Supplemental Training: FCC Riser
This training example is part of the Barracuda Virtual Reactor Supplemental Training collection. It is intended to be done independently and after completion of the Barracuda Virtual Reactor New User…
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Supplemental Training: Cyclone
This training example is part of the Barracuda Virtual Reactor Supplemental Training collection. It is intended to be done independently and after completion of the Barracuda Virtual Reactor New User…
Supplemental Training: CFB Erosion
This training example is part of the Barracuda Virtual Reactor Supplemental Training collection. It is intended to be done independently and after completion of the Barracuda Virtual Reactor New User…
Supplemental Training: Single-Cell Chemistry
This training example is part of the Barracuda Virtual Reactor Supplemental Training collection. It is intended to be done independently and after completion of the Barracuda Virtual Reactor New User…
Using Tracers in a Barracuda Virtual Reactor Model
Tracers can be used to track fluid flow and fluid residence time in a simulation. Tracers are Lagrangian entities that do not have any mass or volume, and they follow…
Monitoring and Quantifying Simulation Speed
Knowing the speed of a simulation and understanding what drives simulation wall times is important. This post covers monitoring wall time, qualifying the speed of a simulation, and briefly touches…
Monitoring and Analyzing RLM License Usage
In this post, we will show how to monitor and analyze license usage when using the Reprise License Manager (both on-premise and RLMCloud). This can provide valuable usage information to…
Using a PID Controller Script to Control Boundary Conditions
In some Barracuda Virtual Reactor simulations, it is useful to dynamically and automatically control flow rates, pressures, temperature, or other parameters at boundary conditions (BCs) based on information from data…
Using Multiple RLM License Servers
This post will discuss how to use two common RLM license server combinations. It is possible to specify multiple RLM servers in either the Virtual Reactor GUI or via the…
Using the RLMCloud Portal
This post will help users understand more about the RLMCloud Portal, which allows users with RLMCloud licenses to view information about license usage. This post will cover how to log…
Monitoring and Troubleshooting Particle Feed
In many Barracuda simulations there is a particle feed of some kind. Most commonly this will be at a Flow or Injection BC. It is important to monitor a particle…
Known Issues 23.0.1
Known Issues main page Barracuda Virtual Reactor 23.0.1 Issues fixed in this version: KI-189: IC files containing Passive Scalars might not load properly KI-190: Possible crash on restart with thermal,…
Known Issues 23.0.0
Known Issues main page Barracuda Virtual Reactor 23.0.0 Issues fixed in this version: KI-187: Solver flag -qop causes solver to immediately exit KI-188: Return to Isotropy collision model gives incorrect…
Known Issues 22.1.2
Known Issues main page Barracuda Virtual Reactor 22.1.2 Issues fixed in this version: KI-186: Slow simulation speed in Barracuda Virtual Reactor 22.1.1 Issues affecting this version: KI-116: Particles may pass…
Known Issues 22.1.1
Known Issues main page Barracuda Virtual Reactor 22.1.1 Issues fixed in this version: KI-182: Incorrect evaluation of minus sign in exponent using UDE parser KI-183: Injection BC tracers do not…
Known Issues 22.1.0
Known Issues main page Barracuda Virtual Reactor 22.1.0 Issues fixed in this version: KI-177: GUI may have problems loading small STL files KI-178: Simulations may run slower in test drive…
Known Issues 22.0.0
Known Issues main page Barracuda Virtual Reactor 22.0.0 Issues fixed in this version: KI-171: Boundary condition flux planes may report incorrect values for gas species mass fractions KI-175: Particles may…
Known Issues 21.1.1
Known Issues main page Barracuda Virtual Reactor 21.1.1 Issues fixed in this version: KI-172: Solver may crash on simulation start-up due to memory allocation error KI-173: Some binary baffle STL…
W Chicago – Lakeshore COVID Policy
W Chicago – Lakeshore will be following the City of Chicago and Cook County guidelines in effect at the time of the Event which are subject to change. Updates, or…
Using Jupyter Notebooks to Analyze Virtual Reactor Results
