PHOENICS - Cham

PHOENICSNewsAutumn 2005News from the pioneers of computational fluid dynamics

INTRODUCTIONIn the last newsletter, weannounced the release ofPHOENICS-3.6, and welcomedseveral new agents andrepresentatives for PHOENICSaround the world. This issue ofPHOENICS News focuses onseveral new initiatives concerningpartnerships and products.Our current partnerships with organisations such asVector AS for Windsim, MFRDC for MIGAL, CSI forGeoGrid, and Denford Ltd for the F1-In-Schoolsprogramme, all remain in force with continuedgrowth expected for 2005/2006. Last year, wesigned another collaborative agreement withHevacomp Ltd, which will come to fruition thisautumn in the form of a new Dynamic ThermalSimulation package for the building servicescommunity.CHAM’s John Ludwig (right) shows PHOENICSrepresentatives Geert Janssen (centre) and Hans Mindt(left) just how high they are required to jump.Now, we are pleased to announce the availability of anew PHOENICS Unstructured Grid Option [PH-UGO]. Marketed exclusively by CHAM, PH-UGO isreleased as a result of collaboration between CHAMLtd and Symban Power Systems Ltd to incorporate itsAPUS-CFD product within our suite of PHOENICSsoftware.Read on to find out more.BENELUX MEETING REVIEWThe 2005 PHOENICS Users Meeting for the Beneluxregion was held at the Aristo Centre in Eindhoven on24 th May. Our thanks go to Sylvie Stevens, and toGeert Janssen of A2TE, for their splendid organisationof a very successful event.Pictures courtesy of Dr David Glynn, Flowsolve LtdA CD of the presentations made during the meeting isavailable for order from Petula Smith, email:ps@cham.co.uk.CONTENTSAs one might expect, mostof the 30 delegates camefrom Belgium and Hollandbut we had quite a fewwelcome additions fromGermany and the UK.Several of the presentations concentrated on theapplication of PHOENICS to HVAC and fire-relatedcases so the audience was particularly interested tolearn of the FLAIR updates available with PHOENICS-V3.6.1.Front PagePage 2Page 3Page 4Page 5Page 6Page 7Page 8Page 9Page 10Offshore rig in BrazilPictures courtesy of CHEMTECHBenelux ReviewEcotecnica / Excelair Library CaseHEVACOMP / Wembley Fire StudiesWhat’s New in PHOENICS-3.6.1APUS-CFD / PHOENICS - UGOPH-UGO / PHOENICS OnlineDispersion of Air-borne PollutantsNews & EventsCorporate Addresses / Agents2PHOENICS News Autumn 2005

PHOENICS On-Line CUSTOMERECOTÈCNIA has been carrying out activities in thefield of renewable energies since its foundation in1981. It designs, manufactures and operates itsown wind turbines, building "turnkey" wind farms forcustomers and assembling solar energyinstallations.A REAL LIBRARY CASEDutch consulting firm, Excelair Bv, used PHOENICS-3.5.1 with FLAIR for a study of fire and smoke spreadin a library within an Academy in Maastricht. Theparticular concern was the effect of fire and smoke onthe emergency stairwell escape route.In the simulation shown, the door to the library to theescape route is open. A 5MW fire with a size of 3 x 3metres was defined using data supplied from the FireResearch Station.Within the wind farm projects development andengineering department, intensive on-field windmeasurements are performed at about 200 sitesspread around the globe. Measurements are madeby anemometers located on top of tall (40-70m)tubular masts to represent, as accurately aspossible, the turbine hub-heights currently in therange of 70-100m.In our department, the PHOENICS On-Line servicehas been used to investigate the influence of thegeometry of these masts on the flow measured bythe anemometer (figure 1).The fire was simulated for the first 600 seconds -perceived to be the most critical period while peopleescape.The conclusions drawn from the study were that thesmoke and gas temperatures in the first phase of thefire (up to the critical 600 second limit) are sufficientlylow that this would not have any adverse effect forpeople escaping.After 300 seconds, the smoke has finally spread to theescape route (stairwell). Up until that point, peoplecan escape with good visibility (> 30 meters) in thestairwell. After that time people have to escapethrough the smoke, but the distance to a smoke freezone is then less then 30 meters.The simulations have been run at differentdistances from the mast top, for different mastdiameters and for different wind speeds. The resultshave allowed us to get a complete quantitativepicture of the phenomenon (figure 2) and agreedwell with the measurements available.More information pmoreno@ecotecnia.comCalculation of smoke spread in time in an academy.On the second floor (library) is a bookshelf on fire withthe door open to the escaping route (stairwell).Bert Bron, ExcelAir b.v., www.excelair.comPHOENICS News Autumn 2005 3

