Testimonials

We have been using PHOENICS for 9 years with the assistance of CHAM and ArcoFluid (Cham’s representative in France) for our research project. We did apply it to define the hydrodynamics in many different applications like for:

• Bioreactor modeling to produce 2nd generation biohydrogen with the dark fermentation process. It consists in the decomposition of organic waste (biomass) by anaerobic bacteria in order to produce biogas and volatile fatty acids. The bioreactor is a mechanically stirred cylindrical container. The initial goal was to investigate several turbine configurations and their influence on the macromixing. With time the model became more and more complex: turbulent modeling, Newtonian fluid and some non-Newtonian models have recently been considered. The results allowed us to develop correlations between the structure of the flow and mass transfer. This is a breakthrough for the understanding of the mixing conditions and their influence on bacterial development and associated mass transfer. The ultimate goal is to design optimized bioreactors for biohydrogen production.
• Hydro cyclones modeling to investigate the separation of mud components (liquid/solid) in oil extraction (shape, rotation speeds, flow rate). The goal was to improve the performance and reduce its energy input.
• Air ventilation for spinach plant culture in a cavity designed for parabolic flights. The experiment is further developed to measure transpiration rates during growth in micro-gravity environment. This approach is related to plant modeling for space applications (life support).
• Hydrodynamics of bubbles in mixing tank.
• Innovative system installed in a free stream or river to produce electrical energy from hydraulic energy.

PHOENICS allowed us to investigate various configurations and understand intricate nonlinear behaviors, with the precious help of Dr. Jalil Ouazzani.

"At ArcoFluid, we have been using CHAM’s products for over 25 years now. The first uses of PHOENICS were for applications concerning crystal growth: crystal growth in liquid (the directional solidification method of Bridgman, the Czochralski method) and in gaseous medium (chemical vapor deposition (CVD), Physical Vapor transport (PVT) )), Rayleigh Bénard convections. These works have given rise to several publications in international journals.

By becoming a representative of CHAM in France and then in the United States, the field of application was opened in a very important way to the problems of fires and smoke in tunnels, buildings, atmospheric problems of diffusion of pollutants, problems with phase change (evaporation, condensation), transport of drops, surfactants, electro-coalescence.

The structure of PHOENICS makes it possible simply to add additional equations (electric fields, magnetic fields, biological equations). For complex geometries, PHOENICS Cut & Cell methods are notable for their ability accurately to process shapes imported from CAD software. The opening by INFORM (and by Fortran) to the equations allows modification of the equations / the properties / the boundary conditions in a very important way. This openness makes PHOENICS a first-rate Multiphysics tool. The PHOENICS graphical menu can be mastered after only 2 or 3 days of training and provides quick access to the most complex CFD problems. "

"We have been using PHOENICS successfully in construction and building technology for 3 decades. We have come to appreciate the versatility of PHOENICS and the large range of tools provided for creating models, graphical and numerical evaluation, as well as the expansion of performance and reliability through "In-Form".
As an engineering company for technical building equipment, we have used PHOENICS to review our plans for difficult tasks and innovative solutions. Practice showed that we were able to rely on the results in all cases and thus avoid planning errors.
The extensive range of applications included tasks such as

• Wind simulation for buildings and building complexes.
• Investigation of the thermal comfort in concert halls, museums, offices, schools, production facilities etc.
• Problems in clean room and process engineering, natural ventilation and smoke extraction.
• Distribution and removal of pollutants, particle tracking.
• Movement of aerosols and risk of infection from virus-laden aerosols.

CHAM was a valuable and helpful partner for us in all cases. Particularly noteworthy are the excellent support and technical support from Frank Kanters (Coolplug B.V.).
Despite observing the CFD market, we have not found any software that is better suited to solving our diverse tasks.”

"Wir setzen PHOENICS seit 3 Jahrzehnten in Bauen und Gebäudetechnik erfolgreich ein. Dabei haben wir die Vielseitigkeit von PHOENICS und den großen Umfang der bereitgestellten Werkzeuge für die Modellerstellung, graphische und numerische Auswertung, sowie die Erweiterung der Leistungsfähigkeit und Zuverlässigkeit durch „In-Form“ schätzen gelernt.
Als Ingenieurgesellschaft für Technische Gebäudeausrüstung haben wir PHOENICS, bei schwierigen Aufgabenstellungen und neuartigen Lösungen zur Überprüfung unserer Planungen eingesetzt. Die Praxis ergab, dass wir uns in allen Fällen auf die Ergebnisse verlassen und damit Planungsfehler vermeiden konnten.
Das umfangreiche Einsatzspektrum umfasste Aufgaben wie

• Windsimulation für Gebäude und Gebäudekomplexe,
• Untersuchung des Thermischen Komforts in Konzertsälen, Museen,
• Büros, Schulen, Produktionsstätten etc.,
• Probleme in Reinraum und Verfahrenstechnik,
• Natürliche Lüftung und Entrauchung,
• Verteilung und Abführung von Schadstoffen, Partikeltracking,
• Bewegung von Aerosolen und Infektionsrisiko durch virenbehaftete Aerosole.

CHAM war für uns in allen Fällen ein wertvoller und hilfsbereiter Partner. Besonders hervor zu heben sind der ausgezeichnete Support und die fachliche Unterstützung durch Frank Kanters (Coolplug B.V.).
Trotz Beobachtung des CFD – Marktes haben wir keine Software gefunden, die besser für die Lösung unserer vielseitigen Aufgaben geeignet wäre."

"We have used PHOENICS in more than 500 commercial and research projects in all fields of building engineering, from component development to comfort analysis, from exhaust dispersion to smoke protection analysis. The special approach to geometry composition and meshing saved us thousands of working hours and gave us more freedom to set up parametric models compared to other tools. Over the years, the CHAM team was a reliable partner to help us solving even exotic tasks.

We always had an open eye on other simulation tools to get the best possible results. Though there are strong competitors on the market, PHOENICS is still our favourite tool.”

“I have warm memories of our fruitful cooperation with ACFDA on applying PHOENICS for GenCell’s applications. PHOENICS customization with the help of Drs. Vladimir Agranat and Sergei Zhubrin from ACFDA to solve the problems faced by GenCell, and the intensive use of PHOENICS for CFD modeling associated with the development of various design and technological solutions, allowed us to achieve a deeper understanding of the complex physical and electro-chemical phenomena underlying the direct transformation of chemical energy into electricity, and develop a highly efficient ammonia generator. GenCell's hydrogen and ammonia generator products are currently being tested and used in a number of countries in Europe, Southeast Asia, and North and South America. Of course, these words cannot convey all that was along with the development and use of a highly effective CFD tool. But there was the ardent desire of professionals of the highest qualifications to penetrate into the problem as deeply as possible and advance its solution as far as possible.”

“Throughout the years we have used PHOENICS extensively for both research purposes and industrial applications to help resolve various issues related to the field of gaseous hydrogen safety. From ventilation optimization to sensors placement or for comparison between CFD results and experimental data, PHOENICS provided us with a quick and efficient way to get the results we needed when we needed them, without the need for excessive hardware requirements.”

“PHOENICS has been a valuable tool for me throughout my career. It has helped to optimize metal furnace burner arrangement, design and optimize industrial shop ventilation, design and optimize fume capture hoods, and understand and improve ductwork mixing. There has been an impressive improvement in the speed and capabilities of PHOENICS over the nearly 20 years that I have used it and I appreciate the support and feedback from the team over the years.”