Vijayaprakash V R

DGM / Engineering & Development

 CFD HISTORY
• Forerunner –
Aerospace Industry –
1960 – used for
design, R&D,
manufacture of
aircraft, jet engines
• Later – Internal
Combustion Engine
design, gas turbines,
furnaces
 CFD HISTORY (contd…)
• Recent – Many areas
– Power plants
– Turbo-machinery
– Marine
– Meteorology
– Biomedical Engineering
– External/internal
environmental
 WHAT IS CFD???
Computational Fluid Dynamics
– Software
• Graphical Component (Pre-
processor)
• Numerical Component (Solver)
• Graphical Component (Post-
processor)
– Hardware
• Extreme resource usage – CPU,
RAM, Network, Graphics Card
• Possible on many platforms –
PC(Windows/Linux), Unix
 WHAT IS CFD???
Computational Fluid Dynamics
– Fluid – Continuous
Deformation due to shear
stress
• Gas phase - Incompressible or
Compressible
• Liquid Phase
• Gas + Liquid
– Fluid - broken into small
volumes, solved for Navier
Stokes Equation using suitable
algorithm
 WHAT IS CFD???
Computational Fluid Dynamics
– Simulated Fluid – Always in the
condition of motion
– Solving the equation of momentum,
also solve for conservation of mass
and energy
 BASICS
∂ r
∫∫∫
∂t V
ρφ dV + ∫∫ ρφ u ⋅ d A = ∫∫ Γφ ∇φ ⋅ d A + ∫∫∫ Sφ dV
S S V
velocity of variation convective flow of diffusive flow of φ source / sink of φ
of φ in volume V + φ through S = through S + in volume V

V V
S
φ =1
mass
φ=u,v,w
momentum
φ= e
energy

• At each centroid, we solve an approximate form of the Navier-Stokes

equations
• This gives us the velocity, pressure, temperature, density etc. at each point

7
 CFD & ENGINEERING
• CFD
– Engineering Insight
– In-depth physics
understanding
– CFD Analysis – Fluid flow,
heat transfer, pressure
distribution, chemical
reactions

8
 WHY DO WE NEED CFD?
• The key point to remember is that CFD
enables you to gain deeper and earlier insight
into your engineering problems, enabling you
to deliver designs with:
– improved performance,
– better durability
– reduced cycle time & reduced production costs

9
 WHY DO WE NEED CFD?
• Detailed Insight
– Enables engineers to visualize & understand phenomena to a level of detail that is unobtainable from
physical testing
 CFD WORKFLOW
Initial Physical
Geometry Model

Post-
Boundary
Processing /
modifications Conditions

Calculation Mesh
(Run) Generation
 CFD – DUCT ANALYSIS
• Duct Analysis –
Optimizing the flow
– Lowering pressure
drop at bends
– Even flow distribution
before entering APH
– Identifying possible
areas of erosion
 CFD – DUCT ANALYSIS
• APH Duct System Analysis & Optimization
– Primary Air Inlet Duct
– Primary Air Outlet Duct
– Secondary Air Inlet Duct
– Secondary Air Outlet Duct
– Gas Inlet Duct
– Gas Outlet Duct
 CFD – Duct Analysis
• GEOMETRY
– Primary Air Inlet
Duct
 CFD – DUCT ANALYSIS
• Existing Primary Air Inlet Duct Analysis

APH Inlet

PA Fan Outlet
 CFD – DUCT ANALYSIS
• Simple solution for the
problem
1
– Guide vanes provided in all
the 90° bends – 1,2,3 & 4

2
2nd Vane
4
1st Vane
3
 CFD – DUCT ANALYSIS
• Results after solution implementation

BEFORE AFTER
 CFD IN AIR PREHEATER BASKETS
• CFD in baskets:
– In-depth understanding of the flow – vortex shedding
 CFD - AIR PREHEATER ANALYSIS
(What are the Problems?)
• Poor performance of APH –
Reduction in boiler efficiency
• Main problems:
– Air to Flue Gas Side leakage
– Heat Transfer, poor thermal
performance
– Pressure drop across APH
– Corrosion / Erosion of Heating
Elements in Hot End
– Uneven distribution of flue gas
causes erosion in specific pattern
 CFD - AIR PREHEATER ANALYSIS
(What we require?)
• Typical data Required (Flue • Typical Boundary Conditions
gas & Air): (Flue gas & Air):
– Geometry of Air Preheater – Pressure at outlet
– Type of Coal – Velocity at inlet
– Inlet Temperatures
– Mass flow rate
– Thermal Conductivity
– Specific Heat
– Viscosity
– Density
 CFD - AIR PREHEATER ANALYSIS
(What you get?)
• Customer specific recommendations for
modification with authenticated results:
– Improved thermal performance
– Reduction in leakage
– Reduced pressure loss across APH
– Inlet/Outlet Duct Optimization for better flow
distribution
 CFD OPTIMIZATION LOOP
• Methodical Design Optimization
– Optimization – Search for design
variables that improve a set of
Design criteria
– Design variables – Ex:- size of duct,
type of heating elements, element
thickness
– Design criteria – Ex:- M ax.
Heat transfer, Min. Pressure drop
across Air Preheater
– Design Criteria = f (Design
variables)
– Manual vs. Auto
Space Optimization
 CFD OPTIMIZATION LOOP
MANUAL AUTO
CAD CFD
More man hours More computer run-time

Manual intervention
Manual intervention
between geometries not CAD-translation
between geometries
required
Requires good Requires moderate
engineering judgement engineering judgement
CFD
Embedded software not Embedded software
required required
CAD

CAD-embedding
 CFD NOZZLES OPTIMIZATION
– Loop to optimize max reach
& desired velocity
– Different nozzle geometry
are given as variables
 FUTURE CFD OPTIMIZATIONS
• CFD Analysis of various
profiles:
– In-depth analysis of
turbulence
characteristics
– Prediction of heat
transfer
– Erosion studies
– Enamelling Advantages
 CONCLUSION
• State of the art technique complemented by high
performance computing
• Reduced production cost / reduced product to market time
• CFD – Order of the day
• Accurate Results
• Optimization Loop – Latest Development in CFD
• Can be effectively used in various areas of Air Preheater
• GEECO – Any type of CFD is possible – Starting with focus in
Air Preheater
• GEECO – Inducting CFD into the design for most of Air
Preheater products
Thank You Thank You

Thank You Thank You