubble interaction Mass
Lift
− Gas holdup Interphase
Momentum
− Turbulent modulation Exchange

• Turbulent Dispersion
• Turbulence Interaction
Turbulent Turbulent
Interaction Dispersion

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 Buoyancy

• Gravity forces are present in all flows

• Balanced by an equal and opposite term in the pressure gradient which
arises from the hydrostatic head
• The density of the different phases can differ by a factor of 1000
• For many multiphase flows, buoyancy effects must be taken into account

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 Drag Force

• We can think of drag as a hydrodynamic

friction between the liquid phase and the
dispersed phase
• We can also think of drag as a
hydrodynamic resistance to the motion of
the particle through the carrier phase. The
source of this drag is shape of particle

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 Non-Drag Forces

• Non-drag forces have a profound influence on the flow characteristics,

especially in dispersed gas-liquid flows
• For granular flows collisions are dominant – forces such as wall lubrication
and virtual mass are not significant

• Lift Force
FDrag FLift FDispersion FDispersion
• Wall Lubrication Force

• Virtual Mass Force Vrel

Vrel

• Turbulence Dispersion Force

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 Lift Force

• When the liquid flow is non-uniform or rotational,

bubbles experience a lift force
large
ellipsoidal

  
bubble
Flift , p  C L p  q v q  v p    v q lift
force
small
spherical
• For vertical co-current up-flow in a pipe, small bubble lift
bubbles tend to be pushed towards the wall force
leading to void fraction peaking close but away
from the wall
• Sign change of bubble lift indicated by
measurements fluid vel.

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 Wall Lubrication Force

• This is a force that prevents the bubbles from

touching walls
• The main effect of this force is to ensure zero
void fraction (found experimentally) near gas void fraction
vertical walls
• Wall lubrication force is normally correlated
with slip velocity and can be expressed as force
is defined as
2
FWL, q  CWL p  q v p  v q n w
||

• Only important for gas-liquid flows

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 Virtual Mass Force

• The virtual mass force represents the force due to inertia of

the dispersed phase due to relative acceleration
 Dv q Dv p 
f vm  CVM  p  q   ; CVM  0.5
 Dt Dt 
 
• Large continuous-dispersed phase density ratios, e.g.
bubbly flows
• Transient Flows – can affect period of oscillating bubble
plume
• Implicit formulation for steady-state problems Dip your palms into the water and slowly bring them
together. Such a movement will require small effort.
• Most important when density of secondary phase Now try to clap your hands frequently. The speed of
less than the density of the continuous phase hands now is low and will require considerable effort
− Important for bubbly flows, not so for granular flows
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 Turbulent Dispersion Force

• The turbulent dispersion force accounts for an

interaction between turbulent eddies and particles
turb.
− Defined in Phase Interaction panel dispersion
force
• Results in a turbulent dispersion and
homogenization of the dispersed phase distribution
gas void fraction
• The simplest way to model turbulent dispersion is to
consider gradient transport of void fraction
fluid vel.

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 Options and Settings for Non-Drag Forces

• Explanations of options and settings for

non-drag forces can be found in the Fluent
Theory Guide, Chapter 17, Section 17.5
− https://ansyshelp.ansys.com or launch help
from the upper right corner of the Fluent GUI

• The best choice is sometimes to leave the

option off, but it depends on the
application

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 Turbulence Models
• Many multiphase flows of engineering interest
are turbulent, therefore the use of a
turbulence model is required for accurate
results
• FLUENT provides three options for modeling
multiphase turbulence within the context of
k-e and k-w models
– Two options within the context of the Reynolds
stress models (RSM)
• Additional models for turbulent diffusion and
dispersion can be activated in the phase
interactions panel
• For each category the choice of model depends
on the importance of the secondary-phase
turbulence in your application

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 𝑘 − 𝜀/w Multiphase Turbulence Models
• The mixture turbulence model is the default model and is applicable when phases
separate as in stratified (or nearly stratified) multiphase flows or/and when the density
ratio between phases is close to 1. In these cases, using mixture properties and mixture
velocities is sufficient to capture important features of the turbulent flow

• The dispersed turbulence model is the appropriate model when there is clearly one
primary continuous phase and the concentrations of the secondary phases are dilute. In
this case the random motion of the secondary phases is influenced by the primary-
phase turbulence

• This per phase turbulence model is the appropriate choice when the turbulence transfer
among the phases plays a dominant role

