Mastering twoPhaseEulerFoam

Four: Two-Phase Stirred Tank Reactor

Simulating a two phase stirred tank reactor using

OpenFOAM®

Compatible OpenFOAM® 7
with OpenFOAM® v1912
Author

Hamidreza Norouzi
 Mastering
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Four: Two-Phase Stirred Tank Reactor

Amirkabir University of Technology Center of Engineering and Multiscale Modeling of Fluid Flow

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Document history
Revision Description Date

Rev1 The tutorial was reviewed and the simulation was performed using May 1, 2020
OpenFOAM® v1912
Rev0 First draft was prepared and run with OpenFOAM ® 7 April 25, 2020

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Table of Contents
Prerequisites ................................................................................................................................................. 4
How to get simulation setup files? ............................................................................................................... 4
1. Brief Description of twoPhaseEulerFoam ................................................................................................. 5
2. Problem definition .................................................................................................................................... 5
3. MRF ........................................................................................................................................................... 6
4. Simulation setup ....................................................................................................................................... 7
4.1. Physical properties of phases............................................................................................................. 7
4.2. Defining phases and interphase coupling parameters ...................................................................... 8
4.3. Turbulence properties of phases ................................................................................................. 11
4.4. Gravitational acceleration ................................................................................................................ 11
4.5. Generating geometry and mesh ...................................................................................................... 12
4.5.1. blockMesh for creating the background mesh ......................................................................... 12
4.5.2. snappyHexMesh for creating the final mesh ............................................................................ 13
4.6. Defining rotating zone ..................................................................................................................... 18
4.7. Defining sparger ............................................................................................................................... 19
4.8. Boundary and initial conditions ....................................................................................................... 22
5. Running the simulation ....................................................................................................................... 23
6. Results ................................................................................................................................................. 24

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Prerequisites
 Basic simulation setup of a bubble column using twoPhaseEulerFoam solver.

 You need to know the basics of snappyHexMesh utility for creating the mesh.

 Most of the model setup settings and physical properties are similar to what is simulated
in tutorial “Mastering twoPhaseEulerFoam, Three: Bubble Column,” so you are referred to
this document several times in this tutorial.

How to get simulation setup files?

You can get the simulation setup files from Website: setup files (a compressed file) are
uploaded on [Link] alongside this tutorial file. You can find these files there.

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1. Brief Description of twoPhaseEulerFoam

twoPhaseEulerFoam is a solver for a system of 2 non-reacting compressible fluid phases.
One phase in this system is always dispersed. So it is a good candidate for simulating bubble
columns in gas/liquid systems or fluidized beds and spouted beds in gas/solid systems. The solver
also solves the energy equation (enthalpy or internal energy) for both phases and couple them by
the one-film resistance heat transfer model.

In the case of gas-liquid systems, laminar and turbulence models (RAS and LES) models can
be selected for both phases. In this case of gas-solid or liquid solid systems, these models can only
be applied for the fluid phase. The solid phase momentum equation incorporates a model for the
stress tensor. Two main approaches are possible: inviscid solid phase with a pressure model and
a solid phase with stress tensor that is obtained by KTGF theory and frictional models.

Various sub-models for interphase coupling are also provided that make it possible to select
a wide range of physical models for the system. It is also possible to extend the standard solver to
include new sub-models in the simulation.

2. Problem definition
The stirred tank reactor in this tutorial has a cylindrical shell with inner diameter of 0.4 m
and height of 0.35 m. The bottom cap is a 2:1 ellipse (radius1 is 0.2 m and radius2 is 0.1 m) and
top of this cylinder is open to atmosphere. A four-bladed impeller is located in the middle of the
reactor to provide the mixing force. This impeller rotates with at 120 RPM. The surface geometries
of this mixer and the reactor vessel are provided in the form of stl files. The vessel is initially filled
up to 0.15 m with water at 300 K. Air enters the reactor through a sparger located beneath the
impeller at the bottom of the reactor.

