CFD Applications in Energy Engineering Research and Simulation: An Introduction to Published Reviews

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been firmly established as a fundamental discipline to advancing research on energy engineering. The major progresses achieved during the last two decades both on software modelling capabilities and hardware computing power have resulted in considerable and widespread CFD interest among scientist and engineers. Numerical modelling and simulation developments are increasingly contributing to the current state of the art in many energy engineering aspects, such as power generation, combustion, wind energy, concentrated solar power, hydro power, gas and steam turbines, fuel cells, and many others. This review intends to provide an overview of the CFD applications in energy and thermal engineering, as a presentation and background for the Special Issue “CFD Applications in Energy Engineering Research and Simulation” published by Processes in 2020. A brief introduction to the most significant reviews that have been published on the particular topics is provided. The objective is to provide an overview of the CFD applications in energy and thermal engineering, highlighting the review papers published on the different topics, so that readers can refer to the different review papers for a thorough revision of the state of the art and contributions into the particular field of interest

NORSEWInD Data Report and Correction Data for Berlengas : NORSEWInD Report UoSNW026

The flow field over Berlengas has been simulated on both a sub scale wind tunnel model in a low speed wind tunnel and in a computational fluid dynamics simulation. The CFD model has been validated by the results of the wind tunnel simulation. A simulation of measurements that would be made by a ZephIR LiDAR mounted on the island has been undertaken using the CFD results A method by which the distortion to the flow field over an offshore platform, measured by either a met mast or LiDAR, can be corrected back to the free stream value has been presented and verified. Correction factors have been calculated and are included in the appendix to this report. Based on the CFD and wind tunnel data it is was evident that significant flow distortion exists up to 425m above the island

NAS: The first year

Discussed are the capabilities of NASA's Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation (NAS) Program and its application as an advanced supercomputing system for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) research. First, the paper describes the NAS computational system, called the NAS Processing System Network, and the advanced computational capabilities it offers as a consequence of carrying out the NAS pathfinder objective. Second, it presents examples of pioneering CFD research accomplished during NAS's first operational year. Examples are included which illustrate CFD applications for predicting fluid phenomena, complementing and supplementing experimentation, and aiding in design. Finally, pacing elements and future directions for CFD and NAS are discussed

Aplication of Flotran CFD in ANSYS

Simulation program ANSYS. The aerodynamic simulation with CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics). Finite element method (FEM). Volume element method (VEM). The fl uid fl ow problem is defi ned by the laws of conservation of mass, momentum, and energy. Eight turbulence models in FLOTRAN CFD. The geometric parameters of fl uid dynamic simulation are described by fi nite network using many points. In ANSYS system there are two basic elements for FLORTAN - CFD. For tasks solved in plane FLUID 141 is used and for tasks solved in space FLUID 142 is applied. Simplifi ed modelling of net for insect with support of real constant

Coupled TRNSYS-CFD simulations evaluating the performance of PCM plate heat exchangers in an Airport Terminal building displacement conditioning system

This is the post-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below. Copyright @ 2013 Elsevier.This paper reports on the energy performance evaluation of a displacement ventilation (DV) system in an airport departure hall, with a conventional DV diffuser and a diffuser retrofitted with a phase change material storage heat exchanger (PCM-HX). A TRNSYS-CFD quasi-dynamic coupled simulation method was employed for the analysis, whereby TRNSYS® simulates the HVAC and PID control system and ANSYS FLUENT® is used to simulate the airflow inside the airport terminal space. The PCM-HX is also simulated in CFD, and is integrated into the overall model as a secondary coupled component in the TRNSYS interface. Different night charging strategies of the PCM-HX were investigated and compared with the conventional DV diffuser. The results show that: i) the displacement ventilation system is more efficient for cooling than heating a space; ii) the addition of a PCM-HX system reduces the heating energy requirements during the intermediate and summer periods for specific night charging strategies, whereas winter heating energy remains unaffected; iii) the PCM-HX reduces cooling energy requirements, and; iv) maximum energy savings of 34% are possible with the deployment of PCM-HX retrofitted DV diffuser.This work was funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Grant No: EP/H004181/1

Human environmental heat transfer simulation with CFD – the advances and challenges

The modelling and prediction of human thermoregulatory responses and comfort have gone a long way during the past decades. Sophisticated and detailed human models, i.e. the active multi-nodal thermal models with physiological regulatory responses, have been developed and widely adopted in both research and industrial practice. The recent trend is to integrate human models with environmental models in order to provide more insight into the thermal comfort issues, especially in the non-homogeneous and transient conditions. This paper reviews the logics and expectations of coupling human models with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models. One of main objectives of such approaches is to take the advantage of the high resolution achievable with the CFD, to replace the empirical methods used in the human models. We aim to initiate debates on the validity of this objective, and to identify the technical requirements for achieving this goal. A simple experiment with 3D human models of different sizes and shapes is also reported. Initial results shows the presence of arms may be important. Further experiments are required to establish the impact of size and shape on simulation result

A New Actuator Surface Model with Improved Wake Model for CFD Simulations of Rotorcraft

Simulations of rotorcraft operating in unsteady flow-fields, manoeuvring flight, or with complex rotor configurations pose a significant challenge to current simulation methods. Simplified rotor models lack the generality required for the diverse range of operating conditions that a rotor may be exposed to, while higher-fidelity Navier-Stokes CFD simulations with fully-resolved rotors are expensive in terms of computational resources, simulation time, and pre-processing time. Here we present a new rotor and wake model which is fully-coupled to a CFD solver and is based on the actuator surface model. This model is designed to reduce the cost of complex rotorcraft simulations in comparison with fully-resolved simulations and provide greater generality than other rotor models. Results from simulations using the new actuator surface and wake model provide validation of the concept for hover and forward flight. The spanwise loading distribution, thrust coefficient, and wake geometry are shown to be reasonable in comparison with data from experiments, fully-resolved simulations, and prescribed wake models

Evaluation of the energy impact of PCM tiles in an Airport Terminal Departure hall

Copyright @ 2013 CIBSEIn most past studies, passive PCM (phase change materials) systems have been tested for relatively small office spaces where the airflow is of minimal consequence in the overall energy consumption of the space. This paper on the other hand, reports on the application of PCM tiles on the floor of an Airport terminal space, similar to London Heathrow Terminal 5 departure hall, where in such large open spaces, the influence of airflow is crucial for the evaluation of the energy performance of AC units. In this paper, the evaluation of the energy performance of PCM tiles is obtained through a coupled simulation of TRNSYS and CFD. TRNSYS simulates the AC unit and PID control systems, while CFD is used to simulate the airflow and radiation inside the terminal space. The phase change process is simulated in CFD using an in-house developed model which considers hysteresis effects and the non-linear enthalpy-temperature relationship of PCMs. Although, a displacement ventilation (DV) system is actually employed at Heathrow Terminal 5, this study also compares the performance of the PCM tiles for a mixed ventilation (MV) system. Due to large computing times associated with CFD, discrete time-dependent scenarios under different UK weather conditions are used. The yearly energy demand is then determined through the heating/cooling degree day concept using base temperatures of 18 and 23 °C for HDD and CDD, respectively, similar to the comfort temperature range in the Terminal. The results show that the use of PCM tiles on the floor of the Terminal departure hall can lead to annual energy savings of around 3% for the DV system and 6% for the MV system, corresponding to 174 MWh/year and 379 MWh/year for the Terminal building.This work was funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Grant No: EP/H004181/1