Bruno BlaisPolytechnique Montréal · Department of Chemical Engineering
Bruno Blais
PhD., M. Sc., D. Ing., B. Eng.
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59
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Introduction
Bruno Blais is Associate Professor at Polytechnique Montreal. His research interest centers on computational fluid mechanics and granular flow modeling (via DEM) which he applies to the study of chemical engineering processes (mixing, transport, etc.)
Publications
Publications (59)
Although viscous solid-liquid mixing plays a key role in the industry, the vast majority of the literature on the mixing of suspensions is centered around the turbulent regime of operation. However, the laminar and transitional regimes face considerable challenges. In particular, it is important to know the minimum impeller speed ( ) that guarantee...
High-order Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methods have the potential to deliver higher accuracy at lower computational cost than conventional second-order methods. In this work, we introduce Lethe, an object-oriented, open-source, high-order (space and time) CFD software which leverages the well-established deal.II library. Lethe solves incompr...
Approximately 75% of the raw material and 50% of the products in the chemical industry are granular materials. The discrete element method (DEM) provides detailed insights of phenomena at particle scale, and it is therefore often used for modeling granular materials. However, because DEM tracks the motion and contact of individual particles separat...
The power consumption of the agitator is a critical variable to consider in the design of a mixing system. It is generally evaluated through a dimensionless number known as the power number Np. Multiple empirical equations exist to calculate the power number based on the Reynolds number Re and dimensionless geometrical variables that characterize t...
The Volume‐Averaged Navier‐Stokes equations are used to study fluid flow in the presence of fixed or moving solids such as packed or fluidized beds. We develop a high‐order finite element solver using both forms A and B of these equations. We introduce tailored stabilization techniques to prevent oscillations in regions of sharp gradients, to relax...
CFD-DEM is used to simulate solid-fluid systems. DEM models the motion of discrete particles while CFD models the fluid phase. Coupling both necessitates the calculation of the void fraction and the solid-fluid forces resulting in a computationally expensive method. Additionally, evaluating volume-averaged quantities locally restricts particle to c...
We develop and implement a high-order finite element formulation to solve incompressible shear thinning flows using power-law and Carreau rheology models. We verify the implementation using the Method of Manufactured Solutions (MMS) and demonstrate that the implementation preserves the order of accuracy of the FEM scheme. We run high-order flow-pas...
The periodic hills simulation case is a well-established benchmark case for Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solvers due to its complex features derived from the separation of a turbulent flow from a curved surface. We study the case with the open-source implicit large eddy simulation (ILES) software Lethe. Lethe solves the incompressible Navier-...
The Volume-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations are used to study fluid flow in the presence of fixed or moving solids such as packed or fluidized beds. We develop a high-order finite element solver using both forms A and B of these equations. We introduce tailored stabilization techniques to prevent oscillations in regions of sharp gradients, to relax...
Rotating packed bed (RPB) is a novel process intensification technology that increases mass transfer rate using a strong centrifugal acceleration. Inside an RPB, the inlet jet of the liquid absorbent is broken into tiny droplets. It is reported that RPBs provide 11 times larger mass transfer area compared to equal‐sized packed beds and two to three...
Extensive computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were conducted to study rimming flow in a partially-filled horizontally rotating cylinder. These flows are encountered in aero-engine bearing chambers which often exhibit complex two-phase flow scenarios as well as in multiple other engineering applications. A robust numerical scheme to model...
As much as 75% of the raw materials in the chemical industry and 50% of consumer products are in the form of powders or granular solids. Gasification, pyrolysis, coating, granulation, drying, and mixing are examples of processes in which particles contact fluids. Researchers examine the hydrodynamics of these fluid–solid systems with pressure signa...
Carbon capture and utilization technologies require research and development to be implemented commercially. Process intensification (PI) technologies will help reduce the cost gap between sustainable technologies exploiting CO2 and traditional processes. In this manuscript, we present the application of the most promising PI technologies for carbo...
The sharp-interface immersed boundary method is a strategy to impose boundary condition on complex geometries and, therefore, simplify the meshing process. This method can offer high-order of accuracy. Most sharp-interface methods have been developed in the context of the finite volume the finite difference methods. In this paper, we introduce, ver...
In this research, we investigate the influence of a load-balancing strategy and parametrization on the speed-up of discrete element method simulations using Lethe-DEM. Lethe-DEM is an open-source DEM code which uses a cell-based load-balancing strategy. We compare the computational performance of different cell-weighing strategies based on the numb...
