Petascale Simulations of Fluid-Solid Heat Transfer for Sustainable Energy Applications

Shankar Subramaniam, Iowa State University

Usage Details

Multiphase flows with heat transfer occur in sustainable energy generation from renewable sources such as biofuel production from biomass. The purpose of this work is to simulate fluid-solid heat transfer using particle-resolved direct numerical simulations (PR-DNS). Gas-solid heat transfer has been simulated and modeled using our PR-DNS approach in steady flow through a fixed assembly of spherical particles. In order to compare PR-DNS results (at Prandtl number of 7) with experiments carried out in water, higher resolution is needed to capture the thermal boundary layers surrounding individual particles. Petascale computing resources in Blue Waters will enable the study of the heat transfer problem in liquid-solid flow using PR-DNS. We will simulate heat transfer in steady flow past a single particle, trains of particles, and in a fixed particle bed. The PR-DNS databases will allow us to validate the PR-DNS approach with experiments, and extend the models for gas-solid heat transfer to liquid-solid flow.