Development of a virtual CFD model for regulating temperature in a liquid tank

Temperature regulating in liquid tanks is critical in the chemical industry and conventionally relies on sensor feedback. However, due to the complex thermo-hydrodynamics, unsensed local temperatures can deviate from desired thresholds, underscoring the need for improved tank temperature modeling. The absence of internal thermal or flow data, however, poses significant challenges for the development and validation of effective control strategies. In this study, a virtual model for regulating liquid tank temperature was developed using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Adaptions were made mainly by involving (1) a simple on-off mechanism of feeding based on a virtual sensor to achieve temperature within the acceptable range and (2) the imposition of unfavorable temperatures on the walls representing ambient influences. Leveraging this virtual system, several new cases were simulated. The simulation results highlighted pronounced temperature non-uniformity, with discrepancies exceeding 2�C between sensor readings and interior points, even leading to inefficiencies of regulatory mechanism. Additionally, the buoyancy was found to significantly influence the internal thermal distributions, and proper outlet position can help alleviate the temperature non-uniformity. Thus, the proposed CFD model serves as a reliable platform for generating comprehensive datasets to support temperature regulation studies in liquid tanks.