Partner: Bellmer Czech s.r.o.
Field: Paper industry
The Bellmer company specialises in manufacturing machines for the paper industry. It provides complete fibre processing solutions, including raw material processing machines, paper technology, and separation and dewatering systems.
In the paper machine development process, they use complex numerical simulations to optimise their designs and production processes. Bellmer uses the OpenFOAM software to simulate the behaviour of mainly non-Newtonian fluids, which behave significantly differently and non-intuitively compared to conventional ones.
But how can this tool be used correctly on supercomputers to achieve the desired results quickly and efficiently?
Bellmer decided to seek an answer to this question with the IT4Innovations National Supercomputing Center experts. In the future, they would like to use the Karolina supercomputer operated by IT4Innovations for their calculations. However, this requires optimal setup and proper configuration.
A team of high-performance computing experts have managed to design modifications to their existing simulations so that they can run efficiently on supercomputing systems. “The proposed modifications were designed with an emphasis on the correct distribution of computational tasks and ensuring maximum use of available resources,” explained Tomáš Karásek, Head of the National Centre of Competence in HPC.
The configuration of OpenFOAM codes has also been modified so that they can perform complex simulations using the maximum computing power. This included advice on adequately setting up the parameters and task structure for optimal results for simulations of different sizes.
Thanks to the collaboration, Bellmer now has a better understanding of how to harness the power of supercomputers for their demanding calculations and how to set up its simulations for the Karolina supercomputer in Ostrava as efficiently as possible.
Our goal is to continue to support their transition to high-performance computing and ensure that their future paper machine development is supported by state-of-the-art computing facilities.
Partner's word:
Petr Fryčák, Bellmer Head of R & D
„At the beginning of our collaboration, numerical simulation of the waste paper pulping process in a vertical pulper was solved. In waste paper processing technology, the vertical pulper is the first step in the process of the raw material. Waste paper is loaded into the vertical pulper together with water as the process medium. The rotor agitates the paper and water mixture by spinning and generating a shearing force in the pulper, causing the waste paper to be pulped. This process can be described as breaking down the paper into smaller particles, i.e. fibres.
The pulping process efficiency depends on many factors, the most important of which are the shape and size of the vertical pulper and rotor, the rotor speed, the type of waste paper (or pulp) to be processed, and the mass fraction of paper (fibres and impurities) in the water suspension.
A numerical simulation of the pulping process was used to investigate how changing the size and shape of the rectifier located in the pulper affects it. At the same time, a calculation was performed to verify the effect of rotor blade height and rotor speed on the pulping intensity.“
Do you want to learn more?
If you are facing challenges in using supercomputers or want to find out how they could help your business, please do not hesitate to contact us.
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