HEVACOMP - CFDHevacomp (formed in 1981) is the firmly establishedUK market leader in building services design and CADsoftware. Hevacomp software is acknowledged as theindustry standard, with over 2000 user sites - thelargest user base of any developer in the buildingservices field.Inline with Hevacomp’s vision to bring DynamicThermal Simulation and CFD analysis within easyreach of every engineer, Hevacomp has joined forceswith CHAM. A new module will be available in latesummer that will link Hevacomp’s new DynamicThermal Simulation package to CHAM’s PHOENICSCFD solver.The room geometry information, including the surfacetemperatures and convection coefficients, togetherwith room objects like diffusers and heat sources, willbe parametricallycreated inHevacomp’s newSimulationmodule. Thecomplete input filewill be passed tothe CFD solverprovided byCHAM.A key issue was the accurate modelling of diffusersand grilles. CHAM in co-operation with Hevacomp hasimplemented diffuser objects based on ASHRAEresearch.The new Hevacomp Simulation package enablesdetailed heat gain simulations with detailed shadowanalysis, heat loss simulations, summertimetemperatures including mixed mode ventilation studies,overheating frequencies and extensive energyconsumption and carbon calculations studies.www.Hevacomp.comCONNELL WAGNER FIRE STUDIES ONWEMBLEY STADIUMThis international sporting icon is in the course ofbeing redeveloped to uphold the unrivalled status ofthis unique venue well into the 21 st century. Acomprehensive fire engineering review has beenundertaken by Connell Wagner, with the aid ofPHOENICS, to ensure compliance with BuildingRegulations as well as conformance to the UnitedKingdom Green Guide principles for sports stadia.In support of the fire engineering review, substantialCFD modelling was undertaken to demonstratecompliance with performance requirements. A keydesign requirement is the use of passive architecturalmeasures as opposed to mechanical smokemanagement systems, as this approach provides thegreatest reliability as well as lowest cost.An unusual feature of this stadium is that itincorporates an underground service “ring road” belowthe stadium pitch arena, primarily for access andparking facilities for service and outside broadcast(OB) vehicles. This area is effectively similar to a roadtunnel and an effective mechanical smoke extractionsystem needs to be designed to meet regulatoryrequirements.Fires up to35MW wereconsidered. Thefire is assumedto occur within anOB vehicle orsimilar truck.Various casescenarios wereconsidered,including different fire locations and sizes, differentmechanical extraction rates, and with and without theinfluence of a sprinkler system activated.The results from the CFD analysis were used toensure the mechanical extraction system satisfied thecriteria of indefinite tenability beyond 60m either sideof the fire location and below a vertical height of 2m fortemperature and smoke.Dr Eric Jal, Connell Wagner, email:JalE@conwag.com4PHOENICS News Autumn 2005

WHAT’S NEW IN PHOENICS-3.6.1IntroductionMany changes have been made in PHOENICSsince the release of version 3.5.1. They include:• The extension of the PHOENICS objectconcept to permit both geometric and nongeometricattributes to be stored together• Provision of a 'guaranteed convergence'feature• Further developments of fluid-structureinteractions• Provision of new features in the graphicaluser interface• Improvements to FLAIR, the specialpurposeprogram for HVAC and fires inbuildings• Extensions to the PHOENICS Commander• Re-working of Shapemaker which can nowadd and store non-geometric attributes ofobjects, as well as creating their shapes• Easier remote access via 'PHOENICS-online'• Use of dynamic storage in all modules• Restoration and extension of parallel-PHOENICS capabilities.These changes, and the reasons for them, aredescribed atwww.cham.co.uk/phoenics/d_polis/d_docs/tr006/tr006.docEnhanced Flow VisualisationPHOENICS now has a number of additional postprocessingfeatures to help present results suchas...- Animated streamlines- Segments- Vectors- Balls- Recording of pan/zoom/fly-through- Multiple contour planes- Highlight min/max values- Vector width control for clarity of viewingSelected pre- & post-processing optionsBox ZoomIt has always been possible to zoom in and out inthe pre- and post- processors. However this hasrequired the user gradually to zoom into a particularviewpoint. A CAD-like facility has been added to boxthe area of interest and zoom in to the detail in onemove.Re-usable objects and groups of objectsAfter spending the time and effort accuratelymodelling a heat source such as a rack of electronicequipment or the flow through a perforated floor,users may want to re-use these features in othermodels. PHOENICS now allows groups of objects,complete with their attributes (material type,temperature etc), to be stored for use on the nextcase.AnimationsAlthough streamlines can be animated, this is notthe same as being able to record zoom, pan or flythoughof a model for subsequent presentations. Acamera button has been added to the Viewerhandset to allow the recording, playback and savingof a series of screen movements in GIF or AVIformat.PHOENICS News Autumn 2005 5

