Technology Category
- Sensors - Infrared Sensors
- Sensors - Thermal Conductivity Sensors
Applicable Industries
- Renewable Energy
- Transportation
Applicable Functions
- Logistics & Transportation
Use Cases
- Last Mile Delivery
- Transportation Simulation
About The Customer
The customer in this case study is a biofuels company based in Longmont, Colorado. The company's primary goal is to become a leader in the conversion of woody biomass into drop-in transportation fuels. They are committed to leveraging advanced technologies to overcome the challenges associated with high-temperature bioreforming. The company is focused on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of their processes, particularly in the areas of gas-solid separation, thermal stress resistance, and biomass conversion rates. They are also interested in exploring partnerships with technology providers to enhance their capabilities and achieve their objectives.
The Challenge
A biofuels company based in Longmont, CO, aimed to be a leader in converting woody biomass into drop-in transportation fuels. However, they faced several challenges in the high-temperature bioreforming process. One of the key challenges was the small-scale gas-solid separator classifier, which was designed to separate particles from gases by size from a product stream for subsequent analysis. Another challenge was determining a material’s resistance to thermal stress. The company hypothesized that the rapid insertion of a cold lance into a hot chamber would create a stress spike sufficient to break the specimen. Furthermore, the biomass conversion rates depended on an evolving particle size distribution, particle shape, and porosity. The physical properties used in CFD depended on temperature, pressure, and composition.
The Solution
The company utilized Altair Technologies, specifically AcuSolve and OptiStruct, to address these challenges. AcuSolve was used for one-way coupling finite-massed particle tracing, sliding-deforming mesh, dynamic LES turbulence model, conjugate heat transfer, and variable physical properties. OptiStruct was used for thermal stress analysis. The company also used acuProj with elemental interpolation to map transient temperature fields from CFD to an FEA mesh of the specimen. Additionally, they partnered with LOGESoft, the creator of the DARS kinetic plug-in to Star CCM+, to add gas-solid chemistry to their solver. LOGESoft was used to estimate temperature-dependent density, viscosity, and enthalpy for the fluid. Altair’s AcuSolve Spalart-Allmaras turbulence, conjugate heat transfer, surface-to-surface radiation, user Rosseland radiation model for particle-laden fluid, and OptiStruct for thermal stress were used to model thermal stresses in a laboratory bioreformer.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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