Ensemble Averaged Conservation Equations for Multiphase, Multi-component, and Multi-material Flows

Many important “fluid” flows involve a combination of two or more materials having different properties. The multiple phases or components often exhibit relative motion among the phases or material classes. The microscopic motions of the individual constituents are complex and the solution to the micro-level evolutionary equations is difficult. Characteristic of such flows of multi-component materials is an uncertainty in the exact locations of the particular constituents at any particular time. For most practical purposes, it is not possible to exactly predict or measure the evolution of the details of such systems, nor is it even necessary or desirable. Instead, we are usually interested in more gross features of the motion, or the “average” behavior of the system. Here we present descriptive equations that will predict the evolution of this averaged behavior. Due to the complexities of interfaces and resultant discontinuities in fluid properties, as well as from physical scaling issues, it is essential to work with averaged quantities and parameters. We begin by tightening up, or more rigorously defining, our concept of an average. There are several types of averaging. The published literature predominantly contains two types of averaging: volume averaging [Whitaker 1999, Dobran 1991] and time averaging [Ishii 1975]. Occasionally combinations of the two are used. However, we utilize a more general approach by adopting what is known as ensemble averaging

Notes on Well-Posed, Ensemble Averaged Conservation Equations for Multiphase, Multi-Component, and Multi-Material Flows

At the INL researchers and engineers routinely encounter multiphase, multi-component, and/or multi-material flows. Some examples include: Reactor coolant flows Molten corium flows Dynamic compaction of metal powders Spray forming and thermal plasma spraying Plasma quench reactor Subsurface flows, particularly in the vadose zone Internal flows within fuel cells Black liquor atomization and combustion Wheat-chaff classification in combine harvesters Generation IV pebble bed, high temperature gas reactor The complexity of these flows dictates that they be examined in an averaged sense. Typically one would begin with known (or at least postulated) microscopic flow relations that hold on the “small” scale. These include continuum level conservation of mass, balance of species mass and momentum, conservation of energy, and a statement of the second law of thermodynamics often in the form of an entropy inequality (such as the Clausius-Duhem inequality). The averaged or macroscopic conservation equations and entropy inequalities are then obtained from the microscopic equations through suitable averaging procedures. At this stage a stronger form of the second law may also be postulated for the mixture of phases or materials. To render the evolutionary material flow balance system unique, constitutive equations and phase or material interaction relations are introduced from experimental observation, or by postulation, through strict enforcement of the constraints or restrictions resulting from the averaged entropy inequalities. These averaged equations form the governing equation system for the dynamic evolution of these mixture flows. Most commonly, the averaging technique utilized is either volume or time averaging or a combination of the two. The flow restrictions required for volume and time averaging to be valid can be severe, and violations of these restrictions are often found. A more general, less restrictive (and far less commonly used) type of averaging known as ensemble averaging can also be used to produce the governing equation systems. In fact volume and time averaging can be viewed as special cases of ensemble averaging. Ensemble averaging is beginning to gain some notice, for example the general-purpose multi-material flow simulation code CFDLib under continuing developed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory [Kashiwa and Rauenzahn 1994] is based on an ensemble averaged formulation. The purpose of this short note is to give an introduction to the ensemble averaging methodology and to show how ensemble averaged balance equations and entropy inequality can be obtained from the microscopic balances. It then details some seven-equation, two-pressure, two-velocity hyperbolic, well-posed models for two-phase flows. Lastly, a simple example is presented of a model in which the flow consists of two barotropic fluids with no phase change in which an equilibrium pressure equation is obtained in the spirit of pressure-based methods of computational fluid dynamics

EXAMINATION OF THE PCICE METHOD IN THE NEARLY INCOMPRESSIBLE, AS WELL AS STRICTLY INCOMPRESSIBLE, LIMITS

The conservative-form, pressure-based PCICE numerical method (Martineau and Berry, 2004) (Berry, 2006), recently developed for computing transient fluid flows of all speeds from very low to very high (with strong shocks), is simplified and generalized. Though the method automatically treats a continuous transition of compressibility, three distinct, limiting compressibility regimes are formally defined for purposes of discussion and comparison with traditional methods – the strictly incompressible limit, the nearly incompressible limit, and the f ully compressible limit. The PCICE method’s behavior is examined in each limiting regime. In the strictly incompressible limit the PCICE algorithm reduces to the traditional MAC-type method with velocity divergence driving the pressure Poisson equation. In the nearly incompressible limit the PCICE algorithm is found to reduce to a generalization of traditional incompressible methods, i.e. to one in which not only the velocity divergence effect, but also the density gradient effect is included as a driving function in the pressure Poisson equation. This nearly incompressible regime has received little attention, and it appears that in the past, strictly incompressible methods may have been conveniently applied to flows in this regime at the expense of ignoring a potentially important coupling mechanism. This could be significant in many important flows; for example, in natural convection flows resulting from high heat flux. In the f ully compressible limit or regime, the algorithm is found to reduce to an expression equivalent to density-based methods for high-speed flow