ANNOUNCING A NEW PHOENICSUNSTRUCTURED GRID OPTIONIn response to requests for an unstructured gridoption within PHOENICS for a certain range ofapplications and vertical markets, CHAM has signedan exclusive agreement with UK software developerSymban Power Systems Ltd, to apply and distributeits APUS-CFD package.APUS-CFD is a robust, fully interactive, ArbitraryPolyhedral Unstructured Solver. APUS-CFDcombines a powerful mesh generation and flowvisualization tool and provides a complete solutionfrom model-building to automatic mesh generation;from parallel and grid computing to real timevisualization; all in a truly integrated and interactiveenvironment.When fully integrated with PHOENICS, this newoption will become known as PH-UGO. However,whilst there is commonality with PHOENICS viaSTL geometry import, at present, APUS-CFDremains a separate CFD code and userenvironment.The integrated modelbuilder, meshgenerator, pre-/postprocessor,solver andreal timevisualization, allowthe user to:Temperaturecontours in theproximity of a HeatSink• Build complex models from pre-builtassemblies and imported STL files or otherCAD geometries;• Generate automatically high-quality hexadominantmeshes from complexgeometries;• Interact with the system in real time,allowing to change solution parameters,without stopping the solver execution;• Visualise field values (contours and vectordisplays) while the solution progresses;• Access and post-process the solution datain a flexible manner (contours, vectors, isosurfaces,streamlines, XY plotting).Pressure contours on the surface of a Formula-Vee carThe APUS-CFD modelling capabilities include:• Space: zero-dimensional (one arbitrarypolyhedral cell), one-dimensional, twodimensional,axi-symmetric and threedimensional• Grid refinement• Steady-state or transient analysis• Incompressible or compressible flows• Inviscid, laminar or turbulent flows• Convective heat transfer, including naturalor forced convection• Conjugate heat transfer (coupledconduction/convection)• Unlimited number of scalar variables• Arbitrary volumetric sources of heat, mass,momentum, turbulence, and chemicalspecies• Built-in boundary objects: volumeresistance, face resistance, thermalresistance, etc.• Temperature-dependent material properties• Flow in porous media• Flexible user programming• Parallel processing• Remote and Grid ComputingValidationAPUS-CFD has been benchmarked and validatedon a number of industrial applications, including thetest-cases of the participating organizations in theEU-funded project called FLOWGRID.6PHOENICS News Autumn 2005

Recently, APUS-CFD has been benchmarked, on acase provided by CHAM, to predict the drag forceon a Formula-Vee car at different wind speeds.The mesh was generated automatically from anSTL file (1.039 Million cells). The turnaround timeincluding mesh generation and running the solverwas 3 hours on a single CPU AMD Opteron (2.19GHz).Drag Force (N) on a Formula-Vee carWind Speed/ mphPredictions(APUS-CFD)Wind Tunneltests40 124.59 120.550 197.58 195.560 283.80 292.570 386.78 384.680 503.88 479.8The results show good agreement with wind tunneltests. Contours of pressure on the surface of the carare shown in the picture on page 6 above, for awind speed of 70 mph.600500400300PHOENICS ON-LINE UPDATEPHOENICS On-Line continues to be a popularmethod for both evaluating and using PHOENICS.Several tens of customers now access PHOENICSOn-Line as their preferred style of using the code.The system is simple enough – all you need is“faster-than-dial-up” access to the Internet. CHAMmakes an all-inclusive monthly charge for unlimited24/7access to servers comprising of multiple 3GHzPC computers. Once a username and passwordhas been supplied, customers gain access to twoversions of PHOENICS – currently, PHOENICS-3.5.1 and PH-3.6.0 that will shortly be replaced bythe PH-3.6.1release described in this newsletter.Using the PHOENICS Commander style,prospective customers can evaluate PHOENICS viathe free “Look Learn Try” facility.CHAM’s sales personnel and agents alike also usePHOENICS On-Line for “remote” demonstrationpurposes. Consequently, customers can view ontheir own systems, example cases as they arebeing created and run from CHAM. This facilityprovides similar benefits to customer casesrequiring investigation by CHAM’s TechnicalSupport Team.PHOENICS ONLINE200100040 50 60 70 80Predicted (APUS-CFD)Wind Tunnel testsComparisons of Drag Force (N) against wind speed (mph)Prices for this new option will be announced shortlybut are likely to be similar to CHAM’s current pricingstructure for PHOENICS.Combined PHOENICS / APUS-CFD licensees willbenefit from discounted terms. For furtherinformation, contact the Sales Dept or email:sales@cham.co.ukPHOENICS Online provides customers with interactiveaccess to PHOENICS via the Internet. Unlimited use forone all-inclusive monthly payment. The service is idealfor short-term or project-based use of the code, or forthose wishing to gain access from multiple locations. Allyou need is access to the Internet.Call CHAM today to arrange a free trial.PHOENICS News Autumn 2005 7

