It is our pleasure to announce that our open-source CFD software Palabos now ships with a new multi-phase module. It represents complex multi-phase flow with an exceptionally high level of details and runs fully resolved, direct numerical simulations of complex problems such as sprays or two-phase percolation through porous media.

The Palabos kernel is based on the lattice Boltzmann method, which is known for its capabilities in the field of multi-phase flows. It traditionally relies on diffuse-interface techniques, though, and therefore struggles to resolve the small structures of the flow with high fidelity. Our new module overcomes this limitation with a hybrid approach which combines sharp-interface techniques from Volume-of-Fluid methods with kinetic modeling from the lattice Boltzmann theory. The result is an exceptionally efficient solver. As an example, we simulated the physics of primary breakup in a spray through direct numerical simulation on a simple desktop computer (follow this link to inspect the flow structure of the spray interactively with the mouse).

Palabos' multi-phase module is fully parallel and provides a full framework for complex industrial applications. The code is free and can be downloaded from the Palabos web page.

About Palabos and FlowKit

The open-source Palabos code has evolved over more than a decade by a heterogeneous team. It is currently maintained and further developed by the company FlowKit, which was founded in 2011 in Switzerland. It relies on a strong, world-wide community, and constantly validates and improves its fluid models through interactions with numerous academic partners. FlowKit offers trainings, support, and general CFD consulting for Palabos. In particular, starter packages are provided as a help to get started and develop first applications with Palabos.