Two-fluid and population balance models for subcooled boiling flow

Population balance equations combined with a three-dimensional two-fluid model are employed to predict subcooled boiling flow at low pressure in a vertical annular channel. The MUSIG (MUltiple-SIze-Group) model implemented in the computer code CFX4.4 is further developed to accommodate the wall nucleation at the heated wall and condensation in the subcooled boiling regime. Comparison of model predictions against local measurements is made for the void fraction, bubble Sauter mean diameter and gas and liquid velocities covering a range of different mass and heat fluxes and inlet subcooling temperatures. Additional comparison using empirical relationships for the active nucelation site density and local bubble diameter is also investigated. Good agreement is achieved with the local radial void fraction, bubble Sauter diameter and liquid velocity profiles against measurements. However, significant weakness of the model is evidenced in the prediction of the vapour velocity. Work is in progress to circumvent the deficiency through the consideration of additional momentum equations or developing an algebraic slip model to account for bubble separation.     

Update to the MUSIG model in ANSYS CFX for reliable modelling of bubble coalescence and breakup

The MUSIG (Multiple Size Group) model in the commercial CFD code ANSYS CFX is a population balance approach for describing binary bubble coalescence and breakup events. It is widely used in the simulation of poly-dispersed bubbly flows. The purpose of this work is to identify the internal inconsistencies in the discrete method that is applied for the solution of the population balance equation in MUSIG, and to propose an internally consistent one for discretising the source and sink terms that result from bubble coalescence and breakup. The new formulation is superior to the existing ones in preserving both mass and number density of bubbles, allowing arbitrary discretisation schemes and is free of costly numerical integrations. The numerical results on the evolution of bubble size distributions in bubbly flows reveal that the inconsistency in the original MUSIG regarding bubble breakup is non-negligible for both academic and practical cases. The discussion on the effect of internal inconsistency as well as updates to the model presented in this work are necessary and important for calibration of bubble coalescence and breakup models using the MUSIG approach.     

Capturing coalescence and break-up processes in vertical gas–liquid flows: Assessment of population balance methods

Gas–liquid flows are commonly encountered in industrial flow systems. Numerical studies have been performed to assess the performances of different population balance approaches – direct quadrature method of moments (DQMOMs), average bubble number density (ABND) model and homogeneous MUlti-SIze-Group (MUSIG) model – in tracking the changes of gas void fraction and bubble size distribution under complex flow conditions and to validate the model predictions against experimental measurements from medium- and large-sized vertical pipes. Subject to different gas injection method and flow conditions, bubble size evolution exhibited a coalescence dominant trend in the medium-sized pipe; while bubble break-up was found to be dominant in large-sized pipe. The two experiments were therefore strategically selected for carrying out a thorough examination of existing population balance models in capturing the complicated behaviour of bubble coalescence and break-up. In general, predictions of all the different population balance approaches were in reasonable agreement with experimental data. More importantly, encouraging results have been obtained in adequately capturing the dynamical changes of bubbles size due to bubble interactions and transition from wall peak to core peak gas void fraction profiles. As a compromise between numerical accuracy and computational time, DQMOM has performed rather well in capturing the essential two-phase flow structures within the medium- and large-sized vertical pipes when compared to those of ABND and homogeneous MUSIG models. From a practical perspective, the ABND model may still be considered as a more viable approach for industrial applications of gas–liquid flow systems.     

