RR-7 Assessment of Lattice Boltzmann Method for Simulating Thermal Hydraulic Phenomena
Modeling and simulation of some complex heat transfer processes require research and development beyond current HTRI capabilities. Conventional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools offer a continuum macroscopic modeling approach which may be difficult to implement without knowledge of the relevant physical models. However, the lattice Boltzmann method captures the intricacies of more complicated flows, such as solid–liquid phase change, heat transfer enhancements using nanoparticles and metal foams, and bubble dynamics in two-phase flows with a fundamental approach at a mesoscale level. This method may eventually allow HTRI to expand our software and research in these more complex areas, but current deficiencies prohibit adoption in the near term. We briefly review the lattice Boltzmann method and describe its application to several complex heat transfer problems.