Jupyter notebooks (previously called iPython Notebooks) provide a useful environment for using Python to analyze results from Barracuda Virtual Reactor simulations. In order to conveniently use Jupyter notebooks, please follow…
Tecplot for Barracuda – PyTecplot Examples and Snippets
This support site post contains useful PyTecplot examples and snippets for post-processing Barracuda Virtual Reactor simulation results. A pattern that is often useful to follow in PyTecplot scripts is to…
Barracuda Virtual Reactor 23.0 Educational Version
This page contains download links for Barracuda Virtual Reactor 23.0 Educational Version. The Educational Version is based on Barracuda Virtual Reactor 23.0, but has the following limitations: The maximum number…
Barracuda Virtual Reactor 22.1 Educational Version
This page contains download links for Barracuda Virtual Reactor 22.1 Educational Version. The Educational Version is based on Barracuda Virtual Reactor 22.1, but has the following limitations: The maximum number…
Barracuda Virtual Reactor 22.0 Educational Version
This page contains download links for Barracuda Virtual Reactor 22.0 Educational Version. The Educational Version is based on Barracuda Virtual Reactor 22.0, but has the following limitations: The maximum number…
Barracuda Virtual Reactor 21.1 Educational Version
This page contains download links for Barracuda Virtual Reactor 21.1 Educational Version. The Educational Version is based on Barracuda Virtual Reactor 21.1, but has the following limitations: The maximum number…
Barracuda Virtual Reactor 23.0 Release
CPFD Software is pleased to announce the release of Barracuda Virtual Reactor® 23.0. This is a feature release that introduces four new drag models, temperature-dependent solid and liquid material densities,…
Barracuda Virtual Reactor 22.1 Release
CPFD Software is pleased to announce the release of Barracuda Virtual Reactor® 22.1. This is a feature release that introduces Lagrangian gas/vapor bubbles available in incompressible simulations, and includes a…
Barracuda Virtual Reactor 22.0 Release
CPFD Software is pleased to announce the release of Barracuda Virtual Reactor® 22.0. This is a feature release that expands modeling capabilities via new physics models, improves usability, and enhances…
Barracuda Virtual Reactor 21.1 Release
CPFD Software is pleased to announce the release of Barracuda Virtual Reactor® 21.1. This release enhances the multi-GPU capabilities of Barracuda first introduced in version 21.0 of the software by…
Known Issues 21.1
Known Issues main page Barracuda Virtual Reactor 21.1.0 Issues fixed in this version: KI-166: Flux planes that intersect Flow BCs report zero particle mass flow rate KI-167: Inaccurate real cell…
How to Use ScaleSTL
This video shows how to use ScaleSTL in Barracuda Virtual Reactor. ScaleSTL gives Barracuda users the ability to rotate, scale, and offset, or translate, their STL file. In this video,…
Non-Linear Gridding Demo
This video shows how to use the non-linear gridding in Barracuda Virtual Reactor. Concepts covered in this video: Using growth factor to create regions of smoothly growing or shrinking cell…
On-Premise RLM Server Installation Files
This page contains installation downloads for running an on-premise Reprise License Manager (RLM) server. Related information can be found on the following pages: Planning the RLM Client-Server Configuration On-Premise RLM…
Understanding Variation in Barracuda Simulation Results
Randomness in Barracuda Simulations in Barracuda Virtual Reactor often necessitate modelling the interactions of millions, if not billions, of particles while simultaneously accounting for fluid dynamics, chemistry, and thermal calculations.…
System Configuration and Testing for Running Barracuda in Multi-GPU Mode
The addition of multi-GPU capabilities to Barracuda Virtual Reactor opens up a range of new possibilities for simulations by enabling far larger systems to run within a reasonable timeframe. However,…
Tecplot for Barracuda – Calculating Cyclone Efficiency
This video is part of the Tecplot for Barracuda Training Videos collection. This video shows how to calculate cyclone efficiency in Tecplot for Barracuda. Concepts covered in this video: Loading…
Tecplot for Barracuda – Using Isosurfaces to Analyze Erosion Results
This video is part of the Tecplot for Barracuda Training Videos collection. This video shows how to analyze the results of Barracuda Virtual Reactor’s wall erosion model in Tecplot for…
Tecplot for Barracuda – Creating Streamtraces
