CFD gas-liquid simulation of oriented valve tray

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has recently emerged as an effective tool for the investigation of the hydraulic parameters and efficiency of tray towers. The computation domain was established for two types of oriented valves within a tray and meshed into two parts with different grid types and sizes. The volume fraction correlation concerning inter-phase momentum transfer source was fitted based on experimental data, and built in UDF for simulation. The flow pattern of oriented valve tray under different operating conditions was simulated under Eulerian-Eulerian framework with realizable k-epsilon model. The predicted liquid height from CFD simulation was in good agreement with the results of pressure drop and volume fraction correlations. Meanwhile, the velocity distribution and volume fraction of the two phases were demonstrated and analyzed, which are useful in design and analysis of the column trays. (C) 2015 The Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China, and Chemical Industry Press. All rights reserved.