In this tutorial you will learn how to simulate such a reactor system using multiple reference
frame (MFR) method. Other properties and operating conditions are given in Table 1. In this

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tutorial it is tried to keep important details (not all details) of the such systems while keeping the
whole geometry simple enough to obtain reasonable execution time for the final case.

Table 1: Physical properties and operating conditions

Water viscosity [Pa.s] 3.64510-4 Air viscosity [Pa.s] 1.84 10-8
Water density [kg/m3] ~1000 Air density Ideal gas
Water heat capacity [J/kg/K] 4195 Air heat Capacity [J/kg/K] 1007
Water Prandtl number 2.289 Air Prandtl number 0.7
Water temperature [K] 300 Inlet air temperature [K] 300
Air-water surface tension [N/m] 0.072 Superficial gas velocity [m/s] 0.05
Rotation speed [RPM] 120 Bubble diameter [m] 0.003

3. MRF
Rotating walls can be simulated using multiple reference frame (MRF). In this method, the
whole region is sub-divided into one or more rotating zones and one stationary zone. This
approach considers the rotation of wall (impeller) without moving the mesh by making necessary
changes in the momentum equation. The velocity field with respect to inertial frame (stationary
zone) is 𝑢
⃗ and the relative velocity in the rotating zone is 𝑢
⃗ 𝑟 . The absolute velocity and relative
velocity in each zone are related as:

𝑢
⃗𝑟 =𝑢 ⃗⃗ × 𝑟)
⃗ − (Ω

⃗⃗ is the rotation speed and 𝑟 is the vector pointing from rotation center to the point of
where Ω
evaluation of relative velocity.

The momentum equation is solved for absolute velocity with convective fluxes that accounts
for the rotation of the rotating zones (by making fluxed relative to stationary frame in all zones).
The left-hand side of momentum equation (for a single phase flow) becomes:

𝜕
(𝜌𝑢
⃗ ) + ∇. (𝜌𝑢 ⃗ ) + 𝜌(⃗Ω × 𝑢
⃗ 𝑟𝑢 ⃗ ) = 𝑅𝐻𝑆
𝜕𝑥

⃗⃗ × 𝑢
where 𝜌(Ω ⃗ ) is the Coriolis force. The face fluxed are made relative by the following equation:

⃗⃗ × 𝑟)𝑆
𝑝ℎ𝑖𝑟 = 𝑝ℎ𝑖 − 𝜌(Ω

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⃗⃗ =0)
where the relative flux of cells and relative velocity of the cells located in the stationary zone (Ω
are reduce to absolute flux and velocity.

4. Simulation setup
Physical properties of both phases and phase coupling models are first specified and then
you will learn how to generate the mesh, to define MRF in the simulation, and to define an
injection region as the sparger.

4.1. Physical properties of phases

More description on the physical properties can be found in the previous tutorials of this
series. The physical properties of air are specified in constant/[Link].

constant/[Link]
thermoType
{
type heRhoThermo;
mixture pureMixture;
transport const;
thermo hConst;
equationOfState perfectGas;
specie specie;
energy sensibleInternalEnergy;
}

mixture
{
specie
{
molWeight 28.9;
}
thermodynamics
{
Cp 1007;
Hf 0;
}
transport
{
mu 1.84e-05;
Pr 0.7;
}
}

And the properties of water phase are defined in constant/[Link].

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constant/[Link]
thermoType
{
type heRhoThermo;
mixture pureMixture;
transport const;
thermo eConst;
equationOfState perfectFluid;
specie specie;
energy sensibleInternalEnergy;
}

mixture
{
specie
{
molWeight 18;
}
equationOfState
{
R 3000;
rho0 1027;
}
thermodynamics
{
Cv 4195;
Hf 0;
}
transport
{
mu 3.645e-4;
Pr 2.289;
}
}

4.2. Defining phases and interphase coupling parameters

For more description on the interphase coupling models, you are referred to previous
tutorials of this series. Here, only the content of file constant/phaseProperties is given as a
reference. Two phases are air and water in this system.

