| Abstract |
In this project we will deal with the design of new fluid transport and heat transfer mechanisms using viscoelastic fluids. Viscoelastic fluids
have very advantageous properties for heat transfer and transport, because they have and increased mixing capacity and as a
consequence heat transfer coefficients are increased. Also, pressure losses are reduced in the transport of viscoelastic fluids, which allows
to diminish the cost associated to the pumping or transport of the fluid.
The design of the new heat transfer mechanisms will be done by means of numerical simulation tools, particularly using the finite element
method. For this, the development of new numerical simulation tools is necessary.
The new numerical methods to be developed during the project will be based in several research areas. First of all, we will deal with the
implementation of realistic constitutive models for viscoelastic fluids, which will need to be coded in a high-performance computational
environment. The thermo-mechanical coupling of the viscoelastic fluids will also be taken into account by using the Boussinesq model for
thermal coupling. A basic ingredient will be the development of logarithmic formulations for viscoelastic fluids which will allow us to
simulate flows at high Weissenberg numbers.
The second important point of the methods to be developed for the numerical simulation of viscoelastic flows is the models for phenomena
of elastic turbulence. In order to deal with elastic turbulence, new turbulence models based in the Variational Multiscale Method (VMS) will
be investigated. The new turbulence models will be adjusted so that they are able to capture in an accurate manner the mechanisms for
the viscous and elastic dissipations which are characteristic of viscoelastic fluids at high Weissenberg numbers.
Finally, the developed formulations will be coupled to free surface models for finite element formulations which allow to simulate, by taking
into account the discontinuities in fluid interface, the movement of viscoelastic fluids when more than one type of fluid is present. In order
to do this, new enriched shape functions for finite elements which allow to capture discontinuities at the interface will need to be
implemented.
Once all of these computational tools will be developed, they will be implemented in a computation platform capable of performing
numerical simulations in large scale supercomputers. This phase of the project will be composed of an implementation stage, a domain
decomposition algorithms development stage for multiphase flow, and finally a stage which will deal with the development of adaptive
algorithms for finite elements which allow to concentrate the computational power in the areas of the computational domain where it is
required the most.
Once the computational tool will be available, it will be used for the design and optimization of heat exchange devices and heat transport
machinery both at the industrial and the domestic level. We also plan to apply the developed methods to the design and optimization of
mixing processes in chemical reactors.
Finally, the scientific results of the project will be published in high impact number international scientific journals and disseminated in
scientific congresses. Also, all the results will be transmited to industrial partners. In this sense, the project has received the letters of
interest of the companies BAXI S.A. and FWN S.L for the industrial exploitation of the resu |