Meso-scale simulations of solid-liquid flow and strategies for meso-macro coupling

Solidliquid flows span a large parameter space, with dimensionless coordinates such as Stokes numbers, the solids volume fraction, the density ratio between the phases, and Reynolds numbers (e.g., associated with the continuous phase flow). We are interested in systems with appreciable inertia effectsthat is, nonzero Stokes and Reynolds numbershaving density ratios of the order of one and solids volume fractions of order 0.1. In such flows, direct numerical simulations are desired to reveal the relevant interactions. The resolution required for DNS limits the size of the systems that we are able to simulate to the meso-scale. In this article, examples of direct simulations based on the lattice-Boltzmann method of dense solidliquid flows are presented, along with suggestions as to how to use their results at the macro-scale. (C) 2011 Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering