I've just started to work for a company who manufacture air filtration equipment, I'm looking to find myself a niche. The scope for CFD is huge but it inst widely used internally, rather external contractors charging a premium. Could anyone suggest a software package I could start with? Any advice or links/reading?

I have a good background using 3D modelling & CAD software.

Thanks 😀

I used Ansys for a few years and got on fairly well with it, but it wasn't easy. It's very easy to get pretty pictures out of it, but you need to be sure the results are correct, which often means doing some sums by hand or testing, to prove the model is correct.
One option for you would be to see what packages work with the CAD system you're using. This will make it easier to transfer models from CAD to CFD. You don't want to be re-modelling stuff in the CFD editor if you can import it directly.

Ansys pretty much own all the big packages now I think, although i'm mainly on the structural FEA side

the CFD packages have all been integrated into the latest version of Workbench, which is utter pants for structural stuff, but a big leap forward for CFD stuff according to my colleagues who use it

One package that is getting a lot of press is Comsol, but haven't used it myself.

It's not that easy yet – packages are mainly bare-bones and require a deep understanding of the physical processes, as well as a grounding in numerical methods.

I'm working on an open-source CFD package at the moment though, it's a laugh.