This video is part of the Tecplot for Barracuda Training Videos collection. This video shows how to create streamtraces in Tecplot for Barracuda. Concepts covered in this video: Selecting a…
Tecplot for Barracuda – Analyzing Passive Scalar Data
This video is part of the Tecplot for Barracuda Training Videos collection. Update: Tracers have been expanded to Pressure, Flow, and Injection BCs in version 22.1. We recommend using Tracers…
Known Issues 21.0.1
Known Issues main page Barracuda Virtual Reactor 21.0.1 Issues fixed in this version: KI-162: Projects with a high grid resolution and baffles enabled may fail to run KI-163: Gas species…
Barracuda Virtual Reactor 21.0 Release
CPFD Software is pleased to announce the release of Barracuda Virtual Reactor® 21.0. This release is the first to support multi-GPU calculations, enabling users to run larger simulations than ever…
Known Issues 21.0
Known Issues main page Barracuda Virtual Reactor 21.0.0 Issues fixed in this version: KI-161: Solver will not run if all baffles are disabled Issues affecting this version: KI-116: Particles may…
Tecplot for Barracuda – Using Data Alter to Specify Equations and Smooth Data in xy Plots
This video is part of the Tecplot for Barracuda Training Videos collection. This video shows how to use Data–>Alter–>Specify Equations and Data–>Alter–>Smooth when plotting xy data in Tecplot for Barracuda.…
Tecplot for Barracuda – Plotting xy Data from Multiple Files
This video is part of the Tecplot for Barracuda Training Videos collection. This video shows how to plot xy data from multiple files of the same simulation in Tecplot for…
Tecplot for Barracuda – Using Multiple Frames to Create a Grid of xy Plots
This video is part of the Tecplot for Barracuda Training Videos collection. This video shows how to use multiple frames to create a grid of xy plots in Tecplot for…
Barracuda Virtual Reactor 20.1 Release
CPFD Software is pleased to announce the release of Barracuda Virtual Reactor® 20.1. This release includes updates and enhancements that improve usability, physics, and post-processing capabilities, including: Updated New Project…
Known Issues 20.1
Known Issues main page Barracuda Virtual Reactor 20.1.0 Issues fixed in this version: KI-155: Importing a CSV with comma decimal separators to an Injection BC causes a GUI crash KI-156:…
Known Issues 20.0.2
Known Issues main page Barracuda Virtual Reactor 20.0.2 Issues fixed in this version: KI-150: Mixture and Composition Editors may not correctly handle Base Material deletions KI-151: XY plots in Tecplot…
Publications about Barracuda Virtual Reactor
The following papers were written or co-authored by CPFD. They discuss the theory behind the CPFD Method used in Barracuda Virtual Reactor and provide examples where Virtual Reactor was used to…
Tecplot for Barracuda – Calculating Spatial Averages on Slices
This video is part of the Tecplot for Barracuda Training Videos collection. This video shows how to calculate spatial averages on a slice using Tecplot for Barracuda. In this example,…
Creating CAD for Virtual Reactor
This series of videos shows how to create a CAD model for Barracuda Virtual Reactor. Autodesk Inventor is used to illustrate the process of creating the CAD model. It is the parametric CAD…
Creating CAD for Barracuda, Video 1: Preparing to draw
In this video, we will prepare to draw a CAD model for use in Barracuda VR. The first step is to collect information about the physical geometry of the system.…
Creating CAD for Barracuda, Video 2: Drawing the Vessel Using Revolve
Welcome to Video 2 of “Creating CAD for Barracuda VR”. In this video, we will draw the vessel for the pilot scale fluidized bed using Revolve. For convenience, we will…
Creating CAD for Barracuda, Video 3: Modifying Dimensions in a Part
Welcome to Video 3 of “Creating CAD for Barracuda VR”. In this video, we will show how to modify dimensions in a previously-created part. When creating a new Barracuda VR…
Creating CAD for Barracuda, Video 4: Drawing a Pipe Manifold Sparger using Extrude
Welcome to Video 4 of “Creating CAD for Barracuda VR”. In this video, we will draw the Pipe Manifold Sparger using Extrude. Again, we will have the engineering drawing up…
Creating CAD for Barracuda, Video 5: Drawing a Ring Sparger Using Sweep
Welcome to Video 5 of “Creating CAD for Barracuda VR”. In this video, we will draw the Ring Sparger using Sweep. Again, we will have the engineering drawing up side-by-side…
Creating CAD for Barracuda, Video 6: Creating an Assembly