constant/phaseProperties
phases (air water);

air
{
diameterModel isothermal;
isothermalCoeffs
{
d0 3e-3;
p0 101325;
}

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residualAlpha 1e-6;
}

water
{
diameterModel constant;
constantCoeffs
{
d 1e-4;
}

residualAlpha 1e-6;
}

blending
{
default
{
type linear;
[Link] 0.3;
[Link] 0.5;
[Link] 0.3;
[Link] 0.5;
}

heatTransfer
{
type linear;
[Link] 0.3;
[Link] 0.7;
[Link] 0.3;
[Link] 0.7;
}
}

sigma
(
(air and water) 0.072
);

aspectRatio
(
(air in water)
{
type Wellek;
}

(water in air)
{
type constant;
E0 1.0;
}
);

drag
(
(air in water)
{

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type IshiiZuber;
residualRe 1e-3;
swarmCorrection
{
type none;
residualAlpha Tomiyama;
l 1.75;
}
}

(water in air)
{
type SchillerNaumann;
residualRe 1e-3;
swarmCorrection
{
type none;
}
}

(air and water)

{
type segregated;
m 0.5;
n 8;
swarmCorrection
{
type none;
}
}
);

virtualMass
(
(air in water)
{
type constantCoefficient;
Cvm 0.5;
}

(water in air)
{
type constantCoefficient;
Cvm 0.5;
}
);

heatTransfer
(
(air in water)
{
type RanzMarshall;
residualAlpha 1e-4;
}

(water in air)
{
type RanzMarshall;
residualAlpha 1e-4;

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}
);

lift
(
(air in water)
{
type constantCoefficient;
Cl 0.25;
}

(water in air)
{
type none;
}
);

wallLubrication
(
);

turbulentDispersion
(
);

4.3. Turbulence properties of phases

Laminar model is used for both phases for reducing the execution time. The physical model
can be further improved by using proper turbulence models, knowing that the rotating blades
create a turbulent flow in the vessel.

constant/[Link]
simulationType laminar;

constant/[Link]
simulationType laminar;

4.4. Gravitational acceleration

The gravitational acceleration can be defined in constant/g file as follows:

constant/g
dimensions [0 1 -2 0 0 0 0];
value (0 -9.81 0);

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4.5. Generating geometry and mesh

Mesh generation consists of two main steps:

 generating a background mesh using blockMesh utility; and

 refining, cutting and conforming the mesh on the triangulated surfaces that are provided
to the program: here impeller blade and vessel surfaces.

4.5.1. blockMesh for creating the background mesh

The background mesh encompasses the whole surface of the vessel and mixer blade. The
encompassing cuboid is meshed with hex cells with size of 0.01 m. It is recommended to produce
background hex mesh whose edges have similar sizes to get the best result from snappyHexMesh.
Two boundary patches are defined: allBoundary and outlet. The first patch will be automatically
deleted after running snappyHexMesh and outlet patch will remain as the outlet of the vessel.
Execute the following command to generate the background mesh:

> blockMesh

system/blockMeshDict
convertToMeters 1;

vertices
(
( -0.21 -0.16 -0.21)
( 0.21 -0.16 -0.21)
( 0.21 0.3 -0.21)
( -0.21 0.3 -0.21)
( -0.21 -0.16 0.21)
( 0.21 -0.16 0.21)
( 0.21 0.3 0.21)
( -0.21 0.3 0.21)
);

blocks
(
hex (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) (42 46 42) simpleGrading (1 1 1)
);

edges
(
);

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boundary
(
allBoundary
{
type patch;
faces
(
(0 4 7 3)
(2 6 5 1)
(1 5 4 0)
(0 3 2 1)
(4 5 6 7)
);
}

outlet
{
type patch;
faces
(
(3 7 6 2)
);
}

);

4.5.2. snappyHexMesh for creating the final mesh

The surface geometry files should be placed in constant/triSurface folder. You can find the
surface geometry of impeller and vessel in this folder. These surfaces can be visualized using
Paraview®:

Figure 1: Visualization of impeller and vessel surface from stl files

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Note

The axial shaft of the impeller system is not considered here to resolve the impeller
surface with a less number of cells.