Sub-aerial (dry) and submerged dense granular collapses are studied by means of a three-phase unresolved computational fluid dynamics-discrete element method (CFD-DEM) numerical model. Physical experiments are also performed to provide data for validation and further analysis. Validations show good compatibility between the numerical and experiment...
This paper provides an overview of the new features of the finite element library deal.II, version 9.3.
Bubbles rising through fluidized beds at velocities several times superficial velocities contribute to solids backmixing. In micro‐fluidized beds, the walls constrain bubble sizes and velocities. To evaluate gas‐phase hydrodynamics and identify diffusional contributions to longitudinal dispersion, we injected a mixture of H2, CH4, CO, and CO2 (syng...
Approximately $75 \%$ of the raw material and $50 \%$ of the products in the chemical industry are granular materials. The Discrete Element Method (DEM) provides detailed insights of phenomena at particle scale and it is therefore often used for modeling granular materials. However, because DEM tracks the motion and contact of individual particles...
The vast majority of solid‐liquid mixing studies have focused on high Reynolds number applications with configurations and impeller geometries adapted to this type of regime. However, the mixing of particles in a viscous fluid is an essential element of many contemporary industries. We used the CFD‐DEM model previously developed in our group to inv...
The residence time distribution (RTD) characterizes the flow patterns of tracer particles in continuous systems to identify phenomena like channelling, dispersion, dead volume, and back-mixing. Understanding the hydrodynamics in experimental reactors is imperative to derive reaction kinetics. Here, we applied the RTD methodology to examine the rela...
Bubbles rising through fluidized beds at velocities several times superficial velocities contribute to solids backmixing. In micro-fluidized beds, the walls constrain bubble sizes and velocities. To evaluate gas-phase hydrodynamics and identify diffusional contributions to longitudinal dispersion, we injected a mixture of H2, CH4, CO, and CO2 (syng...
Mixing applications operating in the laminar regime are used in numerous industrial processes in the pharmaceutical, chemical, and food industries. The aim of this paper is to introduce a numerical model adapted to solid-liquid mixing situations in stirred tanks. The method presented herein is based on a Euler-Lagrange approach using the CFD-DEM me...
The vast majority of solid-liquid mixing studies have focused on high Reynolds number applications with configurations and impeller geometries adapted to this type of regime. However, the mixing of particles in a viscous fluid is an essential element of many contemporary industries. We used the CFD-DEM model previously developed in our group to inv...
In this research, granular mixing in vertical ribbon mixers was studied by means of discrete element method (DEM) simulations. Time‐averaged velocity distributions, granular mixing, mean square displacement of tracer particles, diffusion coefficients, and Peclet number in axial and azimuthal directions were used to find the flow pattern of particle...
This paper provides an overview of the new features of the finite element library deal.II, version 9.2.
Residence time distribution (RTD) of barley grains with elliptical shape were investigated in wedge-shaped and flat-bottom silos using the discrete element method (DEM) and experiments. The velocity distribution of particles were captured using particle image velocimetry during silo discharge. Multi-sphere method (a combination of three spheres) wa...
Over the years, the Discrete Element Method (DEM) has attracted significant attention for its capacity to simulate granular flows because it captures physical phenomena that cannot be observed using continuum methods. However, the simulation of granular systems with DEM is computationally demanding, especially in the case of systems in rotation. On...
With increasing the computational resources, the number of publications about coupled computational fluid dynamics – discrete element method is in the rise in the recent years. This technique is very useful, especially in simulation of fluid-solid flows in process engineering. This paper provides an introduction to CFD-DEM modeling in process engin...
Reactor performance, solids‐(gas)‐mixing, flow through porous media, distillation columns, or through granulators improve as the fluid dynamics approach ideal plug flow. The residence time distribution is a diagnostic measure of how close fluid flow approaches ideal conditions. The technique introduces a step change to the inlet concentration—a Dir...
CFD‐DEM combines computational fluid dynamics (CFD), which solves the equation of motion of gas or liquids, with the discrete element method (DEM), a simulation technique based on a Lagrangian description of particle motion that predicts the flow of granular matter and powders. Resolved CFD‐DEM solves the transport equations with CFD at a scale sma...
The Discrete Element Method (DEM) is a time‐driven simulation technique based on a Lagrangian description of particle motion that predicts the flow of granular matter and fine powders in conveying, mixing, drying, and heterogeneous gas‐(liquid)‐solids reactors. Powders flowing out of bins form bridges, they segregate in suboptimal pharmaceutical V‐...