Welcome to Video 6 of “Creating CAD for Barracuda VR”. In this video, we will create an assembly from the vessel, pipe manifold sparger, and ring sparger parts created in…
Creating CAD for Barracuda, Video 7: Creating a Derived Part
Welcome to Video 7 of “Creating CAD for Barracuda VR”. In this video, we will create a derived part based on the assembly from Video 6, and export an STL…
Tecplot for Barracuda – Calculating Average Values Over a Custom Time Period
This video is part of the Tecplot for Barracuda Training Videos collection. This video shows how to calculate average values over a custom time period using PyTecplot, which is a…
Known Issues 20.0.1
Known Issues main page Barracuda Virtual Reactor 20.0.1 Issues fixed in this version: KI-147: Gas species output is incorrect in Tecplot for mass, fraction, mass concentration, and mole concentration KI-148:…
Known Issues
Known Issues are listed on the following pages, for each version of Barracuda Virtual Reactor: Series 23 23.0.1 23.0.0 Series 22 22.1.2 22.1.1 22.1.0 22.0.0 Series 21 21.1.1 21.1.0 21.0.1…
Tecplot for Barracuda – Scaling Particles by a Variable
This video is part of the Tecplot for Barracuda Training Videos collection. This video shows how to visually scale particles by a variable in Tecplot for Barracuda. In this example,…
Tecplot for Barracuda – Inserting Images and Text
This video is part of the Tecplot for Barracuda Training Videos collection. This video shows how to add images and text to a frame in Tecplot for Barracuda. The following…
Tecplot for Barracuda – Creating xy Plots
This video is part of the Tecplot for Barracuda Training Videos collection. This video shows how to create an xy plot in Tecplot for Barracuda. The following concepts are covered:…
Tecplot for Barracuda – Creating Snapshots and Animations
This video is part of the Tecplot for Barracuda Training Videos collection. This video shows how to create snapshots and animations in Tecplot for Barracuda. The following concepts are covered:…
Tecplot for Barracuda – Using Value Blanking
This video is part of the Tecplot for Barracuda Training Videos collection. This video shows how to use value blanking to create subsets of cells and particles in Tecplot for…
Tecplot for Barracuda – Adjusting the Contour Legend
This video is part of the Tecplot for Barracuda Training Videos collection. This video shows how to adjust the contour legend in Tecplot for Barracuda. The following concepts are covered:…
Tecplot for Barracuda – Loading Data
This video is part of the Tecplot for Barracuda Training Videos collection. This video shows how to use the Barracuda data loader that is unique to Tecplot for Barracuda. The…
Tecplot for Barracuda – Creating Vectors
This video is part of the Tecplot for Barracuda Training Videos collection. This video shows how to create fluid velocity vectors in Tecplot for Barracuda. The following concepts are covered:…
Tecplot for Barracuda – Using Frames
This video is part of the Tecplot for Barracuda Training Videos collection. This video shows using frames in Tecplot for Barracuda. The following aspects are covered: Creating new frames Tiling…
Barracuda Virtual Reactor 20.0 Release
CPFD Software is pleased to announce the release of Barracuda Virtual Reactor® 20.0. This release includes several major features including: Tecplot for Barracuda is bundled as the new default post-processing…
Known Issues 20.0.0
Known Issues main page Barracuda Virtual Reactor 20.0.0 Issues fixed in this version: KI-112: drag.log does not account for un-linked drag model constants KI-130: Global drag multiplier has no effect…
Tecplot for Barracuda – Creating an Isovolume
This video is part of the Tecplot for Barracuda Training Videos collection. This video shows how to create an isovolume in Tecplot for Barracuda. The example used is a coal…
Barracuda Virtual Reactor Supplemental Training
Each one of these training exercises is designed to be completed independently and for the purpose of providing an example of a particular type of system in Barracuda. The Barracuda…
Tecplot for Barracuda Training Videos
This collection of training videos will help Barracuda Virtual Reactor users get started with Tecplot for Barracuda. Some of the videos have been created by CPFD to highlight items of specific…
Tecplot for Barracuda – Launching Tecplot
This video is part of the Tecplot for Barracuda Training Videos collection. This training video shows how to launch Tecplot for Barracuda from within the Barracuda Virtual Reactor GUI. The…
