Chemical Engineering Research & Design, Vol.77, No.8, 692-698, 1999
Assessment of an eddy-interaction model and its refinements using predictions of droplet deposition in a wave-plate demister
In this paper, the droplet deposition in a wave-plate demister is calculated using the Eulerian-Lagrangian method. The turbulent flow field in the demister is simulated by the commercial CFD package 'CFX' and the effect of turbulence on droplet motion is accounted for using an eddy-interaction model (EIM). By comparing numerical predictions with experimental measurements, the eddy-interaction model, and some of its refinements proposed in the literature, are investigated in detail. It is found that calculations based on a modified EIM, in which the mean and fluctuating velocities of an eddy are updated after each time step, are in good agreement with experimental measurements except for very small droplets. It is also shown that the addition of a boundary layer correction, of the kind proposed by Greenfield and Quarini, can improve the predictions of droplet deposition in the demister.
Keywords:wave-plate demister;numerical simulation;droplet motion;eddy-interaction model;droplet deposition