Odor and CFD engineering

Many industrialists are satisfied after implementing a gas treatment system, thinking that the problem that did not let them sleep for several months is already solved. But shortly after, they have again incidents and claims from neighboring communities, what failed?

The correct design of any treatment system and its processes, in any orama area, is based on considering each and every one of the variables involved to correctly represent the process and thus get as close as possible to the expected result. For the design of a gas treatment system, it applies the same principle and then, the "good design" of a control system must not only consider the despondency of polluting loads, but also a fundamental pillar in this design is the extraction network and the management of gases.

A gas despondency equipment with 99.9% efficiency, finally does not fulfill its purpose if there are leaks in the extraction system.

In this note we will tell you about the Computational Fluid Dynamics tool or CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) and how its application helps to answer a series of questions such as: why do odor problems still exist if I have already implemented a system? Is my extraction system efficient? Do I have fugitive emissions in my plant? How to evaluate if a control system is efficient?

Not long ago, Fluid Dynamics was carried out "on hand" based on theoretical-empirical methods, using pilot systems and replicating the tests again and again, scaling the observed results. This methodology on several occasions caused the poor sizing of the extraction systems (under or oversizing), which was only verified once the investment was made and the operation began... too late, right?

The CFD allows us through a computational model to represent the flows of different gases, associated with various sources and for multiple scenarios. That is, a huge range of possibilities are opened to represent all the events of interest and with this information we advance to the next stage of the "good design", integrating an efficient gas extraction network to incorporate them into an adequate treatment system.

The CFD allows, among other aspects: - Reduce the need for physical prototypes - Reduce solution implementation times - Minimize failures - Reduce costs - Evaluate systems in operation and detect opportunities for their improvement.

The application of CFDs allows you to define the best strategies for the management of gases and odors, working on a design adapted to the needs of each particular process, regulating the optimal flows to be extracted from each source.

If you want to know more about this tool, we invite you to ask for expert advice here.