Science & Research

About 75% of the manufacturing cost of any product is committed at the conceptual design stage, even when the incurred cost might be very small. Computational models can be used to simulate a multiphase device to help understand its performance before the design is finalized thereby reducing cost. Computational models provide valuable information when reactors at the appropriate scale have not been built. Furthermore, it is well known that traditional scale up methods do not work well for multiphase flow reactors. These factors point toward the critical need for science-based models with quantified uncertainty for reducing the cost and time required for the development of multiphase flow devices. NETL’s Multiphase Flow Science (MFS) research program is a strategic combination of computational and physical models of reacting multiphase flows whose purpose is to provide validated science-based modeling tools.

MFS research at NETL is performed by a crosscutting team of 30 engineers and scientists, skilled in the development and application of multiphase computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software and multiphase experimentation, who collaborate with researchers from U.S. and International multiphase flow academic and industry research programs.

MFS research and development at NETL is funded by U.S. Department of Energy programs, primarily from the Office of Fossil Energy. The work emphasizes energy and environmental applications including: gasification, carbon capture using solid sorbents or liquid solvents, and chemical-looping combustion of gaseous and solid fuels. Exascale software development is supported by DOE’s Office of Science and National Nuclear Security Administration through their Exascale Computing Project. MFS research also supports DOE’s Office of Environmental Management for analysis of thermochemical processes for environmental remediation of radioactive wastes.