What is the "Virtual Expert" ?

The Ergun Software is designed to help the user all along a design or study project. Those who know well the fluidization domain would focus rapidly on the main topics and probably do not need any help for the interpretation of the results provided by the program. However, if you are not an expert in this field, you may need some help to avoid the common traps, to decide about the reliability of the results obtained from diverse models and also for choosing the best method (or model) for a given design subject.

Example : The pressure drop through a common "Fluidization Grid" should be high enough to make sure that the gas is uniformly distributed over the bed section.

Question : What does mean "high enough" ? Response : The pragmatical state of art is that this value should equal or higher than 3400 Pa but also more than 1/3 of the bed height.

These two simple rules are written in the "Virtual Expert" database. Once the user obtains a set of results for a grid design, the Virtual Expert automatically checks for the validity of the given rules and will add some comments in the "Results File". The user is free to take into account the Virtual Expert's comment or not.

As we mentioned above, the second function of the "Virtual Expert" is to propose adequate methods of calculation when several models are available. To use this function, the user can simply click into "Expert Choice" of some option boxes present in a number of modules. In this case, the Virtual Expert will choose the most reliable model for the type of calculation in hand (this may depend on the Geldart classification of particles). However, note that it is always interesting to compare the results provided by various models for a better understanding of the system.