CFD Analysis of Fluid Flow Above the Upper Weir of an Annular Centrifugal Contactor

Abstract

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of the flow inside the upper portion of the rotor of an annular centrifugal contactor were performed to explore the effect of weir cap design on flow patterns in this region and compare versus open upper weirdesigns. Flow patterns and pressure drop were compared. It was found that the cap design can be easily modified to smooth the flow profile and enable steady exit flow, but that venting of the cap is required to eliminate negative pressure buildup above the weir.

Keywords:

• annular centrifugal contactors
• computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
• liquid–liquid extraction
• separations

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We gratefully acknowledge the use of the Fusion Linux Cluster maintained by the Laboratory Computing Resource Center at Argonne National Laboratory. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, under Contract DE-AC02-06CH11357.