Loading the Starting Simulation File

You start this tutorial by loading a simulation file that contains the cylindrical reactor geometry, pre-defined mesh operations, regions and boundaries. The geometry and various other settings throughout the simulation are parameterized. The underlying parameters are already included on the starting simulation file.

To load the starting simulation file:
  1. Start up Simcenter STAR-CCM+ in a manner that is appropriate to your working environment and select File > Load....
  2. In the Load a File dialog:
    1. Select an appropriate Process Option.
      Both serial and parallel processes are suitable for this tutorial.
    2. Click Browse.
    3. In the Open dialog, navigate to the discreteElementMethod folder of the downloaded tutorial files and select fluidizedBed.sim.
    4. Click Open, then OK.
  3. To generate the mesh, right-click the Geometry > Operations > Automated Mesh node and select Execute.
  4. To view the mesh, create a new mesh scene.


  5. Expand the Automation > Parameters node and review the pre-defined parameters.
    The following table presents their definitions:
    Parameter Value Definition
    Fluid Density 1.18415 kg/m^3 The constant set value for the density of the fluid in the fluidized bed, ρ f . In the tutorial case, the fluid is air.
    Fluid Mass Flow Rate ${Fluid Density}*${Fluid Velocity}*acos(-1)*pow(${Reactor Radius},2) The fluid's mass flow rate, calculated as m ˙ f ⁢ =   ρ f ⁢   υ f ⁢   π ⁢   R r 2   , where ρ f ⁢   is the fluid density, ⁢   υ f ⁢   is the fluid velocity and ⁢   π ⁢   R r 2   is the area of the cylindrical reactor where R r is the radius of the reactor.
    Fluid Velocity 2.5 m/s The constant set value for the velocity of the fluid at the inlet boundary, ⁢   υ f ⁢   .
    Parcel Diameter 20.0 mm The constant set value for the diameter of the parcels, D , where each parcel houses multiple particles.
    Particle Count floor(pow(${Parcel Diameter}/${Particle Diameter},3)) The particle count, calculated as η p ⁢ =   ( D d ) 3 where η p is the number of particles in one parcel, D is the mean parcel diameter, and d is the mean particle diameter.
    Particle Diameter 4.0 mm The constant set value for the diameter of the particles, d .
    Parcel Number floor(0.6*6*${Reactor Radius}*${Reactor Radius}*${Reactor Fill Level}/pow(${Parcel Diameter},3)) The number of parcels in the reactor, calculated as N p ⁢   = 0.6 D 3 ⋅ 6   R r 2 ⁢ ⋅ H f i l l , where 0.6 is the assumed random packing of parcels and H f i l l is the initial filling height of solid particles in the reactor.
    Pi 3.14159265359 The constant Pi.
    Reactor Fill Level 0.4 m The constant set value for the height to which the reactor is initially filled with particles, H f i l l .
    Reactor Height 2.0 m The constant set value for the height of the reactor, H r .
    Reactor Radius 0.4 m The constant set value for the radius of the reactor, R r .
  6. Save the simulation as fluidizedBed_run.sim.