arXiv subjects

Federico Municchi

Publications and source records attributed to Federico Municchi.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

Bayesian calibration of bubble size dynamics applied to CO2 gas fermenters

To accelerate the scale-up of gaseous CO2 fermentation reactors, computational models need to predict gas-to-liquid mass transfer which requires capturing the bubble size dynamics, i.e. bubble breakup and coalescence. However, the applicability of existing models beyond air-water mixtures remains to be established. Here, an inverse modeling approach, accelerated with a neural network surrogate, calibrates the breakup and coalescence closure models, that are used in class methods for population balance modeling (PBM). The calibration is performed based on experimental results obtained in a CO2-air-water-coflowing bubble column reactor. Bayesian inference is used to account for noise in the experimental dataset and bias in the simulation results. To accurately capture gas holdup and interphase mass transfer, the results show that the breakage rate needs to be increased by one order of magnitude. The inferred model parameters are then used on a separate configuration and shown to also improve bubble size distribution predictions.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2023

clotFoam: An Open-Source Framework to Simulate Blood Clot Formation Under Arterial Flow

Blood clotting involves the coupled processes of platelet aggregation and coagulation. Simulating clotting under flow in complex geometries is challenging due to multiple temporal and spatial scales and high computational cost. clotFoam is an open-source software developed in OpenFOAM that employs a continuum model of platelet advection, diffusion, and aggregation in a dynamic fluid environment and a simplified coagulation model with proteins that advect, diffuse, and react within the fluid and with wall-bound species through reactive boundary conditions. Our framework provides the foundation on which one can build more complex models and perform reliable simulations in almost any computational domain.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2023

Mathematical modelling and numerical simulation of reverse-osmosis desalination

The reverse osmosis membrane module is an integral element of a desalination system as it determines the overall performance of the desalination plant. The fraction of clean water that can be recovered via this process is often limited by salt precipitation which plays a critical role in its sustainability. In this work, we present a model to study the complex interplay between flow, transport and precipitation processes in reverse osmosis membranes, which together influence recovery and in turn process sustainability. A reactive porous interface model describes the membrane with a dynamic evolving porosity and permeability to capture the scaling and clogging of the membrane. An open-source finite-volume numerical solver is implemented within the OpenFOAM library and numerical tests are presented here showing the effect of the various parameters of the model and the robustness of the model to describe a wide range of operating conditions.

math.NA↗

arXiv2022

Electrochemical transport modelling and open-source simulation of pore-scale solid-liquid systems

The modelling of electrokinetic flows is a critical aspect spanning many industrial applications and research fields. This has introduced great demand in flexible numerical solvers to describe these flows. The underlying phenomena are microscopic, non-linear, and often involve multiple domains. Therefore often model assumptions and several numerical approximations are introduced to simplify the solution. In this work, we present a multi-domain multi-species electrokinetic flow model including complex interface and bulk reactions. After a dimensional analysis and an overview of some limiting regimes, we present a set of general purpose finite-volume solvers, based on \of, capable of describing an arbitrary number of electrochemical species over multiple interacting (solid or fluid) domains \cite{spnpfoam}. We provide verification of the computational approach for several cases involving electrokinetic flows, reactions between species, and complex geometries. We first present three one-dimensional verification test cases, and then show the capability of the solver to tackle two- and three-dimensional electrically driven flows and ionic transport in random porous structures. The purpose of this work is to lay the foundation for a general-purpose open-source flexible modelling tool for problems in electrochemistry and electrokinetics at different scales.

math.NA↗

arXiv2022

Computational framework for complex flow and transport in heterogeneous porous media

We present a flexible scalable open-source computational framework, named SECUReFoam, based on the finite-volume library OpenFOAM(R), for flow and transport problems in highly heterogeneous geological media and other porous materials. The framework combines geostatistical pre- and post-processing tools with specialised Partial Differential Equations solvers. Random fields, for permeability and other physical properties, are generated by means of continuous or thresholded Gaussian random fields with various covariance/variogram functions. The generation process is based on an explicit spectral Fourier decomposition of the field which, although more computationally intensive than Fast Fourier Transform methods, allows a more flexible choice of statistical parameters and can be used for general geometries and grids. Flow and transport equations are solved for single-phase and variable density problems, with and without the Boussinesq approximation, and for a wide range of density, viscosity, and dispersion models, including dual-continuum (dual permeability or dual porosity) formulations. The mathematical models are here presented in details and the numerical strategies to deal with heterogeneities, equation coupling, and boundary conditions are discussed and benchmarked for the heterogeneous Henry and Horton-Rodgers-Lapwood problems, and other test cases. We show that our framework is capable of dealing with large permeability variances, viscous instabilities, and large-scale three-dimensional transport problems.

