CPFD Software is proud to announce our collaboration with the Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (LUT University) in research on calcium looping carbon capture technology development
Calcium looping is a developing post-combustion capture technology aiming for the decarbonization of various industrial applications in the power generation and process industry. The calcium looping process utilizes two interconnected fluidized bed reactors where calcium material is utilized to capture CO2 in one reactor and then elutriated to another reactor for CO2 release and calcium material regeneration. Modeling of the multiphase flow, reactions, and heat transfer inside the reactor plays a major role in the analysis of reactor performance analysis, design, and development of the technology.
LUT University has studied calcium looping processes since 2010 and has participated in several European Commission-funded projects aimed at developing the technology for commercial use. Currently, LUT University is participating in HERCCULES (www.herccules.eu) and CaLby2030 (www.calby2030.eu) projects that aim to demonstrate calcium looping technology for cement and steel industries as well as waste incineration.
Having used other Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software packages for a long time, Associate Professor Markku Nikku states “I found the use of Barracuda VR and the workflow easy and user-friendly. I was really positively surprised by the speed of the GPU calculations and how quickly I was able to obtain qualitative good results in minutes and hours compared to days and weeks. The staff at CFPD Software were also very friendly, supportive, and professional in all my communications with them.”
“Our partnership with LUT University underscores our dedication to supporting the development of innovative carbon capture methods,” said Niraj Mehta, Solutions Engineer at CPFD Software. “By leveraging Barracuda Virtual Reactor’s powerful simulation capabilities, we are helping accelerate pathways to novel decarbonization technologies.”
About the Laboratory of Thermal Engineering at LUT university
The laboratory of thermal engineering led by Prof. Jouni Ritvanen continues the long tradition and expertise in the modeling of energy systems and multiphase flows, with a special focus on circulating fluidized bed reactors on an industrial scale.
About CPFD Software
CPFD Software is advancing multiphase simulation and technology. Our flagship product, Barracuda Virtual Reactor®, is a physics-based engineering software package that simulates the three-dimensional, transient, fluid-particle hydrodynamics, heat balance, and chemical reactions in industrial fluidized bed reactors and other fluid-particle systems.
Virtual Reactor™ enables researchers and engineers working with fluid/particle processes to explore a broad range of ideas, reduce physical testing costs, and minimize development risk, all while accelerating commercialization, scale-up, and overall time to market. For clients who already operate industrial units, Virtual Reactor allows engineers to determine the root cause of underperformance, reduce the risk of changes through virtual testing, and optimize solutions, all while maximizing reliability, uptime, and regulatory compliance initiatives.
The Virtual Reactor technology can be accessed via software licensing, services, or custom collaborative arrangements.