Powerful Yet Simple

“Such powerful software must be complicated, right?” Yes. And no.

Yes, Barracuda Virtual Reactor software enables you to look inside your unit in virtual space and solves some very complex problems. Yes, Virtual Reactor simulates three-dimensional (3D), transient, multi-phase flows including hydrodynamics, thermal behavior and chemical reactions in industrial scale units. Yes, the Lagrangian formulation for the particulate phase allows for inclusion of discrete particle properties including the particle size distribution (PSD), composition, temperature, residence time, history, etc. Yes, the stress and collisional models allow modeling of systems ranging for very dilute to fully dense in the same simulation without a priori knowledge of the answer. And yes, Virtual Reactor simulations are fast, leveraging the latest graphical processing unit (GPU) technology from NVIDIA. See our System Requirements page for information about recommended hardware.

But no, the software is not complicated to use. Because Virtual Reactor is specialized for one purpose – industrial scale fluid-particle systems – the interface is designed to speak the language of engineers. The inputs are familiar, such as particle properties (PSD, density, composition), flow rates, temperatures, pressures, etc. Visualization of results using Tecplot for Barracuda is straightforward, and many users of the software do not have prior CFD-specific experience. With the aid of CPFD’s training, support and QuickStart programs, new users can rapidly add Barracuda Virtual Reactor to their engineering workflows.

While easy to learn, Barracuda Virtual Reactor is also extensible so experienced users can easily customize their models and outcomes. Behind simple defaults are advanced modeling features. Want to modify a drag model or create your own?  Go ahead!  Do you need to compare large datasets quickly?  Try Tecplot 360 with Chorus. Prefer to data mine the output and analyze with your own scripts?  You can.  With text-based input / output files and utilities for interacting with in-progress simulations, Virtual Reactor can be driven through optimization tools and AI or machine learning algorithms.

Virtual Reactor is simple to use – yet powerful enough to tackle some of our planet’s toughest challenges.