CFD study on liquid flow behavior on inclined flat plate focusing on effect of flow rate

Abstract

The factors affecting the separation efficiencies of structured packed columns are multi-scale, including the macroscopic variables (eg feed rate, pressure and temperature) and the microscopic liquid flow behavior and distribution. Especially in the situation in which the second liquid phase is inevitable within distillation columns, the microscopic liquid flow behavior could lead to the uncertainty of the separation efficiencies. This work mainly focuses on the investigation of the local flow behavior of a liquid phase flowing on an inclined steel plate at different situations. On one hand, a three-dimensional CFD model based on the VOF model is developed with the commercial CFD package, FLUENT 6.3. On the other hand, the results of the experimental study are adopted to validate partially the model. Within the developed model, the influences of the liquid and gas flow rates are studied with respect to the specific wetted area, the thickness profile of film and rivulet flows as well as the average velocity of the liquid phase.