Splitting of cells starts with the edge features (eMesh file) that the user supplies in
snappyHexMeshDict file. sufraceFeatureExtractDict utility is used to extract edge features
from stl surfaces. The corresponding dictionary is as follows:

system/surfaceFeatrueExtractDict
[Link]
{
extractionMethod extractFromSurface;
extractFromSurfaceCoeffs
{
includedAngle 150;
}
}
[Link]
{
extractionMethod extractFromSurface;
extractFromSurfaceCoeffs
{
includedAngle 150;
}
}

Two separate files, [Link] and [Link], are explored to find surface edges. Those
edges whose angle are less than includedAngle, will be considered as the edges that will be
refined in the mesh generation step. The result of this step is saved in an eMesh file. Execute the
following command to create eMesh files for your surfaces:

> sufraceFeatureExtract

The eMesh files will be saved in constant/triSurface folder.

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The settings for snappyHexMesh utility can be found in system/snappyHexMeshDict file. The
first part of this file is as follows:

castellatedMesh true;
snap true;
addLayers false;

geometry
{
impeller
{
type triSurfaceMesh;
file "[Link]";
}
vessel
{
type triSurfaceMesh;
file "[Link]";
}
//- Used to define MRF zone and to refine mesh round the impeller
MRF
{
type searchableCylinder;
point1 (0.0 -0.04 0.0);
point2 (0.0 0.04 0.0);
radius 0.11;
}
}

The first three lines specify which step should be performed. Steps castellation and snapping will
be performed and layering will be bypassed. In geometry sub-dictionray, all the geometry entities
that will be used in the meshing process are defined. The first two, impeller and vessel, are
created from stl files. The last one, MRF, is created using the built-in geometry entity,
searchableCylinder. It only requires you to define the first and last point of the cylinder axis

and its radius. This cylinder will be later utilized for defining the MRF zone.

Sub-dictionary castellatedMeshControls defines all the features (edges), surfaces and regions
refinement parameters. In sub-dictionary features, extracted surface features (edges) are

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addressed to be split up to a defined level. Here, cells at [Link] surface features are split
at level 0 (cells as large as background mesh) and cells at [Link] surface feature are
split at level 1. Entry resolveFeatureAngle controls the local curvature of the surface features.
If you use high values for resolveFeatureAngle, surface features (edges) with high curvature will
not be captured in the final mesh.

castellatedMeshControls
{

maxLocalCells 100000;

maxGlobalCells 2000000;

minRefinementCells 0;

nCellsBetweenLevels 2;

maxLoadUnbalance 0.10;

features
(
{
file "[Link]";
level 0;
}

{
file "[Link]";
level 1;
}

);

resolveFeatureAngle 30;

refinementSurfaces
{
MRF
{
level (1 1);
cellZone cellMRFzone;
faceZone faceMRFzone;
cellZoneInside inside;
}

impeller
{
level (1 1);
}

vessel
{
level (0 0);

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}
}

refinementRegions
{
MRF
{
mode inside;
levels ((1E15 1));
}

locationInMesh (0.0 0.1 0.0); // Inside point

allowFreeStandingZoneFaces true;
}

Sub-dictionary refinementSurfaces defines the surfaces to be refined. Surface MRF is

refined up to level (1 1). The first number shows the global refinement level on the surface and
the second number shows the level of extra (local) refinement when local curvature of the surface
exceeds resolveFeatureAngle. For MRF surface, a part of mesh (cells and faces) located inside
the MRF surface is marked as cellMRFzone cell zone and faceMRFzone face zone. The cell zone
cellMRFzone will be used later for specifying MRF region. Surfaces impeller and vessel are

refined up to levels (1 1) and (0 0), respectively.

