Heterogenous Porous Media Simulations

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project supports a faster design cycle of industrial filters to meet an ever-growing demand. This demand stems from an accelerated industrial development in the world, leading to an increased need for clean air and water through the use of filtration systems. Industrial emissions have led to the release of significant amounts of pollutants and particles into the atmosphere which can lead to potential health problems in human societies. Additionally, water resources are becoming scarce at an alarming rate which calls for more effective ways of providing clean water from non-traditional sources including sea water and recycled water. The technology to be commercialized uses a mathematical technique called computational fluid dynamics (CFD) that allows engineers to analyze the efficiency of filters with a computational model before production. Additionally, using this technology allows for more design iterations within the product development cycle leading to a better final product. Successful commercialization of this technology will lead to significant improvements in filter design, a reduction in production costs and cleaner air and water. This I-Corps project aims at exploring the potential market for implementing a CFD software package targeted at the filtration industry. Significant formal training, the need for having a deep understanding of the CFD concepts, cumbersome setup procedures, and lengthy computational runtime are among the burdens of implementing a CFD technique within the industry. These complexities limit the use of this critical component in the product development cycle. The technology being considered for commercialization is a novel algorithm which facilitates the implementation of a CFD study. The proposed technique will lead to shorter, easier setup of the computational model and faster computational runtime to obtain results. After receiving the initial design data, the software automatically analyzes the desired performance criteria. The output data are then used by the engineering team to improve the product and achieve higher performances. The technology is a result of extensive R&D work including algorithm and initial software development, and extensive laboratory experimentation for validation purposes.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.