Known Issues 17.4.1
Known Issues main page Barracuda Virtual Reactor 17.4.1 Issues fixed in this version: KI-125: Create support file does not work on Windows KI-126: CUDA errors when running on V100 GPU…
Barracuda Virtual Reactor 17.4.1 Release
Barracuda Virtual Reactor version 17.4.1 is a maintenance release containing the fixes for the following known issues found in previous versions. KI-126: CUDA errors when running on V100 GPU and…
Considerations for Particle Reynolds Number in Drag Models
The particle Reynolds number, Re, is a common term used in many drag models. As discussed in the Particles chapter of Users Manual, in Barracuda the particle Reynolds number is…
Creating a 17.4.0 support file on Windows
When using the 17.4.0 release on Windows, creating a support file through the Barracuda GUI will not work. It will create an empty support file. We realize this is an…
Known Issues 17.4.0
Known Issues main page Barracuda Virtual Reactor 17.4.0 Issues fixed in this version: KI-92: Injection BC Tracers will not be fed if no particle species is defined KI-98: Discrete chemistry…
Known Issues 17.3.1
Known Issues main page Barracuda Virtual Reactor 17.3.1 Issues fixed in this version: KI-72: Solver allocates excess RAM at t=0 in GPU mode KI-99: Buffer OVERFLOW when writing GMV file…
Barracuda Virtual Reactor 17.3.1 Release
Update – March 26, 2019 This version of Barracuda Virtual Reactor is no longer available for download. For the latest version of Virtual Reactor™, please visit the Dashboard. If you still…
User-Defined Variations on WenYu-Ergun
This post presents several User-Defined drag model variations on the built-in WenYu-Ergun drag model in Barracuda. These variations have been useful in different circumstances, and are provided here for ease…
Known Issues 17.3.0
Known Issues main page Barracuda Virtual Reactor 17.3.0 Issues fixed in this version: KI-4: Specific heat low/high break point should not be lower than Tref KI-44: “Fraction of average velocity”…
Barracuda Hardware Timing Problem
A standard hardware timing problem has been created and made available to all Barracuda Virtual Reactor customers. It is intended to provide useful information about the fastest available hardware (both…
Particle Segregation in Barracuda
Particle segregation in Barracuda Virtual Reactor® is influenced by both fundamentals and empirical models. Barracuda Virtual Reactor results can range from full particle segregation to uniform beds depending on the…
Creating a Ring of Injection BCs
Typical circular air distributors will have ring(s) of nozzles which can be modeled with Injection BCs. Determining the x,y,z location and nx, ny, nz direction of each nozzle can be challenging…
Known Issues 17.2.0
Known Issues main page Barracuda Virtual Reactor 17.2.0 Issues fixed in this version: KI-49: Maximum allowed number of particle species is 50 KI-62: User-defined agglomeration curve must use “radius” in…
Using a Stride to Select Every Nth Cell, Particle, or Node in GMV
When using GMV's “Select” feature for cells, particles, or nodes, it is possible to specify a range and a stride, so that every Nth item is shown, and all others…
Emailing Support File(s) Created on Windows
Update: The 17.2 release takes care of this issue. Support files created with 17.2 do not need this workaround. Please follow these instructions if you are using version 17.1 or earlier. Due to…
Calculating the Volume of Selected Cells
It is often desired to calculate the volume of a spatial region that meets certain criteria. For visualization, GMV’s isovolume feature is very convenient and gives an on-screen view of…
Known Issues 17.1.0
Known Issues main page Barracuda Virtual Reactor 17.1.0 Issues fixed in this version: KI-45: Energy balance may be incorrect due to inconsistencies at Pressure BCs KI-48: Particle feed rate may…
Custom EMMS Drag Model Multiplier Tables
Proper selection of the drag model can have a significant effect on the results from Barracuda Virtual Reactor simulations. As part of our continuing study of drag models, CPFD Software,…
Changing Transient Data Points on Restart
In an ideal world, you would never forget to define all of the output data needed for a simulation, during the project setup process. In the real world, however, it sometimes…
Webinar Playback: Barracuda Virtual Reactor 17.3 Release Highlights
This presentation by James Parker presents the new features and capabilities of the 17.3 version of the Virtual Reactor.