Numerical study of dynamics of single bubbles and bubble swarms

A systematic computational study of the dynamics of gas bubbles rising in a viscous liquid is presented. Two-dimensional simulations are carried out. Both the dynamics of single bubbles and small groups of bubbles (bubble swarms) are considered. This is a continuation of our previous studies on the two-bubble coalescence and vortex shedding [A. Smolianski, H. Haario, P. Luukka, Vortex shedding behind a rising bubble and two-bubble coalescence: a numerical approach, Appl. Math. Model. 29 (2005) 615–632]. The proposed numerical method allows us to simulate a wide range of flow regimes, accurately capturing the shape of the deforming interface of the bubble and the surface tension effect, while maintaining the mass conservation. The computed time-evolution of bubble’s position and rise velocity shows a good agreement with the available experimental data. At the same time, the results on the dynamics of bubble interface area, which are, up to our knowledge, presented for the first time, show how much the overall mass transfer would be affected by the interface deformation in the case of the bubble dissolution. Another set of experiments that are of interest for chemical engineers modelling bubbly flows concerns the bubble swarms and their behavior in different bubble-shape regimes. The ellipsoidal and spherical shape regimes are considered to represent, respectively, the coalescing and non-coalescing bubble swarms. The average rise velocities of the bubble swarms are computed and analyzed for both regimes.     

Numerical modelling of EHD effects on heat transfer and bubble shapes of nucleate boiling

In this article, mathematical and numerical models are developed to study pure electrohydrodynamic (EHD) effects on heat transfer and bubble shapes when an initial bubble attached to a superheated horizontal wall in nucleate boiling. In the modelling of EHD effects on heat transfer, an undeformed bubble is considered; the electric body force and Joule heat are added to the momentum and energy equations; governing equations for heat, fluid flow and electric fields are coupled numerically and solved using a non-orthogonal body-fitted mesh system with necessary interfacial treatments at the gas–liquid boundary. While, to study the pure effect of EHD on the deformation of the bubble, the evaluation of a deformable bubble without heat transfer is simulated by volume of fluid (VOF) method based on an axial symmetric Cartesian coordinate system. The simulations indicate that EHD can effectively enhance heat transfer rate of nucleate boiling by influencing the motion of the ring vortex around the bubble and that bubble can be elongated due to the pull in axial direction and push in the negative radial direction by the electric field force.     

Computational fluid dynamics modelling of gas jets impinging onto liquid pools

Gas jets impinging onto a gas–liquid interface of a liquid pool are studied using computational fluid dynamics modelling, which aims to obtain a better understanding of the behaviour of the gas jets used metallurgical engineering industry. The gas and liquid flows are modelled using the volume of fluid technique. The governing equations are formulated using the density and viscosity of the “gas–liquid mixture”, which are described in terms of the phase volume fraction. Reynolds averaging is applied to yield a set of Reynolds-averaged conservation equations for the mass and momentum, and the k–ε turbulence model. The deformation of the gas–liquid interface is modelled by the pressure jump across the interface via the Young–Laplace equation. The governing equations in the axisymmetric cylindrical coordinates are solved using the commercial CFD code, FLUENT. The computed results are compared with experimental and theoretical data reported in the literature. The CFD modelling allows the simultaneous evaluation of the gas flow field, the free liquid surface and the bulk liquid flow, and provides useful insight to the highly complex, and industrially significant flows in the jetting system.     

Simulation of bubbly flow in a vertical turbulent channel

The paper presents results of Direct Numerical Simulation of bubbly flow to analyse the interaction between the turbulent fluid and the bubbles. The simulations aim to investigate the effect of the bubble Reynolds number, related to the bubble size, and the void fraction. (© 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Characteristic development of hyperbolic two-dimensional two-fluid model for gas–liquid flows with surface tension

A new hyperbolic, two-dimensional two-fluid model is developed to properly solve two-phase gas–liquid flows. Adopting the interfacial pressure jump terms in the momentum equations, the numerical stability is confirmed owing to the improvement in the mathematical property of the equation system. The derivation of the interfacial pressure jump terms is based on the infinitesimal surface-tension effect incorporated in the pressure difference at the gas–liquid interface. Through the characteristic analysis on the equation system, the eight eigenvalues are obtained analytically and they are proved real values representing phasic convective velocities and phasic sound speeds. Furthermore, the characteristic sound speeds are comparable with the earlier experimental data in excellent agreements. In addition, the eigenvectors are obtained analytically and they are shown to be linearly independent. Consequently, the governing equation system is mathematically hyperbolic with reasonable characteristic speeds by which the upwind numerical method avails. Advantage and possibility of the present model are discussed in some detail.     