In sub-dictionary refinementRegions, the cells inside the MRF surface are selected to be
refined at level 1. This part refines cells that are far from the MRF surface and surface features of
impeller (it refines cells in the bulk of the region).

The typical settings of snapControls sub-dictionary and meshQualityControlDict are

used in this tutorial. So the details are not presented here. Execute the following command to
generate your final mesh:

> snappyHexMesh –overwrite

The final mesh and the cell zone cellMRFZone are illustrated in the figure below.

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surface mesh
of vessel

cellMRFZone

surface mesh of impeller

Figure 2: (left) vessel surface and MRF zone and (right) final mesh of the vessel and impeller.

4.6. Defining rotating zone

In file constant/MRFProperties, the settings for MRF region can be found. cellMRFzone is
region for which the rotation is applied. The origin of rotation is (0 0 0) and its direction is (0 1 0),
i.e. rotation around the y-axis. The rotation speed is 12.56 rad/s which is equivalent to 120 RPM.

constant/MRFProperties
MRFImpeller
{
cellZone cellMRFzone;
active yes;

// Fixed patches (by default they 'move' with the MRF zone)
nonRotatingPatches ();

origin (0.0 0.0 0.0);

axis (0 1 0);
omega constant 12.56; // ~120 RPM
}

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4.7. Defining sparger

You can use fvOptions to simulate a sparger1. fvOptions is invoked in each conservation PDE
that is solved in the solver. It is located at the right-hand side of equation to act as a source term.
Each time that one PDE is solved, the solver looks into the system/fvOptions file (if such file is
supplied) to evaluate the source term for the equation. In general, a conservation equation can be
formulated as follows:

𝐷
𝜑 = 𝑆(𝜑)
𝐷𝑡

where  is the dependent field variable for which the conservation equation is solved and 𝑆(𝜑) is
the source term that is decomposed (linearized) into two explicit and implicit parts:

𝑆(𝜑) = 𝑆𝑢 + 𝑆𝑝 𝜑

where 𝑆𝑢 is the explicit source term component and 𝑆𝑝 is the implicit source term component.

The content of the file system/fvOptions is as follows:

system/fvOptions
injector1
{
timeStart 0.0;
duration 30;
selectionMode cellSet;
cellSet injection1;
}

options
{
massSource1
{
type scalarSemiImplicitSource;

$injector1;

volumeMode absolute;
injectionRateSuSp
{
thermo:[Link] (3.0e-4 0); // kg/s
}
}

1
Other applications of fvOptions

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momentumSource1
{
type vectorSemiImplicitSource;

$injector1;

volumeMode absolute;
injectionRateSuSp
{
[Link] ((0 -1.0e-6 0) 0); // kg*m/s^2
}
}

energySource1
{
type scalarSemiImplicitSource;

$injector1;

volumeMode absolute;
injectionRateSuSp
{
[Link] (90 0); // kg*m^2/s^3
}
}
}

injector1 is an inline sub-dictionary that defines the duration of source term (here from the start

of simulation up to 30 s) and the collection of cells that the source term is applied for (here, cell
set injection1). The process of creating a cell set injection1 will be described later.

Three conservation equation are solved for the gas phase for which you must apply the
source term: continuity, momentum and energy equation (here sensible internal energy based on
the settings in file [Link]). In table below you will see  variable for each
equation and the units of each source term component (if volumeMode is absolute2):

 variable Unit in SI system for absolute volumeMode

 𝑆𝑢 𝑆𝑝
Continuity  kg/m 3
kg/s m3/s
Momentum U kg/(m2.s) kg.m/s2 m3/s
Energy .e kg/(m.s2) kg.m2/s3 m3/s

2
the other option for volumeMode is specific in which the source term is a volumetric term.

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In the injectionRateSuSp sub-dictionaries, you must supply the name of primitive field of the
conservation PDE. For continuity equation, the primitive field is thermo:[Link]; for momentum
equation, [Link]; and for energy equation [Link]. In front of the primitive field name specify the
source term components, the first value in the parentheses is 𝑆𝑢 and the second one is 𝑆𝑝 .

