MFIX

MFIX (Multiphase Flow with Interphase eXchanges; www.mfix.org) is a general-purpose computer code developed at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) for describing the hydrodynamics, heat transfer and chemical reactions in fluid-solids systems. It has been used for describing bubbling and circulating fluidized beds and spouted beds. MFIX calculations give transient data on the three-dimensional distribution of pressure, velocity, temperature, and species mass fractions. MFIX code is based on a generally accepted set of multiphase flow equations. The code is used as a "test-stand" for testing and developing multiphase flow constitutive equations.

Please contact PSC User Services about license restrictions.

MFIX Features

• Mass, momentum, energy and species balance equations for gas and multiple solids phases
• Granular stress equations based on kinetic theory and frictional flow theory
• Three-dimensional Cartesian or cylindrical coordinate systems with non-uniform mesh size
• Impermeable and semi-permeable internal surfaces
• Input data file sets up the simulation
• Chemical reactions and kinetics defined with the input data file or with a user-defined subroutine
• Error checking of user input
• Multiple, single-precision, binary, direct-access output files that reduce disk space and increase data retrieval speed
• Post-processing codes for the animation and retrieval of output data
• Fortran 90 code base with allocatable arrays
• Serial, shared-memory parallel (SMP) or distributed-memory parallel (DMP) executables generated from the same code base

Usage

• Version MFIX-2002-3 (Date: 08/26/02)
• The executable resides in /usr/local/packages/mfix
• Examples:   Input files are given for five sample jobs. Also provided is a sample batch script.
  • sample script
  • Input data for 3dCfb job
    • Output log for 3dCfb.job
  • Input data for 3dFluidbed job
  • Input data for 3d_square_cfb.job
  • Input data for fluidBed1 job
  • Input data for fluidBed2 job

MFIX and ParaView

ParaView is a powerful, full-featured software package for the visualization of scientific, engineering and analytical data. It can be used to visualize MFIX data. PSC has prepared guides explaining the use of ParaView to view MFIX scalar or vector data.

See:

• ParaView documentation
• Using ParaView to Visualize MFIX Scalar Data
• Using ParaView to Visualize MFIX Vector Data

MFIX Support

PSC has developed several MFIX support packages, which are designed to manipulate MFIX data sets. These include py2dx, m2e, m2t, and MfixReader.

See also

• The MFIX User Manual (PDF format)
• MFIX Home Page (UCSF) which includes links to:
  1. MFIX Users Manual,
  2. MFIX Theory Guide,
  3. MFIX Numerical Guide,
  4. MFIX Training Overview,
  5. MFIX Guide for Beginners.