Numerical simulation of oxidation processes in a cross-flow around tube bundles

TL;DR

This paper presents a numerical simulation of oxidation processes in a tube bundle subjected to cross-flow, modeling oxygen transport and oxide film growth using finite-element methods and the Navier-Stokes equations.

Contribution

It introduces a 2D mathematical model for oxidant transport and oxide film growth in tube bundles, accounting for different bundle configurations and using a fully implicit numerical scheme.

Findings

Oxide film growth varies with bundle structure.

The model accurately predicts oxide thickness over time.

Numerical results demonstrate the influence of flow arrangement.

Abstract

An oxidation process is simulated for a bundle of metal tubes in a cross-flow. A fluid flow is governed by the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. To describe the transport of oxygen, the corresponding convection-diffusion equation is applied. The key point of the model is related to the description of oxidation processes taking into account the growth of a thin oxide film in the quasi-stationary approximation. Mathematical modeling of oxidant transport in a tube bundle is carried out in the 2D approximation. The numerical algorithm employed in the work is based on the finite-element discretization in space and the fully implicit discretization in time. The tube rows of a bundle can be either in-line or staggered in the direction of the fluid flow velocity. The growth of the oxide film on tube walls is predicted for various bundle structures using the developed oxidation model.