David Fernandes del Pozo
Prof. dr. ir. Ingmar Nopens - Ghent University
Prof. dr. ir. Kevin M. Van Geem - Laboratory for Chemical Technology, Ghent University
The main objective of my PhD is to develop a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model that is able to capture the main hydrodynamic characteristics of the flow that is happening in an anaerobic digester. In order to do this, a great part of my PhD is devoted to study in-depth the details of all submodels that are critical to these type of reactors that mix a viscous sludge. Submodels that need special care are proper calibration of the rheological model, precise and detailed digester geometries for mesh generation, turbulence modelling, and proper use of computational resources withing the open source tool OpenFOAM.