math.NA↗

arXiv2021

Two-fluid modeling of heat transfer in flows of dense suspensions

We develop a two-fluid model (TFM) for heat transfer in dense non-Brownian suspensions. Specifically, we propose closure relations for the inter-phase heat transfer coefficient and the thermal diffusivity of the particle phase based on calibration against experimental data. The model is then employed to simulate non-isothermal flow in an annular Couette cell. We find that, when the shear rate is controlled by the rotation of the inner cylinder, both the shear and thermal gradients are responsible for particle migration. Within the TFM framework, we identify the origin and functional form of a "thermo-rheological" migration force that rationalizes our observations. Furthermore, we apply our model to flow in eccentric Couette cells. Our simulations reveal that the system's heat transfer coefficient is affected by both the classic shear-induced migration of particles and the newly identified thermo-rheological migration effect.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2020

Heterogeneous Multi-Rate mass transfer models in OpenFOAM

We implement the Multi-Rate Mass Transfer (MRMT) model for mobile-immobile transport in porous media within the open-source finite volume library \textsc{OpenFOAM}\reg \citep{Foundation2014}. Unlike other codes available in the literature [Geiger, S., Dentz, M., Neuweiler, I., SPE Reservoir Characterisation and Simulation Conference and Exhibition (2011); Silva, O., Carrera, J., Dentz, M., Kumar, S., Alcolea, A., Willmann, M., Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 13, (2009)], we propose an implementation that can be applied to complex three-dimensional geometries and highly heterogeneous fields, where the parameters of the MRMT can arbitrarily vary in space. Furthermore, being built over the widely diffused OpenFOAM\reg library, it can be easily extended and included in other models, and run in parallel. We briefly describe the structure of the < multiContinuumModels > library that includes the formulation of the MRMT based on the works of [Haggerty, R., Gorelick, S.M., Water Resources Research 31, (1995)] and [F. Municchi and M. Icardi Phys. Rev. Research 2, 013041, (2020)]. The implementation is verified against benchmark solutions and tested on two- and three-dimensional random permeability fields. The role of various physical and numerical parameters, including the transfer rates, the heterogeneities, and the number of terms in the MRMT expansions is investigated. Finally, we illustrate the significant role played by heterogeneity in the mass transfer when permeability and porosity are represented using Gaussian random fields.

physics.comp-ph↗

arXiv2020

Macroscopic models for filtration and heterogeneous reactions in porous media

Derivation of macroscopic models for advection-diffusion processes in the presence of dominant heterogeneous (e.g., surface) reactions using homogenisation theory or volume averaging is often deemed unfeasible due to the strong coupling between scales that characterise such systems. In this work, we show how the upscaling can be carried out by applying and extending the methods presented in literature. The approach relies on the decomposition of the microscale concentration into a reactive component, given by the eigenfunction of the advection-diffusion operator, the associated eigenvalue which represents the macroscopic effective reaction rate, and a non-reactive component. The latter can be then upscaled with a two-scale asymptotic expansion and the final macroscopic equation is obtained for the leading order. The same method can also be used to overcome another classical assumption, namely of non solenoidal velocity fields, such as the case of deposition of charged colloidal particles driven by electrostatic potential forces. The whole upscaling procedure, which consists in solving three cell problems, is implemented for arbitrarily complex two- and three-dimensional periodic structures using the open-source finite volume library OpenFOAM. We provide details on the implementation and test the methodology for two-dimensional periodic arrays of spheres, and we compare the results against fully resolved numerical simulations, demonstrating the accuracy and generality of the upscaling approach. The effective velocity, dispersion and reaction coefficients are obtained for a wide range of Péclet and surface Damk{ö}hler numbers, and for Coulomb-like forces to the grains.

math.AP↗

arXiv2020

Optimisation of crust freezing in meat processing via Computational Fluid Dynamics

In this work a numerical model for two-dimensional axisymmetric continuous freezing by impingement of processed meat or similar products in food industry moving along a conveyor belt is presented. The model represents a more computationally efficient alternative to solve conjugate heat transfer between a fluid and a solid, accompanied by phase change in some constituents of the solid phase. In the model presented here it is assumed that the solid can be represented as an homogeneous medium, with its thermophysical properties depending on the temperature. The impingement freezing model is conceived to be valid for highly processed vegetarians products or meat such as sausages, mince or ham freezing. Furthermore, this approach is much simpler in terms of computational cost whilst it still captures the complexity of continuous freezing under industrial setting. The methodology is implemented as a new solver in the widely used open-source Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) library OpenFOAM. Overall, highly non-linear freezing behaviour was found due to the phase change inside the solid and the associated heat of fusion. We studied the effect of high fluid Reynolds numbers as well as investigating the optimal distance between the jet and the solid surface for different speeds of the conveyor. We found that the maximum freezing is obtained positioning the jet at a distance H = 7.2D (where D is the diameter of the impinging jet) and setting the speed of the conveyor such that the Péclet number of the solid is $\text{Pe}_{\text{s}}=8244$. The methodology developed allows to obtain detailed insight on the freezing process for various impingement configurations at a minimum computational cost using a freely available open-source tool.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2019

