Numerical flow simulation with and without chemical reaction

  • Workgroup:Simulation of Reacting Thermo-Fluid Systems
  • Type:BA/MA
  • Date:immediately
  • Supervisor:

    M.Sc. Julia Roeb

  • Background knowlegde:

    Students of bio- and chemical engineering/process engineering (or similar fields) who enjoy numerical work.
    Knowledge of numerical fluid flow simulation/fluid mechanics as well as programming skills (e.g., in C/C++, Python, Matlab, or similar) can be helpful but are not strictly required.

  • Motivation:

    Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is a key tool for analyzing reactive flows, in which flow, heat and mass transfer, and chemical reactions are strongly coupled. Such flows occur in a wide range of applications—from combustion and gasification to electrochemical reactors and energy storage via metal cycles, where renewable energy is stored in the form of metal powder and released again without CO₂ emissions. Moreover, numerical simulations of non-reacting systems provide valuable information for understanding sub-processes like flow, turbulence, phase change etc. The complex physical processes involved require—depending on the system—the coupled solution of the momentum, energy, and mass transport equations, potentially including chemical reactions. CFD enables high-resolution spatial and temporal analysis of these processes and thus makes a significant contribution to fundamental research and the development of sustainable technologies.

     

    Project Description:

    Our research areas, in which thesis projects are offered, cover a broad spectrum of reactive and non-reactive flow simulations in the context of chemical energy conversion. We investigate processes across different scales – from nanoscale phenomena in particle systems using Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) to large-scale structures modeled with Large-Eddy Simulations (LES) or volume-/time-averaged approaches, in order to simulate industrial applications both efficiently and realistically.

    Research examples: (a) Fully-resolved particle simulation, (b) Simulation of reacting point-particle systems, (c)
    Simulation vs. experiment of a turbulent laboratory flame, (d) Simulation vs. experiment of non-reacting atomization
    of a liquid.

     

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