DISPERSION OF AIR-BORNEPOLLUTANTSBy Andrea Vignaroli, Department of IndustrialEngineering of the University of Perugia, Italy.WindSim, a PHOENICS-based Special-Purpose-Product (SPP), developed by the Norwegiancompany VECTOR AS was launched thesummer 2003. WindSim is user-friendly softwarefor the simulation of local wind field in complexterrain. In particular the software has been usedwithin the wind energy sector for prediction of theenergy production obtained from wind turbines.Now VECTOR AS is enlarging the applicationfield of the product to the simulation of dispersionof air-borne pollutants. The realization of thisextension is a co-operation between VECTORAS, the Dept of Industrial Engineering of theUniversity of Perugia and Demetra ResearchLaboratory, also in Perugia. Similar to thedevelopment towards wind energy the aim isagain to offer user-friendly software for dispersionmodelling and evaluation of environmental risks.About Dispersion ModellingThe phenomenon of dispersion of air-bornepollutant is modelled with two approachessupported by the PHOENICS solver:• GENTRA for particle pollutant;• PASSIVE DISPERSION for gas pollutantor smell.About Output DataThese are the output selected referring to theenvironmental prescriptions:• concentration map of accidental release;• concentration map of short termsimulation for a given wind speed anddirection;• concentration map of a long termsimulation for a given climatology;• 3D visualization of the concentration field.Applicability Fields• Spatial Scale: local and meso scale;• Territory type: every kind of site;• Time Scale: every kind of period (from 1hr to a year);• Source type: every kind of source likepoint, line and surface sources;• Pollutant type: non-reactive primarypollutant.Fig.1: Long Term simulation using GENTRAThe code can be applied to common situation: asthe dispersion from a chimney, the analysis of airquality near a factory or a waste treatment plant,the study of an accidental release to theevaluation of a year averaged concentration map.The use of a CFD solver gives the software goodpredictive performance even in complex terrainwhere other methods do not perform very well.The software can be used for the interpretationand extrapolation of measured data in the area ofinterest. It can be used in particular for theevaluation of environmental impact of futurefactories or infrastructures.Fig.2: Short Term simulation using PASSIVE DISPERSIONFor further information please refer tohttp://windsim.com8PHOENICS News Autumn 2005

NEWS AND EVENTSSIA International CongressVenue: SIA, LyonDate: 26 th to 27 th October 2005Hosted By: Société des Ingénieurs del’AutomobileContact: Marc CharletTel: +33 1 41 44 93 75Fax: +33 1 41 44 93 79Email: marc.charlet@sia.frFire Safety in Terrestrial PassengerTransportation CongressVenue: University of Cantabria, SantanderDate: 20 th October 2005Contact: Juan Sole, Aertia Software SLTel: +34 9 3265 1320Fax: +34 93 265 2351Email: jmsole@aertia.comASME 2005 Summer ConferenceProfessor Brian Spalding delivered a keynoteaddress entitled ‘A Simplified CFD Method for theDesign of Heat Exchangers’ at this year’s ASME2005 Summer Conference on AdvancedComputational Methods and Applications for HeatExchanger Design. The conference was held in SanFrancisco from 17 th to 22 nd July.3-day PHOENICS Training CoursesVenue DatesCHAM 20 th to 22 nd September 2005CHAM 15 th to 17 th November 2005Tel: +44 (0)20 8947 7651Fax: +44 (0)20 8879 3497Email: sales@cham.co.uk1-day PHOENICS Introductory SeminarsVenue: Dates:CHAM 28 th September 2005CHAM 25 th October 2005CHAM 29 th November 2005WindSim UpdateVECTOR will present WindSim at the followingupcoming exhibitions.Rome, 29th September – 1st October 2005,Eolica Expo Mediterraneanwww.eolicaexpo.com/en/Husum, 22nd-24th September 2005,HUSUMwindwww.husumwind.com/english/index_e.htmlAthens, 27th February – 2nd March 2006, EWECwww.ewea.org/06b_events/events_2006EWEC.htmShare news, views and experiences with otherPHOENICS users via CFD Online – a free servicefor all.www.cfd-online.com/Forum/phoenics.cgiNow this is practical fluid flow analysis !Professor Brian Spaldingindulges in someexperimental “whiteknuckle” hydrodynamicsstudies during a visit tothe Mercer River in July2005STANDALONE PHOENICS VIEWERPHOENICS licensing options have beenextended to offer the VR-Viewer as a stand-aloneproduct, enabling clients to display and presentresults on multiple systems whilst retaining thesolver elsewhere. PHOENICS On-Line users willbenefit similarly.Prices for the VR-Viewer start from £500 –contact sales@cham.co.uk for further informationPHOENICS News is designed and compiled byPeter SpaldingComments and articles for future publication shouldbe sent to:CHAM Limited 40 High Street, Wimbledon Village,London SW19 5AUOr emailed to: pls@cham.co.ukPHOENICS News Autumn 2005 9