Using GMV to Obtain Average Values for One Plane
When post-processing Barracuda VR simulation data, an average value of a variable in a particular plane may be needed. There are a couple of different ways to obtain the data…
Archiving Barracuda VR Simulation Results
Download swee.py If you have been using Barracuda VR for any amount of time, you know that it can produce a lot of data. This data is very valuable, because it helps…
Creating High-Resolution GMV Images and Movies
This post shows how to create GMV images and movies that have higher resolution than the physical monitor of the system on which GMV is run. This is sometimes necessary for…
Installing the Anaconda Python Distribution
Introduction This post shows how to install the Anaconda Python distribution, which contains many useful Python libraries for numerical analysis and plotting. The Anaconda Python distribution is a product of…
Known Issues 17.0.4
Known Issues main page Barracuda Virtual Reactor 17.0.4 Issues fixed in this version: KI-1: Particle Drag is not calculated for pure liquid particles when simulation has no solid materials KI-2:…
Changing Chemistry on Restart
The chemical reactions and rate equations solved by Barracuda VR can be changed on restart. However, the GUI currently does not support this advanced restart feature. This post describes how…
Setting Executable Permissions for Scripts
When running a script in Linux or Cygwin, it is necessary to give the script executable permissions. This post shows how to set the permissions so a script can run.…
Understanding the PATH Environment Variable
Operating systems use the PATH environment variable to find programs. The PATH environment variable stores a list of directories in which the operating system will search for programs. Most of…
Calculating PSD at a Flux Plane using flux2psd
In Barracuda simulations, the particle size distribution (PSD) of particles crossing a flux plane is often of interest. This post shows how to calculate the PSD when the “Bin by…
Calculating PSD at a Flux Plane using Flux2PSD.tcl
In Barracuda simulations, the particle size distribution (PSD) of particles crossing a flux plane is often of interest. This post shows how to calculate the PSD when the “Subdivide by…
Analyzing Heat Transfer through Thermal Wall BCs
Thermal Wall BCs in Barracuda allow heat transfer to and from the system, depending on the relative temperatures of the walls and fluid in computational cells. This post discusses how…
MULTIFRAME.tcl
Combining multiple views of simulation results into a single animation is a commonly used technique during post-processing of Barracuda results. The MULTIFRAME.tcl script was written to make this task easier,…
Installing Extra Packages for Cygwin
The default Cygwin installation included with Barracuda VR includes a minimal set of packages to support the operation of GMV on Windows. For some tasks, it is necessary to install…
Known Issues 17.0.3
Known Issues main page Barracuda Virtual Reactor 17.0.3 Issues fixed in this version: KI-24: Liquid Collision Mass Transfer defaulted “on” KI-46: Project keyword “maxPresIter0” incorrectly defaulted to 0 KI-47: Volume-average…
Known Issues 17.0.2
Known Issues main page Barracuda Virtual Reactor 17.0.2 Issues fixed in this version: KI-11: Discrete Chemistry will not turn On when using ramp KI-12: Chemistry cannot be toggled “On” at…
Things to consider when simulating cyclones
Many cyclones have been run successfully with the Barracuda Virtual Reactor. However cyclones, and other swirl devices, present unique numerical and modeling challenges, which can be different from those in…
Known Issues 17.0.1
Known Issues main page Barracuda Virtual Reactor 17.0.1 Issues fixed in this version: KI-16: Defining a Flow BC with no Flux Plane Name causes the BC to ignore transient (.sff)…
Known Issues 17.0
Known Issues main page Barracuda Virtual Reactor 17.0.0 Issues affecting this version: KI-1: Particle Drag is not calculated for pure liquid particles when simulation has no solid materials KI-2: 2D…
Setting particle-to-wall interaction parameters
Particle-to-wall interaction parameters are specified in the Barracuda Virtual Reactor GUI on the Particles window. The values of these three parameters – normal-to-wall momentum retention, tangent-to-wall momentum retention, and diffuse bounce – can have…
Does Heat from Chemical Reactions Go to the Gas Phase or the Particle Phase?
