Numerical modeling in fluid mechanics

OptiFluides is a Lyon-based engineering consultancy specialized in Fluid Mechanics, founded in 2011.

We provide computational fluid dynamics (CFD) services, combining heat transfer and reactive kinetics. These results enable your products, installations and innovative concepts to be better characterized, optimizations to be identified and tested right from the design phase, and failures to be anticipated and prevented after commissioning.

Optifluides - CFD services
Modélisation et simulation : études de cas et exemples du savoir-faire d'OptiFluides

CFD simulation services

Our company has always chosen to focus exclusively on fluid mechanics and numerical flow simulation. This choice is not accidental: this is a highly technical field whose perfect mastery is undeniably correlated with regular practical application.

Since OptiFluides was founded in 2011, our many projects have enabled us to become experts in the numerical modeling of all types of flows:

  • laminar or turbulent,
  • stationary or unsteady,
  • single-phase or multi-phase,
  • with phase change, heat exchange, combustion, etc.

We place our expertise in CFD numerical simulation at your disposal, both for your R&D projects and for industrial studies.

Fluid mechanics studies, consulting and calculation services

Match our offer to your needs. Putting our know-how to work, for your specific problem.

Your project doesn’t always require complex numerical modeling. Sometimes, all we have to do is provide you with the missing scientific piece to turn your project into a success.

That’s why we offer a wide range of services, including literature reviews, analytical studies, calculation services and technical advice tailored to your needs.

The results are delivered in a variety of formats: summary report, PowerPoint presentation, Excel spreadsheet, simplified program to automate calculations.

This service will enable you to effectively integrate OptiFluides’ expertise into the realization of your projects in a targeted area, thanks to deliverables adapted to your immediate requirements and designed for direct implementation. It can also be performed in parallel with one or more detailed models. These simulations can, for example, be used to determine the parameters of a simplified pressure drop or flow rate law, which forms the deliverable of the study.

Some examples of support available

  • Calculation spreadsheets for building thermal analysis,
  • Counter-expertise of technical reports,
  • On-site equipment audits,
  • Advice on industrial equipment design (e.g. mixers in process engineering).

Technical consulting in fluid mechanics and heat transfer

From the genesis of your project through to the manufacturing phase, OptiFluides will support and advise you on all aspects of the fluids involved in your product’s operation.

  • Choice of technical solutions based on specifications,
  • Transfer of skills and advice on Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer phenomena at work in your project,
  • Pre-dimensioning in terms of heat, pressure drop, mixing time, etc. (using Excel spreadsheets or computer programs),
  • Contact with our partner EC2-Modélisation for FEA simulation and mechanics/structural consulting,
  • Contacts with suppliers and subcontractors for prototype production or series production.

Modeling, simulating and optimizing the performance of your industrial equipment and processes

For many industrial equipment and manufacturing processes, operation remains wholly or partially empirical. Engineers and operators retain technical control through experience, but modifying one parameter can jeopardize the entire chain, or even fail to deliver the expected benefits.

Modeling the equipment or system and simulating its operation can help to improve understanding, to study the precise influence of various parameters, or to test different geometric configurations and predict the most suitable ones.

In this way, the quantities calculated and analyzed by numerical simulation can be :

  • Pressure and velocity fields, overspeed/stagnation zone analysis, pressure drop calculations, turbulence levels.
  • Temperature field, heat transfer analysis,
  • Concentration of chemical species, atmospheric pollutants, particles, phase changes,
  • Multiphysics couplings (electro-magnetic, acoustic) and their influence on flow.

This numerical simulation can lead to recommendations for optimizing performance, limiting the risk of failure, or improving and optimizing the overall operation of your process, product or system.

Failure analysis and reliability simulation for your industrial equipment and systems

When an industrial system or product malfunctions, we can help you identify and understand the source of the problem, and resolve it. We also provide you with our expertise to prevent the problem from recurring. To do this, we carry out on-site equipment audits, as well as numerical simulation to analyze system reliability.

 

On-site industrial equipment audits

To carry out on-site audits to analyze the reliability of your industrial equipment, we proceed in several stages:

  • Upstream preparation by analysis of manufacturer documentation and data on the failure observed,
  • On-site visits to carry out physical analysis of the product or equipment, including the implementation of any necessary measurements,
  • If necessary, modeling and simulation of the process or product in operation,
  • Production of a summary report with recommendations.

 

Numerical simulation of system reliability

We perform numerical simulation to analyze risks and better understand the operation and reliability of your product/system:

  • CAD modeling,
  • Determination of boundary conditions,
  • Simulation of the product in operation, determination of the torsorsors transmitted to the structure by the fluid, degraded operation zones and risk zones,
  • Risk analysis and determination of scenarios leading to failure.

Design and characterization via numerical simulation

Validating the correct sizing of a product/system with fluids and understanding its precise operation are essential project stages. To this end, OptiFluides puts its expertise at your disposal, to carry out the necessary simulation and modeling calculations, provide additional recommendations and even help you anticipate potential malfunctions.

Validation of the design stage or characterization of the product/system, from a fluid point of view, can take many forms:

  • Verification of flow rates, mass or heat balances,
  • Validation of torsors of forces generated by the fluid on the structure,
  • Verification of maximum operating temperature, spatial or temporal temperature homogeneity,
  • Calculation of residence time distribution, mixing rate, vacuum rate, reaction advancement rate,
  • Temporal and/or spatial analysis of any other relevant physical variables (pressure, temperature, water head, mixing rate, power dissipation, etc.).

Numerical simulation is generally the solution chosen to access these quantities, but when the situation lends itself to it, an analytical study may be sufficient.

For your CFD simulation projects