Immergas S.p.A. is a leading Italian domestic boiler manufacturer based in Brescelle, Northern Italy. In conjunction with Fluent Italia CFD engineers, Immergas recently used CFD-based modeling techniques to optimize the design of several components within their domestic boiler products. The driving force behind this effort was Immergas’ desire to reduce costs and the time-to-market of its products in order to sustain market leadership and create the best possible products for its customers.

Pathlines from the inlet colored by temperature during standard operating conditions

FLUENT was used to model the combustion chamber of the boiler during the start-up phase and during an undesirable atmospheric possibility, known as descending wind condition. In both cases, Immergas was interested in designing a boiler that prevents exhaust flue gas from re-entering the combustion chamber since this causes lowered combustion efficiency.

Pathlines from the chimney top colored by velocity magnitude during descending wind conditions

Experimental tests were carried out to validate the FLUENT CFD simulations and good agreement was established between the two. This gave Immergas confidence in the CFD predictions and the technique for subsequent design optimization work. The CFD approach led to significant financial savings.

“The optimization process we put in place with CFD has given us the chance to redesign some features of the boiler hood saving materials (7%) and reducing the flow rate (5%) and, thus, the cost of components all within only one year of using the software.”
Immergas S.P.A.

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