Turbulent flow energy equation

In the many traditional methods of calculating turbulent flows, these turbulence terms are empirically defined, i.e., turbulence models that are almost entirely empirical are used. Some success has, however, been achieved by using additional differential equations to help in the description of these terms. Empiricism is not entirely eliminated, at present, by the use of these extra equations but the empiricism can be introduced in a more systematic and logical manner than is possible if the turbulence terms in the momentum equation are completely empirically described. One of the most widely used additional equations for this purpose is the turbulence kinetic energy equation and its general derivation will now be discussed. 

As was the case with the full equations, these contain beside the three mean flow variables u, v, and T (the pressure is, of course, by virtue of Eq. (2.157) again determined by the external in viscid flow) additional terms arising as a result of the turbulence. Therefore, as previously discussed, in order to solve this set of equations, there must be an additional input of information, i.e., a turbulence model must be used. Many turbulence models are based on the turbulence kinetic energy equation that was previously derived. When the boundary layer assumptions are applied to this equation, it becomes ... 

In order to utilize this equation it is necessary to use other equations to describe some of the terms in this equation and/or to model some of the terms in this equation. To illustrate how this is done, attention will be given to two-dimensional boundary layer flow. For two-dimensional boundary layer flows the turbulence kinetic energy equation, Eq. (5.S2), has the following form, some further rearrangement having been undertaken ... 

Substituting Eqs. (5.57) and (5.60) into Eq. (5.53) gives the following modeled form of the turbulent kinetic energy equation for two-dimensional boundary layer flow ... 

In the case of axially symmetrical pipe flow, the turbulent kinetic energy equation has the following form when the terms are modeled in some way as was done... 

The turbulent kinetic energy equation was derived in Chapter 5 using the momentum equations and assuming buoyancy force effects were negligible. Re-derive this equation starting with momentum equations in which the buoyancy terms are retained. Assume a vertically upward flow and use the Boussinesq approximation. 

In this section the application of multiphase flow theory to model the performance of fluidized bed reactors is outlined. A number of models for fluidized bed reactor flows have been established based on solving the average fundamental continuity, momentum and turbulent kinetic energy equations. The conventional granular flow theory for dense beds has been reviewed in chap 4. However, the majority of the papers published on this topic still focus on pure gas-particle flows, intending to develop closures that are able to predict the important flow phenomena observed analyzing experimental data. Very few attempts have been made to predict the performance of chemical reactive processes using this type of model. 

If these assumptions are satisfied then the ideas developed earlier about the mean free path can be used to provide qualitative but useful estimates of the transport properties of a dilute gas. While many varied and complicated processes can take place in fluid systems, such as turbulent flow, pattern fonnation, and so on, the principles on which these flows are analysed are remarkably simple. The description of both simple and complicated flows m fluids is based on five hydrodynamic equations, die Navier-Stokes equations. These equations, in trim, are based upon the mechanical laws of conservation of particles, momentum and energy in a fluid, together with a set of phenomenological equations, such as Fourier s law of themial conduction and Newton s law of fluid friction. When these phenomenological laws are used in combination with the conservation equations, one obtains the Navier-Stokes equations. Our goal here is to derive the phenomenological laws from elementary mean free path considerations, and to obtain estimates of the associated transport coefficients. Flere we will consider themial conduction and viscous flow as examples. 

One-equation models relax the assumption that production and dissipation of turbulence are equal at all points of the flow field. Some effects of the upstream turbulence are incorporated by introducing a transport equation for the turbulence kinetic energy k (20) given by... 

In practice, the loss term AF is usually not deterrnined by detailed examination of the flow field. Instead, the momentum and mass balances are employed to determine the pressure and velocity changes these are substituted into the mechanical energy equation and AFis deterrnined by difference. Eor the sudden expansion of a turbulent fluid depicted in Eigure 21b, which deflvers no work to the surroundings, appHcation of equations 49, 60, and 68 yields... 

The balanced equation for turbulent kinetic energy in a reacting turbulent flow contains the terms that represent production as a result of mean flow shear, which can be influenced by combustion, and the terms that represent mean flow dilations, which can remove turbulent energy as a result of combustion. Some of the discrepancies between turbulent flame propagation speeds might be explained in terms of the balance between these competing effects. 

Circular Tubes Numerous relationships have been proposed for predicting turbulent flow in tubes. For high-Prandtl-number fluids, relationships derived from the equations of motion and energy through the momentum-heat-transfer analogy are more complicated and no more accurate than many of the empirical relationships that have been developed. 

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is the numerical analysis of systems involving transport processes and solution by computer simulation. An early application of CFD (FLUENT) to predict flow within cooling crystallizers was made by Brown and Boysan (1987). Elementary equations that describe the conservation of mass, momentum and energy for fluid flow or heat transfer are solved for a number of sub regions of the flow field (Versteeg and Malalase-kera, 1995). Various commercial concerns provide ready-to-use CFD codes to perform this task and usually offer a choice of solution methods, model equations (for example turbulence models of turbulent flow) and visualization tools, as reviewed by Zauner (1999) below. 