Simulation of a reacting gas–liquid bubbly flow with CFD and PBM: Validation with experiments

In this work we use computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to simulate a reactive gas–liquid bubbly system in a rectangular bubble column, operating at low superficial velocities (i.e. homogeneous regime). The gas bubbles, injected in the column through a sparger, contain one of the reactants, namely CO₂, that via mass transfer moves to the continuous liquid phase, where it reacts with NaOH. A key role is played by the bubble size distribution (BSD) and the specific surface area that define the overall mass transfer rate in the CFD model. In order to correctly predict the BSD and the polydispersity of the bubbly system the population balance equation is solved by the quadrature method of moments (QMOM), within the OpenFOAM (v. 2.2.x) two-fluid solver compressibleTwoPhaseEulerFoam. To reduce the computational time and increase stability, a second-order operator-splitting technique for the solution of the chemically reactive species is also implemented, allowing to solve the different processes involved with their own time-scale. To our knowledge this is the first time that QMOM is employed for the simulation of a real reactive bubbly system and predictions are validated against experiments.     

Numerical simulation of single gas bubbles under shear flow conditions

Disperse gas bubbles play an important role in many industrial applications. Knowing the rising velocity, the interfacial area, or the critical size for break-up or coalescence in different systems can be crucial for the process design. Usually the flow experienced by bubbles is not uniform but sheared. Under shear-flow conditions bubbles develop a lift force perpendicular to the flow direction. In the present work direct numerical simulations are applied to examine the dependency of the lift force on the shear rate for bubbles in pure liquids. A level-set based volume-tracking method is implemented into the CFD-code OpenFOAM, to follow the free interface of the gas bubble. Results show good agreement with available experimental results from single bubbles in a rotating chamber. (© 2009 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

CFD modeling of hydrodynamic characteristics of a gas–liquid two-phase stirred tank

A three-dimensional CFD model was developed in this work to simulate hydrodynamic characteristics of a gas–liquid two-phase stirred tank with two six-bladed turbines and four baffles, coupling of the Multiple Size Group model to determine bubble size distribution. Important hydrodynamic parameters of the multi-phase system such as volume-averaged overall and time-averaged local gas holdups and axial liquid velocities along time and transversal courses were simulated and analyzed in detail, under varied operating conditions (inlet air flow rate and impeller rotation speed). Model predictions of local transient gas holdup and liquid velocity distributions on vertical and horizontal sections of the tank were also carried out. The overall flow patterns were discussed in detail to assess the mixing. Bubble size distributions were further predicted to reveal the unique properties of gas phase. Experimental measurements of overall gas holdups and local axial liquid velocities were used to validate the developed model.     

Numerical simulation of the interaction between vortex ring and bubble plume

In present paper a three-dimensional Vortex-In-Cell method with two-way coupling effect was developed to study the bubble plume entrainment by a vortex ring. In this method the continuous flow was calculated by the three-dimensional Vortex-In-Cell method and the bubbles are tracked through bubble motion equation. Two-way coupling effect between continuous flow and dispersed bubbles is considered by introducing a vorticity source term, which is induced by the change of void fraction gradient in each computational cell. After validated by the comparison between experimental measurements and simulation results for the motion of vortex rings and the rising velocity of bubble plume, present method is implemented to simulate the interaction between an evolving vortex ring and a rising bubble plume. It was found that there is little effect of the bubble entrainment to the total circulation of vortex ring while the effect of bubble entrainment to the vortex ring structure is quite obvious. The bubble entrainment by the vortex ring not only changed the vorticity distribution in the vortex structure, but also displaced the positions of the vortex cores. The vorticity in the lower vortex core of the vortex ring decreases more than that in the upper vortex core of the vortex ring while the vortex core in the upper part of the vortex ring is displaced to the center of vortex ring by the entrained bubbles. Smaller bubbles are easier to be entrained by the large scale vortex structure and the transportation distance is in inverse proportion to bubble diameter.     

