Possibilities and limits of modeling cavitation in high-pressure homogenizers – a validation study
(2024) In Chemical Engineering Science 283.- Abstract
High-pressure homogenizers are widely used in industrial processes to produce emulsions with small droplet sizes. During the process, cavitation occurs under industrial process conditions. In order to investigate the flow conditions inside a homogenizer geometry, CFD simulations are commonly used, since it is not possible to evaluate local flow conditions experimentally. However, these studies have, so far, investigated flow under non-cavitating conditions, which do not adequately reflect industrial process conditions. This study investigates the extent to which the two cavitation models, the Schnerr-Sauer model and the Zwart-Gerber-Belamri model, can represent cavitation in the gap of the homogenizing geometry using RANS simulation.... (More)
High-pressure homogenizers are widely used in industrial processes to produce emulsions with small droplet sizes. During the process, cavitation occurs under industrial process conditions. In order to investigate the flow conditions inside a homogenizer geometry, CFD simulations are commonly used, since it is not possible to evaluate local flow conditions experimentally. However, these studies have, so far, investigated flow under non-cavitating conditions, which do not adequately reflect industrial process conditions. This study investigates the extent to which the two cavitation models, the Schnerr-Sauer model and the Zwart-Gerber-Belamri model, can represent cavitation in the gap of the homogenizing geometry using RANS simulation. Simulations are validated with experimental cavitation visualization data. Results show that the Schnerr-Sauer model (with appropriately set modeling constants) is able to accurately predict the operating conditions responsible for cavitation inception in the valve, as well as the length and width of the cavitation zone.
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- author
- Rütten, Eva LU ; Leister, Nico ; Karbstein, Heike P. and Håkansson, Andreas LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2024-01-05
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Cavitation, Computational fluid dynamics, High-pressure homogenization, Orifice, RANS, Schnerr-Sauer, Zwart-Gerber-Belamri
- in
- Chemical Engineering Science
- volume
- 283
- article number
- 119405
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85174679552
- ISSN
- 0009-2509
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.ces.2023.119405
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 319d248c-34e3-432d-9072-f92c11902acd
- date added to LUP
- 2023-10-30 16:06:49
- date last changed
- 2023-12-20 17:41:47
@article{319d248c-34e3-432d-9072-f92c11902acd, abstract = {{<p>High-pressure homogenizers are widely used in industrial processes to produce emulsions with small droplet sizes. During the process, cavitation occurs under industrial process conditions. In order to investigate the flow conditions inside a homogenizer geometry, CFD simulations are commonly used, since it is not possible to evaluate local flow conditions experimentally. However, these studies have, so far, investigated flow under non-cavitating conditions, which do not adequately reflect industrial process conditions. This study investigates the extent to which the two cavitation models, the Schnerr-Sauer model and the Zwart-Gerber-Belamri model, can represent cavitation in the gap of the homogenizing geometry using RANS simulation. Simulations are validated with experimental cavitation visualization data. Results show that the Schnerr-Sauer model (with appropriately set modeling constants) is able to accurately predict the operating conditions responsible for cavitation inception in the valve, as well as the length and width of the cavitation zone.</p>}}, author = {{Rütten, Eva and Leister, Nico and Karbstein, Heike P. and Håkansson, Andreas}}, issn = {{0009-2509}}, keywords = {{Cavitation; Computational fluid dynamics; High-pressure homogenization; Orifice; RANS; Schnerr-Sauer; Zwart-Gerber-Belamri}}, language = {{eng}}, month = {{01}}, publisher = {{Elsevier}}, series = {{Chemical Engineering Science}}, title = {{Possibilities and limits of modeling cavitation in high-pressure homogenizers – a validation study}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ces.2023.119405}}, doi = {{10.1016/j.ces.2023.119405}}, volume = {{283}}, year = {{2024}}, }