A CFD M&S PROCESS FOR FAST REACTOR FUEL ASSEMBLIES

A CFD modeling and simulation process for large-scale problems using an arbitrary fast reactor fuel assembly design was evaluated. Three dimensional flow distributions of sodium for several fast reactor fuel assembly pin spacing configurations were simulated on high performance computers using commercial CFD software. This research focused on 19-pin fuel assembly “benchmark” geometry, similar in design to the Advanced Burner Test Reactor, where each pin is separated by helical wire-wrap spacers. Several two-equation turbulence models including the k-e and SST (Menter) k-? were evaluated. Considerable effort was taken to resolve the momentum boundary layer, so as to eliminate the need for wall functions and reduce computational uncertainty. High performance computers were required to generate the hybrid meshes needed to predict secondary flows created by the wire-wrap spacers; computational meshes ranging from 65 to 85 million elements were common. A general validation methodology was followed, including mesh refinement and comparison of numerical results with empirical correlations. Predictions for velocity, temperature, and pressure distribution are shown. The uncertainty of numerical models, importance of high fidelity experimental data, and the challenges associated with simulating and validating large production-type problems are presented

An Efficient, Semi-implicit Pressure-based Scheme Employing a High-resolution Finitie Element Method for Simulating Transient and Steady, Inviscid and Viscous, Compressible Flows on Unstructured Grids

A new semi-implicit pressure-based Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) scheme for simulating a wide range of transient and steady, inviscid and viscous compressible flow on unstructured finite elements is presented here. This new CFD scheme, termed the PCICEFEM (Pressure-Corrected ICE-Finite Element Method) scheme, is composed of three computational phases, an explicit predictor, an elliptic pressure Poisson solution, and a semiimplicit pressure-correction of the flow variables. The PCICE-FEM scheme is capable of second-order temporal accuracy by incorporating a combination of a time-weighted form of the two-step Taylor-Galerkin Finite Element Method scheme as an explicit predictor for the balance of momentum equations and the finite element form of a time-weighted trapezoid rule method for the semi-implicit form of the governing hydrodynamic equations. Second-order spatial accuracy is accomplished by linear unstructured finite element discretization. The PCICE-FEM scheme employs Flux-Corrected Transport as a high-resolution filter for shock capturing. The scheme is capable of simulating flows from the nearly incompressible to the high supersonic flow regimes. The PCICE-FEM scheme represents an advancement in mass-momentum coupled, pressurebased schemes. The governing hydrodynamic equations for this scheme are the conservative form of the balance of momentum equations (Navier-Stokes), mass conservation equation, and total energy equation. An operator splitting process is performed along explicit and implicit operators of the semi-implicit governing equations to render the PCICE-FEM scheme in the class of predictor-corrector schemes. The complete set of semi-implicit governing equations in the PCICE-FEM scheme are cast in this form, an explicit predictor phase and a semi-implicit pressure-correction phase with the elliptic pressure Poisson solution coupling the predictor-corrector phases. The result of this predictor-corrector formulation is that the pressure Poisson equation in the PCICE-FEM scheme is provided with sufficient internal energy information to avoid iteration. The ability of the PCICE-FEM scheme to accurately and efficiently simulate a wide variety of inviscid and viscous compressible flows is demonstrated here

The Discrete Equation Method (DEM) for Fully Compressible Two-Phase Flows in Ducts of Spatially Varying Cross-Section

Typically, multiphase modeling begins with an averaged (or homogenized) system of partial differential equations (traditionally ill-posed) then discretizes this system to form a numerical scheme. Assuming that the ill-posedness problem is avoided by using a well-posed formulation such as the seven-equation model, this presents problems for the numerical approximation of non-conservative terms at discontinuities (interfaces, shocks) as well as unwieldy treatment of fluxes with seven waves. To solve interface problems without conservation errors and to avoid this questionable determination of average variables and the numerical approximation of the non-conservative terms associated with 2 velocity mixture flows we employ a new homogenization method known as the Discrete Equations Method (DEM). Contrary to conventional methods, the averaged equations for the mixture are not used, and this method directly obtains a (well-posed) discrete equation system from the single-phase system to produce a numerical scheme which accurately computes fluxes for arbitrary numbers of phases and solves non-conservative products. The method effectively uses a sequence of single phase Riemann equation solves. Phase interactions are accounted for by Riemann solvers at each interface. Flow topology can change with changing expressions for the fluxes. Non-conservative terms are correctly approximated. Some of the closure relations missing from the traditional approach are automatically obtained. Lastly, we can often times identify the continuous equation system, resulting from taking the continuous limit with weak wave assumptions, of the discrete equations. This can be very useful from a theoretical standpoint. As a first step toward implict integration of the DEM method in multidimensions, in this paper we construct a DEM model for the flow of two compressible phases in 1-D ducts of spatially varying cross-section to test this approach. To relieve time step size restrictions due to stiffness and to achieve tighter coupling of equations, a fully implicit time integration method is employed. For the first time, we demonstrate on a converging-diverging two-phase nozzle that this well-posed, 2 pressure, 2 velocity DEM model can be integrated to a meaningful steady-state with both phases treated as compressible