Numerical investigation of bend and torus flows - Part II: Flow simulation in torus reactor

Flow in a torus reactor with straight parts fitted with a marine impeller is investigated. The laser Doppler anemometry (LDA) is first employed to achieve experimental measurements of mean velocity profiles. Next, a numerical resolution of the steady-state flow is performed using a multiple reference frames (MRF) approach to represent the particular flow induced by the marine impeller in the geometry. A comparison of predictions using different turbulence models to LDA measurements is made, and a k-omega model is assessed. The numerical toot is used to investigate in more details the particular flow induced in the torus geometry. Evolution of the axial and rotating motions when moving away from the impeller is especially investigated, showing the complex hydrodynamical interaction between the main rotating swirl motion involved downstream the impeller, and bend curvature effects. Two different flow conditions can be considered in the torus geometry, with a main swirling motion close to the impeller, which freely decays and vanishes when Dean vortices appear in bends. Simulations for two rotation velocities of the impeller and comparison with the study with simple bends (first part) reveal pertinence of the swirl number Sn to describe the change of flow conditions along the reactor axis. When this parameter decreases below a threshold value around 0.2 in a bend entry, centrifugal effects due to bend curvature are more important than the swirl motion, and Dean vortices appear in bend outlet. One main consequence is the axial distance of the swirl motion persistence, which is found to be smaller for the higher impeller rotation velocity, due to the dual effect of the marine impeller that generates simultaneously both axial and rotating motions. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.