When chemical reactions are being modelled in the Barracuda Virtual Reactor, it is sometimes important to consider and control where the heat from reactions goes. This post discusses the distribution…
Known Issues 16.0.8
Barracuda VR 16.0.8 Issues fixed in this version: KI-5: Solver crash when Blended Acceleration Model and GPU-mode used KI-6: Flux plane 5-step running average for particle mass flow rate is…
Stopping a Simulation from the Command Line
Barracuda simulations can be stopped using Interact, as long as GUI access is available. In some cases, GUI access is not available, so it is necessary to stop the simulation…
Restarting a Simulation from the Command Line
Restarting a simulation from the command-line can be useful when GUI access is not available, or when writing scripts that run the Barracuda solver. This post describes the steps necessary to…
Adding “Current Directory” to the Linux PATH
Adding the current directory, also known as “.”, to your Linux systems PATH environment variable can make executing scripts more convenient. However, there are some security issues to consider as…
Known Issues 16.0.6
Barracuda VR 16.0.6 Issues affecting this version: KI-1: Particle Drag is not calculated for pure liquid particles when simulation has no solid materials KI-2: 2D data is missing output conversion…
Barracuda VR 16.0.6 Release
Update – April 24, 2018 This version of Barracuda Virtual Reactor is no longer available for download. For the latest version of Virtual Reactor™, please visit the Dashboard. If you…
Using Python to Calculate PSDs from Raw Particle Data Files
In Barracuda VR, detailed Particle Size Distribution (PSD) information can be obtained from Raw Particle Data files. There are two ways to generate Raw Particle Data files: When setting up…
Evaporation Model for Droplets and Solid Particle Drying (Updated)
Evaporation and particle drying are increasingly being used in Barracuda models for a variety of applications, such as Coal and biomass gasifiers and combustors (particle drying) Flue gas desulfurization units…
Increasing the numerical resolution of small particles in a wide PSD
The issue of particle resolution for small particles is an important consideration that is often overlooked. In order to get adequate spatial resolution of particle positions, it is sometimes necessary…
Data-mining GMV files using gmv2txt.py
One method of data-mining GMV files is presented in this post. This method relies on converting the GMV files to text format. A warning before we get started: GMV files…
Setting the Basis (Mass Flow Rate or Velocity) for a Flow BC
When editing a Flow file for a Flow BC in Barracuda, you can double-click on the header of the Velocity / Mass Flow Rate column. When the Select… dialog pops…
Calling Barracuda utilities in Windows batch files
Many Barracuda users are familiar with using several utility scripts that are bundled in the normal Barracuda installation directory. When working in Linux, it is common to write Bash shell…
Accessing the CPFD FTP server in Linux
Many Barracuda users work on Linux machines that were built and configured by CPFD Software, or based on installation instructions provided by CPFD Software. Most of these systems run a Linux distribution…
Appending Animation Sequences
In many situations, it is useful to create multiple sequences of animations, and append them end-to-end to create a final long animation. Many of CPFD Software’s marketing animations were created…
Barracuda VR 16.0.5 Release
Update – March 4, 2015: Barracuda VR 16.0.5 has been replaced by Barracuda VR 16.0.6 on September 30, 2014, and is no longer available for download. If you still require…
Known Issues 16.0.5
Barracuda VR 16.0.5 Issues affecting this version: KI-1: Particle Drag is not calculated for pure liquid particles when simulation has no solid materials KI-2: 2D data is missing output conversion…
Fluid to Particle Heat Transfer in Barracuda
Heat transfer between a particle and the surrounding fluid is calculated using a correlation for the Nusselt number in Barracuda. While default correlation values are provided in Barracuda, there may…
Known Issues 16.0.4
Barracuda VR 16.0.4 Issues affecting this version: KI-1: Particle Drag is not calculated for pure liquid particles when simulation has no solid materials KI-2: 2D data is missing output conversion…
Understanding nvidia-smi GPU usage information
When running Barracuda VR with GPU parallel acceleration, the nvidia-smi command-line tool is useful for monitoring the memory usage, temperature, and number of processes using the GPU card. Note: nvidia-smi…
Known Issues 16.0.3
Barracuda VR 16.0.3 Issues affecting this version: KI-1: Particle Drag is not calculated for pure liquid particles when simulation has no solid materials KI-2: 2D data is missing output conversion…
Is there an installation guide for Barracuda?
Note: This Knowledge Base post is now outdated. For current installation instructions, see the Installation chapter of the Barracuda Virtual Reactor User Manual. The attached document contains basic hardware recommendations…
Known Issues 16.0.2
Barracuda VR 16.0.2 Issues affecting this version: KI-1: Particle Drag is not calculated for pure liquid particles when simulation has no solid materials KI-2: 2D data is missing output conversion…
Barracuda VR 16.0.2 Release
Barracuda VR 16.0.2 for Linux 64-bit is available for download from CPFD Software. A Windows version of Series 16 will follow upon completion of testing. Barracuda VR 16.0.2 is the…
CPFD Software support site now active
CPFD Software’s new support site is now available for registered customers to use.