CORPORATE ADDRESSESCHAM Limited40 High Street, Wimbledon VillageLondon SW19 5AU, United KingdomTel: +44 (0)20 8947 7651Fax:+44 (0)20 8879 3497Email: phoenics@cham.co.ukWeb: www.cham.co.ukAGENT ADDRESSESAUSTRALIA - ACADS-BSGemail: acadsbsg@ozemail.com.auweb: www.ozemail.com.au/~acadsbsgBALKANS - Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciencesemail: xgrafon@eunet.yuweb: www.vin.bg.ac.yu/140BRAZIL – CHEMTECHemail: chemtech@chemtech.com.brweb: www.chemtech.com.brCHINA - CHAM Shanghaiemail: cham@phoenics.cnweb: www.phoenics.cnEGYPT - Hydro Consultemail: elbaz@link.netFINLAND - GEM Systemsemail: gem.systems@gemsystems.fiweb: www.gemsystems.fiFRANCE – Arcofluidemail: arcofluid@wanadoo.frweb: www.arcofluid.monsite.wanadoo.frGERMANY - a-CFDemail: hw.mindt@a-cfd.deweb: www.acfd.deGREECE – Sybillaemail: mail@sybilla.grweb: www.sybilla.grINDIA - C-DACemail: vikask@cdacindia.comweb: www.cdac.inINDIA - KLG SYSTEL LTDemail: navendu@klgsystel.comweb: www.klgsystel.comITALY - Lasertec SRLemail: l.vittori@lasertecsrl.itweb: www.lasertecsrl.itJAPAN - CRC Solutionsemail: a-suzuki.crc.co.jpweb: www.crc.co.jpKOREA - ACT2000email: dsyeom@act-e.co.krweb: www.act-e.co.krCHAM Japan406 Kojimachi Intelegent Bldg 4F, 3-5-4 Kojimachi,Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102, JapanTel: +81 35 21 09 356Fax: +81 35 21 09 359Email: customer@phoenics.co.jpWeb: www.phoenics.co.jpMALAYSIA – Cybron Technologyemail: danalakshmi@cybron.co.myweb: www.cybronasia.comMEXICO - Vortex de Mexicoemail: vortexmx@prodigy.net.mxMIDDLE EAST - Locke Carey Consultantsemail: lcfsc@lockecarey.aeweb: www.lockecarey.comNETHERLANDS – A2TEemail: gjannsen@iae.nlNORWAY - LM FlowConsultemail: terje.toften@larsmyhre.noweb: www.afconsult.com/RUSSIA – Science Service Centreemail: algin@online.ruSPAIN - Aertia Software SLemail: jmsole@aertia.comweb: www.aertia.comTAIWAN – CHAMPIONemail: sales@c-h-a-m-p-i-o-n.com.twweb: www.c-h-a-m-p-i-o-n.com.twTURKEY - Hidronerji ve Enerji Sistemleri, Muhendislikemail: ytopcu@hidronerji.comweb: http://hidronerji.comUK - S&C Thermofluidsemail: tony.smith@thermofluids.co.ukweb: www.thermofluids.co.ukUK - Flowsolve Ltdemail: cfd@flowsolve.comweb: www.flowsolve.comUKRAINE - IET, NASemail: ksg@vortex.org.uaWeb: www.ittf.kiev.uaUSA / CANADA – ACFDAemail: acfda@sympatico.caWeb: www3.sympatico.ca/acfdaUSA - DD&G Incemail: parisp@bellsouth.net10 PHOENICS News Autumn 2005

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