Top 10 journals per category.
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2017.e00300.].
This paper presents a three-dimensional solution algorithm for solving free surface flows including the effect of near wall viscous dissipation. Slip boundary conditions that could take into account the viscous shear at the boundary are proposed in a context that is well suited to free surface flow applications. The proposed finite element method u...
This paper presents the development work undertaken to tailor Cu powder size specifications to produce dense cold spray Cu coatings featuring strong adherence on steel substrates. Through review of historical data generated in the course of the development of Cu coatings for corrosion protection of Used (Nuclear) Fuel Containers, it was found that...
In continuous galvanizing bath operations, the thickness and the uniformity of the zinc coating are strongly influenced by the gas jet wiping process which aims to remove the excess liquid zinc adhered to the steel strip as it emerges from the bath. This work describes the development process of a three-dimensional numerical model which aims to con...
A poor understanding of mixing dynamics may lead to major economic losses in numerous industries due to poor yields and waste of raw materials. Then processes can be optimized through a better understanding of solid–liquid mixing dynamics. Previous studies have characterized the suspension of solid particles in a viscous medium using a standard hig...
Numerous processes in the automotive, additive manufacturing or energy storage industries require an accurate prediction of the solidification (freezing) and melting (thawing) dynamics of substances. The numerical modeling of these phase change is highly complex because it includes sharp moving interfaces and strong discontinuities in the material...
Top 10 journals per scientific category.
Databases catalogue the corpus of research literature into scientific categories and report classes of bibliometric data such as the number of citations to articles, the number of authors, journals, funding agencies, institutes, references, etc. The number of articles and citations in a category are gauges of productivity and scientific impact but...
Solid-liquid mixing as a unit operation still faces considerable challenges, notably regarding the prediction of the impeller speed required to suspend the particles (Njs), the fraction of suspended solids and the homogeneity of the suspension at a given speed. In this work, we extend to the turbulent regime, by means of large eddy simulation (LES)...
In chemical engineering, numerous processes require the suspension of particles in a laminar or transitional regime. For such operations, predicting the fraction of suspended particles as well as their distribution and homogeneity is a major concern. In this work, the unresolved CFD-DEM model introduced by our group for solid-liquid mixing is used...
Despite the importance for the process industry of solid-liquid mixing operations involving viscous liquids and high solids concentrations, most of the reported results have been obtained in the turbulent regime with low solids loadings. In this work, the suspension of non-dilute concentrations of spherical particles in viscous liquids is investiga...
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations in the context of single-phase mixing remain challenging notably due the presence of a complex rotating geometry within the domain. In this work, we develop a parallel semi-implicit immersed boundary method based on Open∇FOAM, which is applicable to unstructured meshes. This method is first verified on...
Abstract The volume-averaged Navier–Stokes (VANS) equations are at the basis of numerous models used to investigate flows in porous media or systems containing multiple phases, one of which is made of solid particles. Although they are traditionally solved using the finite volume, finite difference or finite element method, the lattice Boltzmann me...
Abstract The volume-averaged Navier–Stokes (VANS) equations are a key constituent of numerous models used to study complex problems such as flows in porous medias or containing multiple phases (e.g. solid–liquid flows). These equations solve the mesoscopic scale of the flow without taking into account explicitly each individual solid particles, the...
This work concerns the simulation of compressible multimaterial fluid flows and follows up the method Finite Volume with Characteristics Flux for two materials described in paper [R. Loubère, J.P. Braeunig, J.-M Ghidaglia, A totally Eulerian finite volume solver for multimaterial fluid flows: enhanced Natural Interface Positioning (ENIP), Eur. J. o...
Thermoplastic olefin blends of polypropylene (PP) and ethylene octene copolymers (EC) were reactively compatibilized by means of functional reactive compounds capable of forming copolymers at the interface. For this purpose, amine functional groups were first incorporated into a PP in a solution reaction. The aminated PP was then used as the reacti...
Projects
Project (1)
http://audioslides.elsevier.com//ViewerSmall.aspx?source=1&doi=10.1016/j.heliyon.2017.e00300
How do you compare a chemist to a botanist, a mathematician to a computer scientist? Each of these fields has their own way of publishing. Fields like Medicine and Biochemisty have many authors and cite other papers more frequently than in literature. Journal impact factor, author h-index, and number of citations alone may not represent scientific impact. When granting agencies are choosing between research projects in different fields they need a tool to calibrate scientific contributions, productivity, etc.
