Fluid Mechanics

The mechanics of fluid flow is a fundamental engineering discipline explaining both natural phenomena and human-induced processes, and a thorough understanding of it is central to the operations of the oil and gas industry. This book, written by some of the world’s best-known and respected petroleum engineers, covers the concepts, theories, and applications of the mechanics of fluid flow for the veteran engineer working in the field and the student, alike. It is a must-have for any engineer working in the oil and gas industry.

The book aims at providing to master and PhD students the basic knowledge in fluid mechanics for chemical engineers. Applications to mixing and reaction and to mechanical separation processes are addressed. The first part of the book presents the principles of fluid mechanics used by chemical engineers, with a focus on global theorems for describing the behavior of hydraulic systems. The second part deals with turbulence and its application for stirring, mixing and chemical reaction. The third part addresses mechanical separation processes by considering the dynamics of particles in a flow and the processes of filtration, fluidization and centrifugation. The mechanics of granular media is finally discussed.

Interfaces are present in most fluid mechanics problems. They not only denote phase separations and boundary conditions, but also thin flames and discontinuity waves. Fluid Mechanics at Interfaces 1 focuses on the science of interfaces, in particular, using various scientific methods of analysis relating to space, speed and time. Our investigation takes us from the microscopic or small scale (starting with molecular and nanoscopic scales) to the macroscopic (including meso and interstellar scales), and also explores the laws of interfaces (classical mechanics, quantum mechanics and relativistic mechanics).

Chapter 1 examines the questions raised by modeling interfaces in the presence of one or more fluid phases. Chapter 2 discusses the action of turbulence in liquid–vapor flows that contain both small, dispersed bubbles as well as large bubbles, with heat exchanges at the interfaces. In addition, a new model is presented, using large eddy simulation (LES). Chapter 3 studies an original method for calculating the drag force and thermal transfers in flows around networks of spherical particles, while Chapter 4 focuses on the relationships between interfaces and critical fluids.

Chapter 5 examines shearing, which causes anomalies in the Brownian motion of particles in strongly fluctuating near-critical mixtures, and Chapter 6 introduces basic concepts related to combustion interfaces, raising the question of the combustion of solids, before ending with a brief presentation of the Rankine–Hugoniot theory and a historical overview of the research carried out in the field of combustion.

Interfaces are present in most fluid mechanics problems. They not only denote phase separations and boundary conditions, but also thin flames and discontinuity waves. Fluid Mechanics at Interfaces 2 examines cases that involve one-dimensional or bi-dimensional manifolds, not only in gaseous and liquid physical states but also in subcritical fluids and in single- and multi-phase systems that may be pure or mixed.

Chapter 1 addresses certain aspects of turbulence in discrete mechanics, briefly describing the physical model associated with discrete primal and dual geometric topologies before focusing on channel flow simulations at turbulence-inducing Reynolds numbers. Chapter 2 centers on atomization in an accelerating domain. In one case, an initial Kelvin–Helmholtz instability generates an acceleration field, in turn creating a Rayleigh–Taylor instability which ultimately determines the size of the droplets formed. Chapter 3 explores numerical studies of pipes with sudden contraction using OpenFOAM, and focuses on modeling that will be useful for engines and automobiles.

Chapters 4 and 5 study the evaporation of droplets that are subject to high-frequency perturbations, a possible cause of instabilities in injection engines. The Heidmann model, which replaces the droplets in motion in a combustion chamber with a single continuously-fed droplet, is made more complex by considering the finite conduction heat transfer phenomenon. Finally, Chapter 6 is devoted to a study of the rotor blade surface of a Savonius wind turbine, considering both a non-stationary and a three-dimensional flow.

In fluid mechanics, velocity measurement is fundamental in order to improve the behavior knowledge of the flow. Velocity maps help us to understand the mean flow structure and its fluctuations, in order to further validate codes. Laser velocimetry is an optical technique for velocity measurements; it is based on light scattering by tiny particles assumed to follow the flow, which allows the local fluid flow velocity and its fluctuations to be determined. It is a widely used non-intrusive technique to measure velocities in fluid flows, either locally or in a map. This book presents the various techniques of laser velocimetry, as well as their specific qualities: local measurements or in plane maps, mean or instantaneous values, 3D measurements. Flow seeding with particles is described with currently used products, as well as the appropriate aerosol generators. Post-processing of data allows us to extract synthetic information from measurements and to perform comparisons with results issued from CFD codes. The principles and characteristics of the different available techniques, all based on the scattering of light by tiny particles embedded in the flow, are described in detail; showing how they deliver different information, either locally or in a map, mean values and turbulence characteristics.

This textbook presents essential methodology for physicists of the theory and applications of fluid mechanics within a single volume. Building steadily through a syllabus, it will be relevant to almost all undergraduate physics degrees which include an option on hydrodynamics, or a course in which hydrodynamics figures prominently.

This new book builds on the original classic textbook entitled: An Introduction to Computational Fluid Mechanics by C. Y. Chow which was originally published in 1979. In the decades that have passed since this book was published the field of computational fluid dynamics has seen a number of changes in both the sophistication of the algorithms used but also advances in the computer hardware and software available. This new book incorporates the latest algorithms in the solution techniques and supports this by using numerous examples of applications to a broad range of industries from mechanical and aerospace disciplines to civil and the biosciences. The computer programs are developed and available in MATLAB. In addition the core text provides up-to-date solution methods for the Navier-Stokes equations, including fractional step time-advancement, and pseudo-spectral methods. The computer codes at the following website: www.wiley.com/go/biringen