Application of the Lagrangian meshfree approach to modelling of batch crystallisation: Part I-Modelling of stirred tank hydrodynamics

摘要

Crystallization phenomena in stirred reactors are influenced by local hydrodynamic conditions and these must be taken into account for successful process scale-up and optimization. This article is the first of two presenting the application of the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method to modelling of batch crystallisation in stirred tanks. The benefits of the Lagrangian meshfree methods were discussed and the SPH method was proposed as an efficient method for the rapid prediction of the global mean flow in stirred reactors. Various aspects of the simulation results were discussed such as quality of the fluid prediction, computational requirements and availability of the crystal size distribution without reconstruction. It has been shown that the computational requirements and accuracy of the fluid flow prediction can be controlled through the particle size and that the particles with a radius of 1.50-1.75 mm in the reactor of 2.65 I provide a good balance between the quality of the prediction and the computational requirements.