Tech Briefs Magazine - October 2021 - 9a

DEMOCRATIZING SIMULATION
» EXPLORING 3
SPECIALIZED APPS
Upon completion of the CACHE project,
Roman Voronov and his students designed
15 simulation applications (Ref. 2). Several
of the apps were designed to be used in
specific engineering courses and labs at
NJIT, but they may also be of interest to
anyone studying fundamental chemical
engineering processes.
When discussing the importance of
simulation technology for lab courses,
Voronov said: " In the lab, students can
experiment and do what you ask them to
do, but they do not always understand
the physical processes that are occurring
in the experiment, like they do with
simulation. "
One app Voronov and his students
created can be used to simulate
compressible fluid flow in pipes. The
Orifice Flowmeter app was specifically
made for a chemical engineering lab
at NJIT, which required students to
perform a fluid flow experiment. In the
experiment, students had to measure
pressure drops at multiple locations in
pipes of varying lengths. Using the app,
modeled after the intended experiment,
students can change the geometry of
the pipes and make modifications to the
fluid inputs to see how this affects the
results. The app features a 3D velocity
plot and a pressure plot so that students
get a visualization of the physical
phenomena occurring within the process.
Using the Impeller Reactor app,
students can simulate the reaction
between two species in a noncatalytic
batch reactor with a rotating disc-shaped
impeller. The app gives students insight
into how changing the dimensions
of the impeller can affect the molar
concentration, mole and mass fraction,
and mass concentrations in a batch
reactor. (Batch reactors are often used
to develop a variety of products in fine
chemical, pharmaceutical, and food
industries.) In addition, the app goes
over how to model the impeller with a
parametric sweep. " The idea is that the
results will show the optimal impeller
shape and size, " said Voronov. Based
on the simulation results, students can
generate a CAD file for a 3D-printed
impeller. Then, they can print out the
impeller component and find out how it
performs in reality.
The Flow Around Car app, which
Voronov designed for an NJIT course on
fluid mechanics, models air flowing past
a car. Understanding how fluid flows
over immersed objects is important when
designing packed beds, filtration devices,
and heat exchangers, for example. Using
the app, students can analyze gradient
air distribution on a car in pressure
plots and airflow passing over the car in
velocity plots.
All of the apps mentioned here, and
12 others, can be accessed on the New
Jersey Institute of Technology website
(Ref. 3). (Running the apps requires a
free installation of COMSOL Runtime™
on the app user's operating system.)
» AN AWARD-WINNING APP
Many of Roman Voronov's students from
NJIT have gone on to use simulation in
their careers - and even win awards. For
example, Vasilios Halkias, a 2020 graduate
of NJIT and one of Voronov's former
students, developed an app that earned
him the 2020 NAFEMS Student Award
(Ref. 4). The prize-winning app simulates
mass transfer, heat transfer, and reaction
kinetics in a tubular flow reactor. Tubular
flow reactors are important in the design
of a variety of chemical-based applications.
Voronov believes the use of simulation
applications will have a place inside the
classroom, beyond virtual and hybrid
learning. " I think using simulation apps
truly gives students a fundamental
understanding of what is happening
inside the system they are testing. It
gives them a different point of view and
a lot of clarity. "
FIGURE 4           
         
REFERENCES
1. S. Maybin, " Busting
the attention span
myth, " BBC News, 2017.
2. " Development of
Computational-Based
Tools and Modules for
Chemical Engineering
Education, " Computer
Aids for Chemical
Engineering, 2020.
3. R. Voronov, " COMSOL
Apps, " New Jersey
Institute of Technology,
2020. https://web.njit.
edu/~rvoronov/comsolapps/
4.
R. Tara, " Unable
to Take Lab Course
to Graduate, Student
Turns to Simulation, "
Engineering.com, 2020.
COMSOL NEWS 9a
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Tech Briefs Magazine - October 2021

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