The major mechanism of a vapor cloud explosion, the feedback in the interaction of combustion, flow, and turbulence, can be readily found in this mathematical model. The combustion rate, which is primarily determined by the turbulence properties, is a source term in the conservation equation for the fuel-mass fraction. The attendant energy release results in a distribution of internal energy which is described by the equation for conservation of energy. This internal energy distribution is translated into a pressure field which drives the flow field through momentum equations. The flow field acts as source term in the turbulence model, which results in a turbulent-flow structure. Finally, the turbulence properties, together with the composition, determine the rate of combustion. This completes the circle, the feedback in the process of turbulent, premixed combustion in gas explosions. The set of equations has been solved with various numerical methods e.g., SIMPLE (Patankar 1980) SOLA-ICE (Cloutman et al. 1976). 

The kinetic energy attributable to this velocity will be dissipated when the liquid enters the reservoir. The pressure drop may now be calculated from the energy balance equation and equation 3.19. For turbulent flow of an incompressible fluid ... 

If at time t the liquid level is D m above the bottom of the tank, then designating point 1 as the liquid level and point 2 as the pipe outlet, and applying the energy balance equation (2.67) for turbulent flow, then ... 

When two or more phases are present, it is rarely possible to design a reactor on a strictly first-principles basis. Rather than starting with the mass, energy, and momentum transport equations, as was done for the laminar flow systems in Chapter 8, we tend to use simplified flow models with empirical correlations for mass transfer coefficients and interfacial areas. The approach is conceptually similar to that used for friction factors and heat transfer coefficients in turbulent flow systems. It usually provides an adequate basis for design and scaleup, although extra care must be taken that the correlations are appropriate. 

Figures 12 and 13 show the effects of agitation and time of exposure on suspensions of biological materials in bioreactors [61]. In turbulent flow the energy dissipation rate per unit mass, e, of a stirred bioreactor is normally expressed by the following equation ...

This expression applies to the transport of any conserved quantity Q, e.g., mass, energy, momentum, or charge. The rate of transport of Q per unit area normal to the direction of transport is called the flux of Q. This transport equation can be applied on a microscopic or molecular scale to a stationary medium or a fluid in laminar flow, in which the mechanism for the transport of Q is the intermolecular forces of attraction between molecules or groups of molecules. It also applies to fluids in turbulent flow, on a turbulent convective scale, in which the mechanism for transport is the result of the motion of turbulent eddies in the fluid that move in three directions and carry Q with them. 

For steady, uniform, fully developed flow in a pipe (or any conduit), the conservation of mass, energy, and momentum equations can be arranged in specific forms that are most useful for the analysis of such problems. These general expressions are valid for both Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids in either laminar or turbulent flow. 

Evaluate the kinetic energy correction factor a in Bernoulli s equation for turbulent flow assuming that the 1/7 power law velocity profile [Eq. (6-36)] is valid. Repeat this for laminar flow of a Newtonian fluid in a tube, for which the velocity profile is parabolic. 

In whichever approach, the common denominator of most operations in stirred vessels is the common notion that the rate e of dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy is a reliable measure for the effect of the turbulent-flow characteristics on the operations of interest such as carrying out chemical reactions, suspending solids, or dispersing bubbles. As this e may be conceived as a concentration of a passive tracer, i.e., in terms of W/kg rather than of m2/s3, the spatial variations in e may be calculated by means of a usual transport equation. 

The Reynolds-averaged approach is widely used for engineering calculations, and typically includes models such as Spalart-Allmaras, k-e and its variants, k-co, and the Reynolds stress model (RSM). The Boussinesq hypothesis, which assumes pt to be an isotropic scalar quantity, is used in the Spalart-Allmaras model, the k-s models, and the k-co models. The advantage of this approach is the relatively low computational cost associated with the computation of the turbulent viscosity, fit. For the Spalart-Allmaras model, one additional transport equation representing turbulent viscosity is solved. In the case of the k-e and k-co models, two additional transport equations for the turbulence kinetic energy, k, and either the turbulence dissipation rate, s, or the specific dissipation rate, co, are solved, and pt is computed as a function of k and either e or co. Alternatively, in the RSM approach, transport equations can be solved for each of the terms in the Reynolds stress tensor. An additional scale-determining equation (usually for s) is also required. This means that seven additional transport equations must be solved in 3D flows. 

In turbulent flow, there is direct viscous dissipation due to the mean flow this is given by the equivalent of equation 1.98 in terms of the mean values of the shear stress and the velocity gradient. Similarly, the Reynolds stresses do work but this represents the extraction of kinetic energy from the mean flow and its conversion into turbulent kinetic energy. Consequently this is known as the rate of turbulent energy production ... 

For steady flow in a pipe or tube the kinetic energy term can be written as m2/(2 a) where u is the volumetric average velocity in the pipe or tube and a is a dimensionless correction factor which accounts for the velocity distribution across the pipe or tube. Fluids that are treated as compressible are almost always in turbulent flow and a is approximately 1 for turbulent flow. Thus for a compressible fluid flowing in a pipe or tube, equation 6.4 can be written as... 

Equations 6.5, 6.7 and 6.12 all relate to the energy changes involved for a fluid in steady turbulent flow. The most appropriate equation is selected for each particular application equation 6.12 is a convenient form from which a basic flow rate-pressure drop equation will be derived. 

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