Hi-

I have to simulate an aluminum tank that is filled with porous material (e.g- foam). Also, initially, it is filled with liquid (e.g- fuel). There is an outlet at the bottom to drain the liquid from the tank. As the fuel is drained, the vacant pores in the foam are occupied by air. Can anyone suggest me a suitable model to solve this problem. I have tried it on CFD-ACE, and it doesnt work, so want to try it on Fluent.

Regards

Sonia

in order to use Fluent you will have to know some of the variables used in porous media flow - permeability and inertia coefficient. You can get those from an actual lab experiment in which you record the pressure drop v's flow rate.

That's true, but I want to know what cfd model can be used to simulate two phases that exist (air and fuel).

Fluent can do two phases - "Tutorial 18. Using the Mixture and Eulerian Multiphase Models" will help you out. It is pretty easy to do. You will just have to figure out how to start with a filled tank. You will probably have to do some hand calcs to get a mass balance so you can definie your flow rates correctly