Industry, academia and government leaders from around the world are attending the NETL 2019 Workshop on Multiphase Flow Science (MFS) Tuesday through Thursday in Morgantown, West Virginia.

MFS is the study of the flow of liquid or solid materials with different chemical properties. NETL hosts the workshop annually to allow attendees to share data and experiences that help guide future research. The Workshop goal is to advance use of physics-based multiphase simulations and experiments to help overcome the technical barriers associated with the development of highly efficient, environmentally acceptable energy and environmental and industrial technologies and processes. Attendees are sharing their experiences to help researchers better understand industry needs and priorities for future research.

The Laboratory is well suited to host the event because of its expertise conducting in-depth studies of energy and environmental applications including gasification, carbon capture using solvents and chemical-looping combustion of gaseous and solid fuels. NETL’s MFS research program is a strategic combination of computational and physical models of reacting multiphase flows that provide validated science-based modeling tools.

MFS research is valuable because it can help energy system designers control costs and reduce the risks of not meeting performance standards early in the development process.

Tuesday and Wednesday’s Workshop activities are dedicated to technical presentations on:

• Fundamental research in multiphase flows.
• Advancements in CFD model development for multiphase flows.
• Application of multiphase CFD to industrial systems such as gasification, combustion, fossil fuel extraction and utilization, chemical processes, etc.
• Novel measurement techniques in multiphase flows.
• Application of uncertainty quantification techniques in multiphase flow simulation.
• Optimization and reduced order modeling of multiphase systems.

Thursday, NETL researchers will provide demonstrations and training sessions on the latest release of NETL’s MFiX software suite. MFiX features computer code that describes the hydrodynamics, heat transfer and chemical reactions in fluid-solids systems.

NETL develops and commercializes advanced technologies that provide reliable and affordable solutions to America's energy challenges. NETL’s work supports DOE’s mission to advance the national, economic, and energy security of the United States. Details about the various research programs and projects in NETL’s MFS portfolio can be found at https://mfix.netl.doe.gov/research/.