Generalised Multi-Rate Models for conjugate transfer in heterogeneous materials

We propose a novel macroscopic model for conjugate heat and mass transfer between a \emph{mobile region}, where advective transport is significant, and a set of \emph{immobile regions} where diffusive transport is dominant. Applying a spatial averaging operator to the microscopic equations, we obtain a \emph{multi-continuum} model, where an equation for the average concentration in the mobile region is coupled with a set of equations for the average concentrations in the immobile regions. Subsequently, by mean of a spectral decomposition, we derive a set of equations that can be viewed as a generalisation of the multi-rate mass transfer (MRMT) model, originally introduced by Haggerty & Gorelick. This new formulation does not require any assumption on local equilibrium or geometry. We then show that the MRMT can be obtained as the leading order approximation, when the mobile concentration is in local equilibrium. The new Generalised Multi-Rate Mode (GMRM) has the advantage of providing a direct method for calculating the model coefficients for immobile regions of arbitrary shapes, through the solution of appropriate micro-scale cell problems. An important finding is that a simple re-scaling or re-parametrisation of the transfer rate coefficient (and thus, the memory function) is not sufficient to account for the flow field in the mobile region and the resulting non-uniformity of the concentration at the interfaces between mobile and immobile regions.

physics.comp-ph↗

arXiv2019

Computational Analysis of Interfacial Dynamics in Angled Hele-Shaw Cells: Instability Regimes

We present a theoretical and numerical study on the (in)stability of the interface between two immiscible liquids, i.e., viscous fingering, in angled Hele-Shaw cells across a range of capillary numbers ($Ca$). We consider two types of angled Hele-Shaw cells: diverging cells with a positive depth gradient and converging cells with a negative depth gradient, and compare those against parallel cells without a depth gradient. A modified linear stability analysis is employed to derive an expression for the growth rate of perturbations on the interface and for the critical capillary number ($Ca_c$) for such tapered Hele-Shaw cells with small gap gradients. Based on this new expression for $Ca_c$, a three-regime theory is formulated to describe the interface (in)stability: (i) in Regime I, the growth rate is always negative, thus the interface is stable; (ii) in Regime II, the growth rate remains zero (parallel cells), changes from negative to positive (converging cells), or from positive to negative (diverging cells), thus the interface (in)stability possibly changes type at some location in the cell; (iii) in Regime III, the growth rate is always positive, thus the interface is unstable. We conduct three-dimensional direct numerical simulations of the full Navier--Stokes equations, using a phase field method to enforce surface tension at the interface, to verify the theory and explore the effect of depth gradient on the interface (in)stability. We demonstrate that the depth gradient has only a slight influence in Regime I, and its effect is most pronounced in Regime III. Finally, we provide a critical discussion of the stability diagram derived from theoretical considerations versus the one obtained from direct numerical simulations.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2019

A two-fluid model for numerical simulation of shear-dominated suspension flows

Suspension flows are ubiquitous in nature (hemodynamics, subsurface fluid mechanics, etc.) and industrial applications (hydraulic fracturing, CO$_2$ storage, etc.). However, such flows are notoriously difficult to model due to the variety of fluid-particle and particle-particle interactions that can occur. In this work, we focus on non-Brownian shear-dominated suspensions, where kinetic collisions are negligible and frictional effects play a dominant role. Under these circumstances, irreversible phenomena such as particle diffusion and migration arise, requiring anisotropic stress models to describe the suspension rheology. On a continuum level, reduced-order models such as the suspension balance model (SBM) or the diffusive flux model are commonly used to predict particle migration phenomena. We propose a new method based on a two-fluid model (TFM), where both the phases are considered as interpenetrating continua with their own conservation of mass and momentum equations. Without employing the nowadays customary simplifications in applying the SBM, we close the ``full'' TFM instead. Specifically, we show that when an anisotropic stress analogous to that used in the SBM is added to the equilibrium equations for the particle phase, the TFM is able to accurately predict particle migration. Thus, the TFM does not require the assumptions of a steady suspension velocity and a Stokesian (inertialess) fluid, and the TFM can be easily extended to include buoyancy and even kinetic collisional models. We present several benchmark simulations of our TFM implementation in OpenFOAM{\textsuperscript\textregistered}, including in curvilinear coordinates and three-dimensional flow. Good agreement between the TFM solutions and previous experimental and numerical results is found.

physics.flu-dyn↗