Fluentversion6.2computationalfluiddynamicsenvironmenthasbeenenhancedwithapopulationbalancecapabilitythatoperatesinconjunctionwithitsmultiphasecalculationstopredicttheparticlesizedistributionwithintheflowfield.Thepopulationbalanceissolvedbythequadraturemethodofmoments(QMOM).Fluent'spredictioncapabilitiesaretestedbyusinga2-dimensionalanalogyofaconstantlystirredtankreactorwithafluidflowcompartmentthatmixesthefluidquicklyandefficientlyusingwallmovementandhasafeedstreamandaproductstream.TheresultsoftheseFluentsimulationsusingQMOMpopulationbalancesolverarecomparedtosteadystateanalyticalsolutionsforthepopulationbalanceinastirredtankwhere1)growth,2)aggregation,and3)breakage,takeplaceseparatelyand4)combinednucleationandgrowthand5)combinednucleation,growthandaggregationtakeplace.Theresultsofthesecomparisonsshowthatthemomentsofthepopulationbalanceareaccuratelypredictedfornucleation,growth,aggregationandbreakagewhentheflowfieldisturbulent.Withlaminarflowthemixingisnotidealandasaresultthesteadystatewellmixedsolutionsarenotaccuratelysimulated.
