gPROMS File Export: Spray Dryer

Simcenter STAR-CCM+ allows for one-way coupling with gPROMS, a process modeling platform for the simulation of complex systems. In Simcenter STAR-CCM+ you reduce three-dimensional solution data to discrete values defined for clusters of cells; data from these clusters can then be exported to a network in gPROMS.

In general, gPROMS drives the overall system simulation, while Simcenter STAR-CCM+ models the flow within components that require a three-dimensional analysis. The flow solution from Simcenter STAR-CCM+ is exported to a file format that can be read in gPROMS. The flow solution can be used to calibrate system models within gPROMS.

In this simulation, you model the three-dimensional flow within a spray dryer. Spray drying is an industrial method for the production of dry powder from a liquid phase. The liquid droplets are modeled as Lagrangian particles dispersed in a hot gas medium, which rapidly dries the droplets into powder.

For this tutorial, you are provided with a fully set-up simulation of a spray dryer; the tutorial itself focuses on the steps for exporting the flow solution to gPROMS.

To export the Simcenter STAR-CCM+ three-dimensional solution to the gPROMS network, you group the Simcenter STAR-CCM+ mesh cells into clusters. Depending on the field to be exported, Simcenter STAR-CCM+ averages, or sums up, the field solution over the clusters. This process results in reduced fields that can be applied to the gPROMS network.