Engineering Commons^™

Flow Pattern Visualization In A Mimic Anaerobic Digester Using Cfd, Mehul S. Vesvikar, Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Three-Dimensional Steady-State Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Simulations Were Performed in Mimic Anaerobic Digesters to Visualize their Flow Pattern and Obtain Hydrodynamic Parameters. the Mixing in the Digester Was Provided by Sparging Gas at Three Different Flow Rates. the Gas Phase Was Simulated with Air and the Liquid Phase with Water. the CFD Results Were First Evaluated using Experimental Data Obtained by Computer Automated Radioactive Particle Tracking (CARPT). the Simulation Results in Terms of overall Flow Pattern, Location of Circulation Cells and Stagnant Regions, Trends of Liquid Velocity Profiles, and Volume of Dead Zones Agree Reasonably Well with the Experimental Data. …