The present work focuses on the treatment of VOC emissions from industrial processes, since they represent a very severe environmental hazard. For removing the VOC, an AOP (Advanced Oxidation Process) stage based on UV light and ozone was considered, analyzing the methods for the unit scale-up. An innovative CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) model, combining UV irradiation, reaction kinetics and fluid dynamics, describing the behavior of UV reactors in the laboratory scale, was developed. This model was verified against experimental results, displaying good agreement. Therefore, we concluded the CFD model could adequately describe relevant features regarding the performance of UV reactors. After analyzing the laboratory reactors, two designed and scaled up prototypes, were simulated using the CFD model. While the first prototype has a standard lamps configuration, the second presents an innovative lamps distribution. As for the laboratory cases, the most relevant features in terms of irradiation and reaction were described for the prototypes, comparing their performance. We evaluated both the overall VOC conversion and VOC conversion per UV lamp, analyzing the energy efficiency of each configuration with adequately accuracy. Therefore, we conclude the developed CFD model to be an important tool for reactor scale-up as a result of the good prediction of experimental results and the accurate description of the governing phenomena. By using the developed model, the scale-up process of UV reactors can be quickly improved, by screening various configurations with the simulator before testing them, saving significant time and effort in the development of full-scale reactors.

A Volume of Fluid (VOF) method is applied to study the interaction between two liquid drops with the same initial diameter in uniform flow. Various arrangements of the drops are studied, based on two parameters, namely the initial separation distance and the angle between the line connecting the centres of the drops and the free-stream direction. Initial separation distances of 1.5–5 drop diameters, and angles between β=0 ∘ and 90° are considered. Simulations for a Weber number of We=20, two Reynolds numbers Re=20 and 50, and density and viscosity ratios in the range ρ * =20–80 and μ * =0.5–50 are performed. The movement of the secondary drop with respect to the primary drop, and estimates on the time required for the breakup of the secondary drop as compared to those observed for single drops are evaluated. It is found that the drops collide only in cases corresponding to the shortest initial displacements, while in others they deform and break up independently, similarly or identically to single drops. The same behaviour is reflected in the time required for breakup. Cases where the drops behave independently show breakup times close to those observed for single drops.

Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) of NOx through injection of Urea-Water-Solution (UWS) into the hot exhaust gas stream is an effective and extensively used strategy in internal combustion engines. Even though actual SCR systems have 95-96% de-NOx efficiency over test cycles, real driving emissions of NOx are a challenge, proving that there is room for improvement. The efficiency of the NOx conversion is highly dependent on the size of UWS droplets and their spatial distribution. These factors are, in turn, mainly determined by the spray characteristics and its interaction with the exhaust gas flow. The main purpose of this study is to numerically investigate the sensitivity to the modelling framework of the evaporation and mixing of the spray upstream of the catalyst. The dynamics of discrete droplets is handled through the Lagrangian Particle Tracking framework, with models that account for droplet breakup and coalescence, turbulence effects, and water evaporation. All simulations have been run in the commercial code Ansys Fluent 16.0. Experimental validation of droplet size distribution is carried out through PDPA measurements. Through the present study we have identified suitable modelling setup that provides accurate results with a competitive computational cost. Results also show the importance of accounting for the effects of evaporation and turbulent fluctuations in the droplet phase.

This paper considers the modelling of spray formation on planing hulls. The focus is on assessing the applicability of the prevailing theories and two-dimensional and three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations in the investigation of different design factors for a novel spray deflection concept. The spray deflection concept is presented and its performance is evaluated by comparison with traditional spray rails. It is found that the prevailing theory where the spray field of a planing hull is represented by a two-dimensional flat planing plate will overestimate the spray thickness, whereas the theories that are based on wedge impact are correlating well with the results from the CFD simulations. Compared to a bare hull, adding spray deflectors reduces the viscous resistance by 28% for the studied cases. The spray deflectors further redirect the spray aftwards which reduce the total drag an additional 4%. The paper also discusses various aspects on CFD modelling of spray formation.

Higher education environments are becoming more and more diverse, regarding both gender and cultural background, which could pose significant challenges for both students and teachers. In order to raise the topic amongst STEM students, a lecture on Diversity has been implemented in the course Research Methodologies for Engineering Mechanics, where different concepts regarding equality have been introduced and unconscious bias have been explained to the students. The lecture was placed in the middle of the course so that students could reflect back on their previous evaluations and enable them to correct their biases in the second half of the course. Feedback of the whole course has also been compared between the 2016 and 2015 editions, where this lecture was not present. The results show that a lecture in Diversity and Equality is especially useful for female students, strongly supporting its inclusion in the course.

This paper presents a combined experimental and theoretical investigation of the disintegration of fan-shaped liquid sheets produced by industrial fan-spray atomizers. The disintegration regimes observed for different geometries and operating conditions are described, proving the paramount role of nozzle flow on the final characteristics of the spray produced. The concept of breakup length is redefined to account for the stochastic nature of liquid stream disintegration. An analogy is established between the breakup of a liquid sheet dominated by the wave mode and a radial sheet, obtaining good agreement with the experiments. However, in those cases where several disintegration regimes coexist, the breakup length cannot be given by an analytical expression. Finally, the influence of the disintegration regime on both the droplet size and the spatial distribution of the droplets is investigated, confirming the strong influence of rim breakup.

Among all the literature devoted to the investigation of sprays, very few works deal with the influence of the nozzle’s geometry on the characteristics of the spray produced, even though it has been proved to play a crucial role in certain operating regimes. The present paper presents criteria for the determination of the dominant disintegration regime in industrial fan-spray atomizers through CFD simulations accounting for the atomizer’s geometry.