EDEM Research Spotlight- Numerical Analysis of Tablet Coating Process Using Coupled CFD-DEM Simulation
Altair Employee- RESEARCHER
- Petar CrnÄec
- INSTITUTE
- University of Maribor, Slovenia
- DEPARTMENT
- Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
- SUPERVISOR
- Prof. Dr. Matej Zadravec & Dr. Miha JakliÄ
- TIMELINE
- Ongoing
The goal of this project was to realize a coupled CFD-DEM simulation, analyze the effect of input parameters on simulation results and to analyze the influence of process parameters on the efficiency of tablet coating process. Particle interactions were simulated using the discrete element method (DEM) in EDEM, while the fluid flow inside the observed zone was simulated using computational fluid dynamics methods (CFD) in ANSYS Fluent. In order to analyze the effects of various input parameters, a total of 8 simulations were performed, where temperatures and velocities of inlet air were being varied, which led to different observations regarding the uniformity of temperature and coating layer distribution of the observed tablet population. These types of simulations are usually performed using the DEM approach only, which can lead to incorrect observations in certain situations, due to the absence of process air, and the lack of its effects on particles. The presence of air as well as its properties, can have a significant impact on the tablet coating process and its efficiency, mainly because of air-spray particles interactions, where the flow characteristics can change the shape of spray and impact the average coating rate, as well as the uniformity in coating and temperature distributions. The inclusion of air was possible due to EDEM's coupling support for ANSYS Fluent.
Video of tablet coating process using CFD-DEM coupling
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EDEM allows for very simple particle interactions modeling, due to its user-friendly, but feature rich interface. Simulation setup is fast and intuitive, offering various capabilities including a coupled simulation approach. Additions such as the coupling interface for ANSYS Fluent used in this project, extend the software capabilities by adding the effects of continuous phase on EDEM's discrete particles, allowing for a simple and quick analysis of various particle properties including the effects of fluid phase on individual particles and vice versa.
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