CFD Analysis

IBEX Analytics’ Technical Approach for CFD Analysis

CFD’s approach is to generate quantitative predictions of fluid-flow phenomena based on the conservation laws (conservation of mass, momentum, and energy) governing fluid motion. FDS will be used to generate a mesh (a numerical grid of the problem domain) to define complex geometries and fluid flow, as well as heat and mass balance sources and relationships.

Alternatives to CFD for Facility Blowdown and Dispersion Analysis

Alternatives to the described CFD modeling approach would be to use analytical software such as PHAST or CANARY.

Software such as PHAST and CANARY are free-field i.e. not sensitive to some very important factors and issues such as:

  • Differential thermal distribution for example; close to the blowdown stacks and away in the dispersion fields
  • Differential flow velocities and turbulence arising from multiple nozzles or blowdown stacks discharge gas close to each other
  • Air flow effects (simple wind can induce some very complex flow characteristics when it come across real obstruction fields)
  • Multiple / angled blowdown jets (free field tools are very poor predictors of such discharge arrangements and profiles)

Compared with CFD, the non CFD “screening tools” such as PHAST and CANARY result in more conservative predictions and often over-designs such as wider than necessary separations etc.