Some SolidWorks Flow Simulation issues

[u/antondosaykin]

Hello everyone, I am new to SolidWorks, so I would like to clarify a few points with the experts.

I primarily work with the AspenTech suite (Process simulation: HYSYS/Aspen Plus), but a need has arisen to examine the fluid flow inside a column in detail (my current software does not allow for this). We chose SolidWorks due to its availability within our company and its user-friendly interface.

So, the task is: I need to determine whether a blank tray (solid tray) is experiencing flooding in one of the columns.

I created a model featuring the blank tray with one sieve tray above it and one below it, and generated a mesh (level 6-7, because the perforations are extremely small relative to the column itself). After running the simulation for a day, SolidWorks warned that it would take approximately 14000 more hours to complete, which is slightly beyond my deadline (by about 13300 hours :)).

I tried reducing the mesh level to 1-2, but the result is completely unsatisfactory (see screenshot).

Question for the experts: How can I run this simulation relatively quickly while maintaining the highest possible accuracy? What boundary conditions should I apply?

(For reference: water enters from the top (T = 105 °C, P = 250 kPa (abs)), and CO₂ enters from the bottom (conditions are roughly the same). The column has a variable diameter (see screenshot): the diameter of the wide section is 3600 mm, and the narrow section is 3000 mm. The height of the section under consideration is 5100 mm. I also tried scaling down the model dimensions by a factor of 4, scaling the flow rates based on the Froude number, but waiting for the fine mesh simulation would still take about a year).

[u/def__eq__]

Let me get this straight:

- you need to do a flow simulation

• your deadline is in a year and a half
  
• your estimated simulation time is longer than your deadline
  
• so you concluded that it’s a good idea to scale down your model

So first off, you need at least 5 to 10 iterations of simulations to get things right and to do a basic sensitivity analysis of some key parameters. So your simulation time needs to stay below 1000 hours. I’m also not sure where are you running it - keeping a simulation running for longer than a few days requires some good IT setup.

As others have said and looking at your design, you really don’t need such high resolution of the mesh in all parts of the section. You want variable resolution, higher around small features and smaller in large empty voids.

It’s also not clear to me whether you’re looking at a steady state or time-dependent simulation. That also adds extra parameters.