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 Turbulence Interaction

• Turbulence in dispersed flows is very complex due

to:
− Particle-induced turbulence
− Interaction between particle-induced and shear–induced
turbulences
− Direct interaction between bubbles and turbulence eddies
and
• Turbulence interaction models in Fluent
− Defined in the phase interaction panel

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 Heat and Mass Transfer Between Phases

• Numerous available options to model heat

transfer between phases including user-
defined
• Numerous models for mass transfer and
phase change
− Boiling (Multiphase panel)
− Evaporation-Condensation (Multiphase Panel)
• Inputs defined in Phase Interaction panel
− Cavitation (Phase Interaction panel)
− Heterogeneous reactions (Phase Interaction panel)
− Constant-Rate (Phase Interaction panel)
− User-Defined (Phase Interaction panel)
− Multiple mass transfer mechanisms allowed

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 Eulerian Model: Solver Settings and
Solution Strategies (Gas-Liquid Flows)

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 Numerical schemes for multiphase flows

• Three algorithms available for solving the pressure-velocity coupling

ordered to the increasing CPU and memory overhead
1. Phase coupled SIMPLE (PC-SIMPLE)
2. Pressure Coupled (Volume Fraction solved in a segregated manner)
3. Full multiphase coupled (Volume Fraction solved along with pressure and
momentum)
• The robustness issue stems from the lack of control of the solution of the
volume fraction equation
• Research is ongoing in this area to improve this method
− A possibility of solving all primary and secondary phase volume fractions directly
rather than solving only the secondary phases directly > Showed better stability in
few cases
• Ability to use the Non-Iterative Time Advancement (NITA)

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 Multiphase coupled solver

• Simultaneous solution of the equations of a multiphase system

offers a more robust alternative to the segregated approach
− Can be extended to volume fraction correction (Full multiphase coupled)
− For steady state problems the coupled based methodology is more efficient
than segregated methodology
• For transient problems the efficiency is not as good as for
steady, particularly for small time steps
− Solver efficiency increases with increase in time steps used for
discretization of the transient terms

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 Conservative Solver Settings for Eulerian Model, Gas-Liquid Flows
• Solution controls for PC-SIMPLE
• Conservative solution control settings are shown
• If convergence is slow, try reducing URFs for volume
fraction and turbulence
• Tighten the multi-grid settings for pressure (lower it by
two orders of magnitude). Default is 0.1
• Use gradient stabilization (BCGSTAB)
• Try using F (or W) cycle for pressure

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 Conservative Solver Settings for Eulerian Model, Gas-Liquid Flows

• For steady state problems using coupled

multiphase solver is effective
• Use lower courant numbers for steady state and
higher URFs for momentum and pressure
− Recommended values
• Courant number = 20
• URF pressure and momentum = 0.5 - 0.75
• URF volume fraction = 0.2 - 0.5
• For transient problems the efficiency of coupled
not as good as for steady, particularly for small
time steps
− Use larger time steps and high courant numbers (1E7) for
coupled solvers and high URFs (> 0.7)

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 Particulate Flows and Eulerian-Granular
Model

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 Review: Characteristics of Particulate Flows

Dilute vs. Dense flows and Fluid-Particle coupling

Inter-particle spacing
100 10 1

Dilute disperse Dense disperse

One-Way Coupling Two-Way Coupling Four-Way Coupling

10-10 10-8 10-6 10-3

Volume fraction 

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 Characteristics of Particulate Flows

Regime map for granular flows

Quasi-static regime Intermediate regime Inertial regime

Slow flow Rapid flow
Strain rate independent Strain rate dependent
𝜎 ∝ 𝛾ሶ 𝑛 , 0 < 𝑛 < 2
Soil Mechanics
𝜎 ∝ 𝛾ሶ 2
𝜎 ≠ 𝑓 𝛾ሶ

Ref: V. Vidyapati and S. Subramaniam, Granular rheology and phase transition: DEM simulations and
order-parameter based constitutive model, Chem. Eng. Sci., 72 (2012) 20-34.