Mesoscopic Numerical Study on Flow Boiling Heat Transfer Performance in Channels With Multiple Rectangular Heaters北大核心CSCD

The flow boiling phenomenon in a channel with multiple rectangular heaters under a constant wall temperature was numerically studied with the lattice Boltzmann method. The effects of spacings between heaters, heater lengths and heater surface wettabilities on the bubble morphology, the bubble area and the heat flux on the heater surface, were studied. The results show that, the bubble growth rate increases with the spacing between heaters. The larger the bubble area is, the earlier the nucleated bubbles will leave the heater surface. The corresponding boiling heat transfer performance increases by 12% with the spacing between heaters growing from 250 lattices to 1 000 lattices. On the other hand, the longer the heater length is, the earlier the bubble will nucleate and leave the heater surface, and the better the boiling heat transfer performance will be. The boiling heat transfer performance increases by 13% with the heater length rising from 16 lattices to 22 lattices. In addition, the bubble nucleates later on the hydrophilic surface than on the hydrophobic surface. Compared with the hydrophilic surface, the hydrophobic surface retains residual bubbles after the leaving of bubbles from the heater. The average heat flux and the bubble area of the hydrophilic surface are less than those of the hydrophobic surface. With the contact angle changing from 77° to 120°, the heat transfer performance increases by 26%. Finally, the orthogonal test results indicate that, the wettability of the heat exchanger surface has the greatest influence on the flow boiling heat transfer performance, while the heater length has the least influence. © 2022 Editorial Office of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics. All rights reserved.     

Numerical simulation two phase flows of casting filling process using SOLA particle level set method

Mould filling process is a typical gas–liquid metal two phase flow phenomenon. Numerical simulation of the two phase flows of mould filling process can be used to properly predicate the back pressure effect, the gas entrapment defects, and better understand the complex motions of the gas phase and the liquid phase. In this paper, a novel sharp interface incompressible two phase numerical model for mould filling process is presented. A simple ghost fluid method like discretization method and a density evaluation method at face centers of finite difference staggered grid are proposed to overcome the difficulties when solving two phase Navier–Stokes equations with large-density ratio and large-viscosity ratio. A new mass conservation particle level set method is developed to capture the gas–liquid metal phase interface. The classical pressure-correction based SOLA algorithm is modified to solve the two phase Navier–Stokes equations. Two numerical tests including the Zalesak disk problem and the broken dam problem are used to demonstrate the accuracy of the present method. The numerical method is then adopted to simulate three mould filling examples including two high speed CCD camera imaging water filling experiments and an in situ X-ray imaging experiment of pure aluminum filling. The simulation results are in good agreement with the experiments.     

Analytical estimation of liquid film thickness in two-phase annular flow using electrical resistance measurement

This paper presents an analytical solution to estimate the liquid film thickness in two-phase annular flow through a circular pipe using electrical resistance tomography. Gas–liquid flow with circular gas core surrounded by a liquid film is considered. Conformal mapping is employed to obtain the analytic solution for annular flow with an eccentric circular gas core. The liquid film thickness for an arbitrary annular flow is estimated by comparing the resistance values for concentric and eccentric annular flows. The film thickness estimation has a good performance when the normalized distance between the gas core center and the flow center is less than 0.2 and the void fraction is greater than 0.4, the estimated error of the normalized thickness is less than 0.04.     

