Journal of Nuclear Science, Engineering and Technology (JONSAT)
In cooperation with the Iranian Nuclear Society

Simulation of gas flow around the scoop in a two-dimensional (r-θ) centrifugal rotor using the direct Monte Carlo method

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

V. Ghazanfari 1
A.A. Ghorbanpour Khamseh 1
M.M Shademan 1
J. Safdari 1
M.H Askari 2

1 Nuclear Fuel Cycle Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, AEOI, P.O.Box:11365-8486, Tehran-Iran

2 Advanced Technologies Company of Iran, AEOI, P.O. Box: 14399-55431, Tehran - Iran

https://doi.org/10.24200/nst.2021.898.1608
Abstract
One of the driving factors for creating axial flow inside the gas centrifuge rotor to increase the separation performance is the scoop. Due to the exposure of the scoop to the high Mach gas flow, the flow will be shocked, and strong gradients will occur in the flow.  In this research, the gas flow around the scoop in a two-dimensional state (r-θ) is simulated by the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo method (DSMC) using the dsmcFoam solver at different distances of the scoop from the rotor wall. The results show that increasing the distance of the scoop from the rotor wall and decreasing the contact angle of the gas flow with the scoop reduces the maximum temperature and drag force. For instance, increasing the distance of the scoop from the wall by 31% (from 8 to 10.5 mm) in 3800 Pa wall pressure and 85° contact angle, causing a maximum temperature decrease of 1.3% (from 596 to 588 K) and also the drag force is reduced by 49.4% (2412 to 1221 dyn). Furthermore, reducing the angle of the gas flow with the scoop by 11.8% (from 85 ° to 75 °) in 3800 Pa wall pressure and at the distance of the scoop from the wall equal to 10.5 mm causes a maximum temperature decrease of 6.8% (from 588 To 548 K) and the drag force is reduced by 50.3% (1552 to 771 dyn).

Keywords

Centrifuge rotor
Scoop
Simulation
Direct Simulation Monte Carlo method
Solver
dsmcFoam
1.       M. Benedict, T.H. Pigford, H.W. Levi, Nuclear Chemical Engineering, 2nd ed., McGraw-Hill, (1981).
 
2. D.R. Olander, The theory of uranium enrichment by the gas centrifuge, Progress in Nuclear Energy, 8, 1-33 (1981). 
 
3. V.D. Borman, et al, The computer simulation of 3-d gas dynamics in a gas, Journal of Physics, 751-760, (2016).
 
4. Y.N. Zhang, et al, On the scoop heating effect of a gas centrifuge in numerical simulation, Journal of Physics, Conference Series, (2018).
 
5. P. Omnes, Numerical and physical comparisons of two models of a gas centrifuge, Computers & Fluids, 36, 1028–1039 (2007).
 
6. A. Bhagat, H. Gijare, N. Dongari, Modeling of knudsen layer effects in the micro-scale backward-facing step in the slip flow regime, Micromachines,  10, 118-133, (2019).
 
7. M. Darbandi, E. Roohi, Applying a hybrid DSMC/Navier–Stokes frame to explore the effect of splitter catalyst plates in micro/nanopropulsion systems, Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, 189, 409-419 (2013).
 
8. C. White,et al, DsmcFoam+: An OpenFOAM based direct simulation Monte Carlo, Computer Physics Communications, 224, 22-43 (2018).
 
9. G.A. Bird, Molecular Gas Dynamics, London: Oxford University Press (1976).
 
10. H. Ya-Ling, T. Wen-Quan, Multiscale Simulation of heat transfer and fluid flow problem, Journal of Heat Transfer, 134, 3 (2012).
 
11. K. Farber, Development and validation of a coupled Navier–Stokes/DSMC simulation for rarefied gas flow in the production process for OLEDs, Applied Mathematics and Computation, 272, 648-656 (2016).
 
12. S. Yousefi-Nasaba, et al, Determination of momentum accommodation coefficients and velocity distribution function for Noble gas-polymeric surface interactions using molecular dynamics simulation, Applied Surface Science, 493, 766-778 (2019).
 
13. M. Khajenoori, et al, Modeling and simulating of feed flow in a gas centrifuge using the Monte Carlo method to calculate the maximum separation power, Journal of Molecular Modeling, 25, 333 (2019).
 
14. G. Bird, Molecular gas dynamics and the direct simulation of gas flows, Oxford University Press, New York: Oxford University Press (1994).
 
15. J. Zhang, et al, Particle-based hybrid and multiscale methods for nonequilibrium gas flows, Advances in Aerodynamics, 12, 1-12, (2019).

Home