INGENIEUR
Figure 7 : A CFD study on the airborne virus such as COVID-19 concentration trapped on the surface of a mask .
heat transfer , but also mass transfer , reaction , multiphase flow , and other models that might be required depending on the case study . The CFD results can help engineers make better decisions and provide engineering solutions . This can aid in cost and energy savings as the study can be done during the design stage , where no physical material is required for the study . There have been CFD engineers and specialist jobs available in the industry in recent years .
Hence , CFD plays a significant role in part of the multiscale modelling , bridging chemical
reactions from the molecular level up to plant equipment and process modelling . CFD modelling is introduced to students in their third and fourth years of study in XMUM . The students learn about the basics of CFD simulation and utilise data from molecular simulation or process modelling simulation in a CFD simulation . In addition , CFD is also introduced in the final year research project ( FYP ) and postgraduate research , where it is coupled with an artificial intelligent method used in the research project to study various phenomena such as prediction of an illegal burning location . Another interesting CFD project involves the study of airborne viruses such as COVID-19 concentrations trapped on the surface of a mask and how heating in an oven helps to disinfect the mask as shown in Figure 7 .
In another project , students are required to run molecular simulations to obtain the required reaction kinetics data , such as activation energy , and to run a reaction study in CFD . Molecular simulations are able to provide detailed insight into reaction kinetics . Hence , a CFD simulation can model the reaction rates based on the kinetics data , coupled with the effect of fluid flow and heat transfer . The project is about mixing ethylene and butadiene and how they react to form cyclohexene . The CFD simulation result for the mass fraction of cyclohexene in the T-junction is shown in Figure 8 .
Figure 8 : A CFD simulation on cyclohexane production via the mixing of ethylene and butadiene
34 VOL 89 JANUARY-MARCH 2022