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 Characteristics of Particulate Flows
Particle-Particle interactions

Collision
dominated flow

Intermediate Flows

Dense Flows
Dilute Flows

Collision free Frictional

flow dominated flow

Concentration

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 Overview of Modeling Approaches for Particulate Flows
Model Numerical Approach Particle Fluid Particle Particle Particle Size Distribution (PSD)
Interaction Interaction

DPM[1] Fluid – Eulerian Empirical models for Neglected Easy to include PSD because of
Particles – Lagrangian sub-grid particles Lagrangian description

DDPM – KTGF[3] Fluid – Eulerian Empirical models for Approximate P-P Easy to include PSD because of
Particles – Lagrangian sub-grid particles interactions determined by Lagrangian description
granular models
DDPM – DEM[3] Fluid – Eulerian Empirical models for Accurate determination of Easy to include PSD because of
Particles – Lagrangian sub-grid particles P-P interactions. Lagrangian description

Macroscopic Fluid – Eulerian Interactions are Accurate determination of Easy to include PSD; if particles
Particle Model[3] Particles – Lagrangian determined as part of P-P interactions. become smaller than the mesh, uses
solution; particles an empiricial model
span many fluid cells
Euler - Granular Fluid – Eulerian Empirical models for P-P interactions modeled Different phases to account for a PSD;
Model[2] Particles – Eulerian sub-grid particles by fluid properties, such as when size change operations happen
granular pressure, viscosity, use population balance models
drag, etc.

[1] Covered in L03 [2] Covered in this lecture [3] Not covered in this course
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 Overview of Modeling Approaches
• Eulerian-Granular Model
− Treats continuous fluid (primary phase) as well as dispersed solids (secondary
phase) as interpenetrating continua
− Effects of Particle-Particle interactions are accounted based on Kinetic Theory
of Granular Flow (KTGF)
− Applicable from dilute to dense particulate flows. Particle size distribution can
also be accounted by assigning a separate secondary phase for each particle
diameter
− Compatible with species transport, homogeneous and heterogeneous
reactions
− Accounts for the effect of collisional particle-particle interactions
• Fluctuating velocity of particles
– Granular temperature as a measure of kinetic energy contained in the fluctuating velocity of
particles
• Stresses in secondary solids phase
– Constitutive models for solids stress : Solids pressure, solids shear and bulk viscosity Fluidized bed simulation: Contours of
– Constitutive models depend on solids volume fraction, coefficient of normal restitution and volume fraction of particles
granular temperature
− Solves set of conservation equations (continuity, momentum and energy) for
primary and secondary phases along with equation for granular temperature

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 Kinetic Theory of Granular Flow (KTGF)

• Particle-particle interactions are fundamentally non-conservative unlike molecular

interactions
− Dissipation of fluctuating energy due to inelastic deformation
− Dissipation also due to friction of particles with the fluid

Kinetic Transport Collisional Transport

• Two principal mechanisms of transport :

− Kinetic transport during free flight between collisions: require velocity distribution function
− Collisional transport during collisions: requires a pair distribution function
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 Frictional Stress Modeling

• Frictional stresses are negligible below a certain solid

volume fraction (friction packing limit) but become
important as the solids volume fraction approaches the
packing limit.
− The stresses are determined from soil mechanics (Schaeffer, 1987) s,max  0.63

• Packing limit is defined as the maximum achievable

volume fraction of the granular phase (0.63 for packed
spheres)   
− Particles do not collide much but rather rub against each other.  f  Pf I   f (us  (us )T )
Frictional Frictional
• Frictional stress in Newtonian form pressure viscosity

 s ,total   s ,ktgf   s , f
• When solids volume fraction exceeds friction packing
limit frictional stress is added to solids stress
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 Euler-Granular Model Setup

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 Secondary Phase Settings for Granular Phases

• Enable granular option

• Granular temperature model
• Diameter
• Granular viscosity
• Granular bulk viscosity
• Solids pressure with radial distribution function
• Frictional viscosity, frictional pressure, angle of
internal friction and friction packing limit

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 Recommended Settings

Recommended settings for

Not relevant if solids
the first step before
volume fraction
trying other variations remains below 0.55

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 Solver Settings: Eulerian-Granular Model
Transient Steady state
• Default solver settings work well for most of the
problems
• Operating density:
− If lighter phase density
• Constant
– Set operating density to lighter phase density
• Compressible (ideal gas)
– Set operating density to zero
– For isothermal calculations, deselect energy equation
from solution controls > equations
• Start with conservative solution control settings
• Initialization
− To improve numerical stability at startup, initialize/patch
solids regions as semi-packed regions with volume
fraction approximately 0.01 below the packing limit

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 Summary

• Introduction of Eulerian Model

− N-phases, treated as interpenetrating continua
− Gas-liquid, gas-solid, liquid-solid, three-phase flows
− Dispersed flows (Dilute or dense)
• Also separated flow with Multi-Fluid VOF (covered in L02)
− Own set of governing equations solved for each defined phase
• Modeling needed for multiple interphase exchange phenomena
• Additional physics (turbulence, heat/mass transfer) can be added as required
• Eulerian-Granular model for solids phases
• Best practices for solver settings were recommended

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