Hello everybody!

I am an user of SW Flow Simulation. Although I have some experience performing CFD calculations, I am not an expert in the matter. Nonetheless, I am dealing with a problem that I cannot solve for porous media correct calculation.

I am trying to simulate a bag filter equipment, which basically consists in a casing divided into two chambers (dirty and clean), and, between chambers, there are several cylindrical filtering elements (bags) that capture particulate matter. Filter bags are supported in a tubesheet that splits dirty and clean chamber. It is known that these bags can be modeled as porous media, for which I know the filtration mechanical properties.

I carried out a simplified model of the filter in SolidWorks and given the filtration properties to the porous media (I also did some simulations with standard polyester material).

When done the simulation, the flow seems not to follow the expected physical path: flow shall move around the outer surface of the bag from bottom to top, while crossing the surface all along the bag length. Instead, the flow crosses the filter bags from side to side. Find attached two pictures showing flow simulation results and expected flow (from outlet to inlet of bags, without crossing).

In addition, there seems to be some fluid leaks between bags and tubesheet, which means that either model or mesh is not properly done. I have modeled the bags and tubesheet with extra dimensions, to clash both parts, but I do not know if this is ok.

I would like to know if someone has experience in this type of simulation and give me some tips on how to solve these issues.

Thanks a lot!

Fernando