Mar 18 2009
Blue Ridge Numerics, Inc. today announced the availability of the new CFdesign UVCalc Module, an industry-first Upfront CFD solution for simulating and validating ultraviolet (UV) reactor performance to ensure accurate fluence rates (irradiances) for UV light disinfection. The use of germicidal UV light is a rapidly expanding technology that is used to ensure public safety by deactivating the DNA of bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens, removing their ability to multiply and cause disease.
With CFdesign and the UVCalc Module engineers are able to visualize both the velocity magnitude and computed fluence rate in their UV reactor. Many other types of 'what if' scenarios can be conducted and visualized, such as how the transmittance of the liquid in the reactor can affect the amount of UV dose delivered.
With the new partnership of Blue Ridge Numerics, Inc. and Bolton Photosciences Inc., design engineers developing UV applications for drinking water disinfection, wastewater treatment, and manufacturing processes for the food and beverage, medical device, pharmaceutical, and semiconductors industries (among others), can now easily leverage fluid flow and UV calculation capabilities to speed up and optimize their product development process.
The CFdesign UVCalc Module furthers the commitment of Blue Ridge Numerics to empower engineers with CAD-driven simulation tools that optimize product performance during the digital design phase. The ability to validate UV reactor performance for biodosimetry testing, while still on the digital drawing board, is the focus of CFdesign and the UVCalc Module. Exploration of multiple design scenarios before building prototypes for physical testing equates to significant cost and time savings.
The Synergy of CFdesign and UVCalc
For many years, CFdesign, the leading design tool for Upfront CFD, has successfully been used to simulate the hydraulic performance through UV reactors. To build on existing capabilities and address the current needs of its customers, Blue Ridge Numerics realized the importance of a reliable solution for predicting UV fluence rates in CFdesign. The knowledge and experience needed came from a new partnership with Dr. Jim Bolton, a recognized expert in the UV calculation field and developer of UVCalc, a trusted and tested UV calculation tool currently in its 3rd generation.
"As the use of UV light disinfection rapidly expands around the world, especially in emerging countries like China and India where infrastructure is aggressively being developed to support population demands, companies will be looking for cost effective solutions to help more accurately design their products," said Ed Williams, CEO, Blue Ridge Numerics. "Together CFdesign and UVCalc provide a holistic and accessible solution to help design engineers in water treatment and manufacturing industries more easily simulate and predict accurate reactor performance."
How Does the CFdesign UVCalc Module Work?
UVCalc, developed by Dr. Bolton, is a software program that allows an engineer to map out the fluence rate or irradiance distribution in a UV reactor. The combination of CFdesign and UVCalc together in the CFdesign UVCalc Module allows engineers to simulate the UV fluence rate in combination with the flow field, to ultimately predict the fluence or UV dose delivered. Predicting the UV dose is vital, but even more important is studying and understanding the sensitivity of a reactor design with respect to changing conditions, such as piping connections, water transmittance, and flow rate.
"Validating a UV reactor's performance for biodosimetry testing through digital 'what if' scenarios helps significantly reduce the number of physical prototypes that a company needs to build and ensures a more accurate design upfront in the process," said Dr. Jim Bolton, President, Bolton Photosciences Inc. "CFdesign provides an easy to use software platform that addresses geometry and flow calculations at the design engineering level. The combination of UVCalc and CFdesign creates a synergistic design tool that provides the data and visualization needed to quickly determine the optimum UV reactor performance."