title: Recovering nutrients from wastewater treatment plants through struvite crystallization: CFD modelling of the hydrodynamics of UBC MAP fluidized-bed crystallizer.
abstract: This paper is an attempt to model the hydrodynamics of the UBC (University of British Columbia) MAP (magnesium ammonium phosphate) fluidized bed crystallizer. In this study, a numerical investigation of hydrodynamics of the UBC MAP crystallizer was performed, using commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, Fluent 6.3. One of the main findings of this modelling effort is the relative distribution of the different phases, in this case solids (struvite crystals) and liquid (water), within the reactor. This information is very important, in the sense that it helps fixing the size of the crystallizer, which can be a significant factor, affecting the total cost of the process. Another finding of this simulation is the volume fraction distribution of the different sizes of solid particles, which actually provides insight into the hydrodynamics of the reactor and will fill up the knowledge gap in developing an overall mechanistic model for the crystallizer.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Engineering Group, Department of Civil Engineering, University of British Columbia (UBC), 2002-6250 Applied Science Lane, Vancouver British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z4. mrahaman@interchange.ubc.ca.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Rahaman
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Mavinic
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D003460:Crystallization; D004867:Equipment Design; D005502:Food; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007700:Kinetics; D017616:Magnesium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D010710:Phosphates / Q000737:chemistry*; D000069877:Struvite; D014783:Viscosity; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D017616:Magnesium Compounds; D010710:Phosphates; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D000069877:Struvite