The cell set injection1 is used to define a set of cells that the source term is applied for (here, it
is the sparger). To create this cell set, you need to use topoSet utility. The settings can be found
in system/topoSetDict file.

system/topoSetDict
actions
(
{
name injection1;
type cellSet;
action new;
source boxToCell;
sourceInfo
{
box (-0.02 -0.13 -0.02) (0.02 -0.12 0.02);
}
}
);

A new cell set with name injection1 will be created whose cells are inside the box with minimax
points (-0.02 -0.13 -0.02) and (0.02 -0.12 0.02). Execute the following command to create
this cell set:

> topoSet

this cell set will be saved in constant/polyMesh/sets/injection1.

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4.8. Boundary and initial conditions

Initial and boundary conditions of the filed variables are defined in folder 0. In table below,
a brief overview of the important boundary conditions is given. Note that the exact syntax for
boundary conditions can be found in the simulation setup files.

Field name internalFiled Impeller condition Outlet condition vessel condition

inletOutlet
[Link] 0 zeroGradient phi = [Link] zeroGradient
value = 1
inletOutlet
[Link] 1 zeroGradient phi = [Link] zeroGradient
value = 0
prghPressure
fixedFluxPressure fixedFluxPressure
p_rgh 101325 p = $internalField
value = $internalField value = $internalField
value = $internalField
pressureInletOutletVelocity
fixedValue fixedValue
[Link] (0 0 0) phi = [Link]
value = (0 0 0) value = (0 0 0)
value = $internalField
pressureInletOutletVelocity
fixedValue fixedValue
[Link] (0 0 0) phi = [Link]
value = $internalField value = (0 0 0)
value = $internalField
inletOutlet;
[Link] 300 zeroGradient; phi = [Link]; zeroGradient;
value = $internalField;
inletOutlet;
[Link] 300 zeroGradient; phi = [Link]; zeroGradient;
value = $internalField;

inletOutlet condition is applied for outlet patch to prevent reverse flow into the tank. The

impeller is treated as a fixed wall, as we know that in MRF method, the impeller is assumed to be
fixed with no-slip condition on the surface. For volume fraction fields zeroGradient is applied at
walls and fixedFluxPressure, for p_rgh field.

The reactor should be initially filled with water up to 0.15 m. setFields utility is used to
create an initial (non-uniform) patch for phase volume fraction. The settings can be found in
system/setFieldsDict.

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system/setFieldsDict
defaultFieldValues
(
volScalarFieldValue [Link] 1
volScalarFieldValue [Link] 0
);

regions
(
boxToCell
{
box (-0.21 -0.2 -0.21) (0.21 0.15 0.21);
fieldValues
(
volScalarFieldValue [Link] 0
volScalarFieldValue [Link] 1
);
}
);

The default settings are first applied for all cells and then the values specified in the regions entry
overwrite the default values. Here, the default settings are air = 1 and water = 0, which create and
an empty tank. Then, volume fractions of the cells reside in the cuboid box defined by two points
(-0.21 -0.2 -0.21) and (0.21 0.15 0.21) are set to air = 0.0 and water = 1.0. Execute the

following command to apply these initial conditions:

> mkdir 0
> cp [Link]/* 0/
> setFields

5. Running the simulation

If all steps are done correctly, you are ready to run the solver. Execute the following
commands from the case directory:

> twoPhaseEulerFoam

A summary of all commands to run this simulation is listed below for your reference.

> blockMesh
> snappyHexMesh -overwrite
> topoSet
> mkdir 0
> cp [Link]/* 0/
> setFields

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 Mastering
twoPhaseEulerFoam
Four: Two-Phase Stirred Tank Reactor

> twoPhaseEulerFoam

6. Results
Some snapshots of the bubble column simulation are presented here.

Side view – midplane cross section view

0 sec
2 sec
10 sec

Figure 3: (left) water volume fraction contour on a plate at the center of the vessel and (right) the
velocity contour on a cross-sectional plane near the impeller.

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