[JHaas]

Hello everyone,

First of all - This is my first post in this forum and my first contact with OpenFOAM, so please don't be too harsh with me!

I am currently writing my diploma thesis. The topic is the analysis of the blending behaviour of a pulsed-air mixing system. Part of the thesis is the numerical simulation of the following test-setup:

A slurry composed of calcium carbonate and water (solid fractions varying from 10% to 40%) is supposed to be mixed in an industrial bulk container using a pulsed-air mixing system. The mixing system operates with compressed air (or alternatively N2) at approximately 6 bar (~100 psi). Gasflow through the mixing-system is not continuois. Pulses of compressed air are emitted in intervals of 5 seconds. Consequently large bubbles form and rise to the top of the liquid while mixing the slurry at the same time due to the current the bubbles create.

As far as this goes I had the feeling that the case has lots of similarities with a bubble column. Unfortunately there is the problem of three interpenetrating phases. I was not able to find a solver which is capable of incorporating the third phase.

As I was doing some research I found out about the work of Silva and Lage
http://www.opensourcecfd.com/confere...0b8b978b532798
who were able to develop and implement a solver for a multiphase Eulerian setup. Sadly the theory used in this thesis goes way beyond my understanding. Furthermore I could not find any hint on where to get the solver from. I could try to implement the code myself but I am totally new to OpenFOAM (basically I just started doing the tutorials today in order to prepare for the "big fish") and I predict that the solver is too complex for me to use.

Could you give me any advice on how to tackle the problem?
Maybe there is a little trick or there is already a solver existing that I do not know about and therefore no need to program a new solver for this case?

Best Regards,
Johannes