Posted by CFD2D on
URL: http://forum.featool.com/Modeling-a-Multi-Tubular-Membrane-Reactor-tp980p999.html

Precise Simulation wrote

> Is it possible to simulate a porous zone in FeaTool?

Yes, FEATool comes with pre-defined equations for Darcy's Law and Brinkman equations for porous media flow. If your model uses some other PDE for porous media you would have to define this yourself using the Custom Equation physics mode and the FEATool PDE syntax. The available pre-defined and built-in physics modes are listed and clearly defined here

https://www.featool.com/doc/physics.html#phys_modes

That sounds good. I've looked at a few tools and I'm optimistic. I was thinking more of an Ergun equation. But if you can create equations yourself, that's great! Such problems have already been dealt with in OpenFoam and if you can use all OpenFoam solvers, you can also tinker one yourself together. Or do I get the basic concept wrong?

Precise Simulation wrote

> Can I add a membrane to it?

FEATool supports modeling with multiple boundaries and subdomains one of which you could designate as a membrane. As above, how much work you have to do yourself depends on if the equation for your membrane falls within one of the available pre-defined ones or not.

That also sounds very promising.

Precise Simulation wrote

> I also wonder if the FeaTool models are implemented in Simulink?

FEATool models can not directly be loaded in to Simulink and vice versa. However, as FEATool is written in Matlab and models can be exported and run as simple m-file scripts you can write functions to call (and be called from) other Matlab toolboxes (including Simulink). Again there is nothing ready out of the box for this so you would have to do the implementation work yourself. The public FEATool Matlab function API is listed in the link below:

https://www.featool.com/doc/files.html

Ok, so I think its possible to create a whole process flowsheet with multiple parts of models
I saw that you can optimize the geometry in FEATool. For example, I've seen that another software can do this too. I would like to optimize the distance between the tubes in the tube bundle reactor so that the flow of the cooling medium is low, but the conversion of the reaction localizes its optimum. In another software this is only possible in a 2D simulation. In Star CCM + you can do this via the Design Manager. Can such cases also be dealt with in FEATool?

I am currently looking for a suitable CFD software for my PhD that can cover these cases and would not like to spend so much money "for free" now.

Thanks for your help.

CFD2D

PS: Please delete the another post (its written my real name, thanks ;-))