2026 Robert W. Lyczkowski Lecture Presented by Sofiane Benyahia

Please join Illinois Tech for the 2026 Robert W. Lyczkowski Lecture presented by guest speaker Sofiane Benyahia. This lecture will take place on Wednesday, October 28, from 1:45–3 p.m. in the Perlstein Hall Auditorium.

Abstract

This lecture will present results obtained with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools applied to fluidized beds and other fluid-particle systems. It demonstrates the ability of CFD to improve our understanding of the flow of granular material by showing in situ details that are otherwise hidden from view in opaque systems, such as fluidized beds. Thus, the focus of this presentation is on flow visualization rather than details of theoretical models. Several examples showing the effect of particle size and system geometry, as well as heat transfer at high operating temperature, will be addressed. Finally, flow in fractured porous media will also be presented to demonstrate the ability of CFD to simulate flow in complex 3D geometry, now possible with the help of high-performance computing.

Biography

Sofiane Benyahia obtained a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology in 1999, and a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering from the Polytechnique School of Algiers, Algeria. His work consists of developing and applying different multiphase flow models, based on either the continuum or discrete description of granular matter, to fluidization and fluid-particle systems. Benyahia has almost 50 peer-reviewed publications and is currently a research engineer at the United States DOE, NETL (Albany, Oregon) and has held research positions at the Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo (Mexico City) and Fluent Inc., ANSYS (Morgantown, West Virginia). He is the recipient of the 2021 PSRI Fluidization and Fluid-Particle Systems Award from AIChE’s Particle Technology Forum, recognizing his contributions to fluidization and fluid-particle systems.