CFD Simulation of Low Reynolds-number Turbulence Models in Coral Thermal Microenvironment

Abstract

The increasing frequency and severity of mass bleaching events in the past few decades has raised considerable concerns. Here we report on the numerical simulations of Low Reynolds turbulence models coral microenvironments to determine surface temperature rise in reef corals and test whether our model is capable to estimate of the extent of warming likely to be en-countered in the nature during calm conditions. The Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation uses the OpenFOAM CFD libraries to implement a steady-state turbulent flow porous medium model, with heat transfer accounted for using a transport equation for temperature. We validated the model using controlled laboratory experiment observations.