Creating high quality movies
The default animation utility in Linux (xanim) is very convenient for viewing animations. In particular, it lets you step forward and backward through the animation, frame-by-frame, which can be very…
Can I model water evaporation from particles in the Barracuda VR 15/16-series
This evaporation model is now considered out-of-date. An updated evaporation model can be found in this post Evaporation, in general, is not a feature included in the 15- or 16-series of…
User manual now available
A full Barracuda VR user guide is now available. The User Manual is complete for Barracuda VR Series 15 and can be accessed from the help menu in Barracuda 15.2.3…
Testing chemistry in a single cell model
CPFD Software generally recommends testing chemical reactions and rates in a single-cell model before implementing in a full scale model. What do we mean by a single-cell chemistry test? There…
Barracuda VR 15.2.3 Release
Update – April 24, 2018 This version of Barracuda Virtual Reactor is no longer available for download. For the latest version of Virtual Reactor™, please visit the Dashboard. If you still…
How does Barracuda VR handle distributor plates or spargers?
This open-ended question comes up a lot. There are multiple approaches that could be used, depending on the purpose of the simulation. This post explores several options for modeling fluidization…
Barracuda VR 16.0.1-GPU Release
Barracuda VR 16.0.1-GPU for Linux 64-bit has been released. Barracuda VR 16.0.1-GPU is a maintenance release with corrections and bug fixes to the 16.0-GPU release that included new features, such…
Known Issues 16.0.1
Barracuda VR 16.0.1 Issues affecting this version: KI-1: Particle Drag is not calculated for pure liquid particles when simulation has no solid materials KI-2: 2D data is missing output conversion…
Analyzing data with Python and NumPy
Barracuda can export a large amount of data to text files that can be further analyzed to gain additional insight into the performance of a model. For example, particle snap…
What gas species should I initialize in my unit?
For a system with a mixture of reacting gases, the user has a decision whether to initialize the system with an inert gas (frequently, nitrogen), which will be displaced upon…
Known Issues 16.0
Barracuda VR 16.0 Issues affecting this version: KI-1: Particle Drag is not calculated for pure liquid particles when simulation has no solid materials KI-2: 2D data is missing output conversion…
Barracuda VR 16-GPU Release Guide
Barracuda VR 16-GPU Release Guide Release guide for Barracuda VR 16-GPU.
How to use Interact features from a script or the command line
If you’re interested in automatically controlling BCs based on user-specified parameters, please see the newer post: Using a PID Controller Script to Control Boundary Conditions Example Scenario Your model has a thermal…
What are appropriate cell aspect ratios?
The cell aspect ratio is the ratio of the longest to shortest side in a cell. A perfectly cubic cell would have an aspect ratio of 1, while a rod-shaped…
Using cutplanes in GMV
GMV cutplanes are a useful tool for visualizing 3-dimensional simulation results. They allow engineers to get a sense of the 3-dimensional behavior of a system by viewing several planes of…
How to track number of computational particles over time
In Barracuda simulations, it can be useful to track the number of computational particles present in the system over time. This can give users one indication of whether the particle…
How to generate animations in batch mode
Note: This post assumes two things: GMV attribute files have been generated and You are using GMV 4.5.7 or newer on Linux. BATCHMOVIE.sh is a script, bundled with recent Barracuda…
Can I specify a heat flux at a thermal wall instead of a temperature?
Currently the only option for thermal walls is to specify a temperature. This is has a nice physical basis, as the temperature gradient is the driving force for heat transfer. …
Why do I get mass balance errors for my chemical reactions?
We frequently see questions similar to the following: “I’m sure that the stoichiometry of the reaction I’ve entered is correct but I continue to get a mass balance error. What…
Why is the contact friction model off by default?
Before discussing default settings, let’s first consider the motivation behind the contact friction model. The Eulerian/Lagrangian formulation of the fluid/particle flow equations used by Barracuda is what allows it to…
Barracuda VR 15.2.1 release
Barracuda VR 15.2.1 is the official release supporting both Linux and Windows 7 64-bit operating systems. For more information, refer to the Barracuda VR 15.2.1 release announcement. Update – August…