Vortex shedding behind a rising bubble and two-bubble coalescence: A numerical approach

In this work, we present the computational results on the wake instability in wobbling bubble regime as well as on the coalescence of two bubbles in different shape regimes. This is a continuation of our previous studies on the dynamics of a single gas bubble rising in a viscous liquid (see [A. Smolianski, H. Haario, P. Luukka, Computational Study of Bubble Dynamics, Research Report 86, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland]), and we use the same, finite-element/level-set/operator-splitting method that was proposed in [A. Smolianski, Numerical Modeling of Two-Fluid Interfacial Flows, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Jyväskylä, 2001]. The numerical method allows to simulate a wide range of flow regimes, accurately capturing the shape of the deforming interface of the bubble and the surface tension effect, while maintaining a good mass conservation. Due to the highly unstable and small-scale nature of the considered problems there are very few experimental investigations, but the comparison with available experimental data confirms a good accuracy of our numerical predictions. Our studies show that plausible results can be obtained with two-dimensional numerical simulations, when a single buoyant bubble or a coalescence of two bubbles is considered.     

川渝裂缝性地层自动压井环空多相压力波速特性研究北大核心CSCD

考虑虚拟质量力、环空沿程压力、气液相间阻力、气体滑脱、环空空隙率等因素,基于小扰动理论,提出了裂缝性地层自动压井环空多相压力波速数学模型,结合半显式差分方法,以彭州PZ-5-3D井(垂深5827 m)为实例,对模型编程求解.结果表明:裂缝性地层出气具有段塞流特点,随空隙率增大,压力波速呈现先减小后增大趋势;空隙率在0%至16%区间,压力波速以液弹为主,压力波速呈急剧下降趋势;空隙率在16%至40%区间,压力波速趋于平缓恒定值;空隙率在42%至100%区间,压力波速呈现增大趋势,压力波速以气弹为主;随环空井深减小,环空空隙率减小,压力波速整体呈现减小趋势;随压井循环排气井口回压增大,压力波速整体呈现增大趋势;环空空隙率在0%至13%区间内,气体滑脱速度对压力波速影响不大;环空空隙率在13%至85%区间内,随气体滑脱速度增大,压力波速呈现减小趋势;节流阀调阀时间间隔与井底压力响应时间具有跟随性,随井底压力响应时间增大,调阀时间间隔增大.     

The dynamics of the growth of vapour bubbles in a superheated liquid

The boiling of a superheated liquid is investigated assuming that, in the initial state, the liquid and a vapour bubble (or a system of vapour bubbles) are in mechanical and thermal equilibrium. It is shown that the state of a mixture of a liquid and bubbles is unstable due to the action of capillary forces. Linear and non-linear solutions are constructed describing the emergence of the system from the unstable state and also the unbounded growth of a single bubble and the transition into a stable vapour-liquid state when there are bubbles distributed throughout the volume in the initial state.     

Asset bubbles and efficiency in a generalized two-sector model

We consider a multi-sector infinite-horizon general equilibrium model. The issues of equilibrium existence, efficiency, and bubble emergence are addressed. We show how different assets give rise to different rational bubbles. We also point out that efficient bubbly equilibria may exist.     

Direct numerical simulation of single gas bubbles in pure and contaminated liquids

Disperse gas bubbles play an important role in many industrial applications. Knowing the rising velocity, the interfacial area, or the critical size for break–up or coalescence in different systems can be crucial for the process design. Hence, knowing the fundamental behaviour of a single bubble appears mandatory for the examination of bubble swarms and for the Euler–Lagrange or Euler–Euler modelling of disperse systems. In the present work a level–set–based volume–tracking method is implemented into the CFD–code OpenFOAM to follow the free interface of a single bubble. The volume–tracking method is coupled with a transport model for surfactants on the interface, including adsorption and desorption processes. The dependency of surface tension on the local surfactant concentration on the interface is modelled by a non–linear (Langmuir) equation of state. Marangoni forces, resulting from surface tension gradients, are included. The rise of a single air bubble (i) in pure water and (ii) in the presence of surfactants of different strengths is simulated. The results show good agreement with available correlations from literature. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)