COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS (CFD) STUDY OF FLOW DEVELOPMENT IN CONCENTRIC ANNULUS AND ECCENTRIC ANNULUS USING TAGUCHI METHOD
Main article
Abstract
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) provides an alternative approach to study about fluid flow in various complex geometries, providing options through the simulations and allowing an alternative form for theoretical advances. The purpose of this study is to find out how the type of flow and the type of annulus affects the overall output. The objectives of this study are to study the fluid flow behaviour with different annulus geometries and investigate the optimum effect of different flow regimes with dissimilar annular passages on velocity profiles using the Taguchi method. In this study, a series of simulations are done for fully developed laminar flow and turbulent flow in different annulus geometry and observed the flow behaviour in the annulus. The factors used in the simulations are flow regime and annulus geometry. It is found that the flow development in the concentric annulus is uniform but non-uniform in the eccentric annulus. The concentric annulus with laminar flow combination gave the lowest maximum velocity, which is 0.0989 m/s at the outlet of the annulus, while the eccentric annulus with turbulent flow combination gave the highest maximum velocity of 2.246 m/s. Through the analysis of the Taguchi method and ANOVA technique, the combination of the eccentric annulus and turbulent flow showed the highest fluid flow velocity with flow regime being the most significant factor (P-value of 0.011) based on the significant value (P-value less than 0.05 is statistically significant). The investigation through the Design of Experiment (DOE) and ANOVA technique should provide the reference for future studies in effectively identifying the effect of other factors such as the annulus design and the operating condition of the cylinders. The suggestions for future studies include studying the effect of drilling mud as the type of fluid and studying the effect of inner shaft rotation on the output by using DOE strategies.
