Fluidization and bubbling behavior of potash particles in a deep fluidized bed

Most existing models for predicting bubble size and bubble frequency have been developed for freely bubbling fluidized beds. Accurate prediction of bubbling behavior in deep fluidized beds, however, has been a challenge due to the higher degree of bubble coalescence and break up, high probability of the slugging regime, partial fluidization, and chaotic behavior in the bubbling regime. In this work, the bubbling and fluidization behavior of potash particles was investigated in a deep fluidized bed employing a twin-plane electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) system. Solid volume fraction, average bubble velocity, average bubble diameter, and bubble frequency in both bubbling and slugging regimes were measured at two different bed height ratios (H/D = 3.5 and H/D = 3.78). This work is the first to illustrate a sequential view of bubbles at different superficial gas velocities in a fluidized bed. The results show that both the bubble diameter and rising velocity increased with increasing the superficial gas velocity for the two bed heights, with larger values observed in the deeper bed compared to the shallower one. Predicted values for bubble diameter, bubble rise velocity and bubble frequency from different models are compared with the experimental data obtained from the ECT system in this work. Good agreement has been achieved between the values predicted by the previous models and the experimental data for the bubble diameter and bubble rise velocity with an average absolute deviation of 16% and 15% for the bed height of 49 cm and 13% and 8% for the bed height of 53 cm, respectively.     

Gas entrainment by a liquid film falling around a stationary Taylor bubble in a vertical tube

Gas entrainment by a liquid film falling around a stationary Taylor bubble in a 0.1 m diameter vertical tube is studied experimentally with the purpose of validating a model formulated in an earlier phase of our research. According to this model for a fixed liquid velocity the gas entrainment should be proportional to the waviness of the film (its intermittency) and the wave height and inversely proportional to the film thickness. For Taylor bubble lengths ranging from 1D to 15D these film parameters have been measured with a Laser Induced Fluorescence technique. The gas entrainment has been determined from the net gas flux into the liquid column underneath the Taylor bubble by using data on gas re-coalescence into the rear of the Taylor bubble. These data are available for lengths ranging from 4.5D to 9D. The model results with the measured film characteristics compare well with the observed gas entrainment. The fact that the net gas flux becomes constant for long Taylor bubbles, whereas the wave height still increases, warrants further study.     

Air concentration and bubble characteristics downstream of a chute aerator

Chute aerators separate the flow of water from the bottom of a chute, and air bubbles generated in the cavity zone must go through the impact zone as they travel downstream. In this study, the air concentration and air bubble characteristics along the chute were investigated systematically by a series of model tests that eliminated the effect of the upper aeration region. It was found that the large amount of air entrained in the cavity zone was only partially entrained into the final flow. Based on the lower air discharge properties, the chute downstream of the aerator was partitioned into four reasonable zones: the cavity zone (0 < x < L), the impact zone (L ≤ x ≤ L_m), the equilibrium zone (L_m ≤ x ≤ L_D), and the far zone (x > L_D). The details of the bubble chord length and bubble frequency distributions in each zone were measured. In the cavity zone, the bubble frequency distribution was related to the air concentration by a parabolic law. In the impact zone, the air concentration decreased sharply while the bubble frequency decreased to a lesser extent. Due to the turbulent fluctuation effect, the probability of smaller bubbles increased while the probability of larger bubbles decreased as they progressed down the chute. In the equilibrium zone, the bubble frequency decreased slightly. At the cross section, the range of probability of bubble chord lengths tended to increase from the bottom to the upper surface. The distributions of the mean chord lengths followed approximately a power low distribution. A formula was provided to predict the maximum air bubble frequency in the impact and equilibrium zones.     

Bubble dynamics in a two-dimensional gas-solid fluidized bed

Related referential studies on gas-solid two-phase flows were briefly reviewed. Bubble ascending in a two-dimensional （2D） gas-solid fluidized bed was studied both experimentally and numerically. A modified continuum model expressed in the conservation form was used in numerical simulation. Solid-phase pressure was modeled via local sound speed; gas-phase turbulence was described by the K-ε two-equation model. The modified implicit multiphase formulation （IMF） scheme was used to solve the model equations in 2D Cartesian/cylindrical coordinates. The bubble ascending velocity and particle motion in the 2D fluidized bed were measured using the photochromic dye activation （PDA） technique, which was based on UV light activation of particles impregnated with the dye. Effects of bed height and superficial gas velocity on bubble formation and ascent were investigated numerically. The numerically obtained bubble ascending velocities were compared with experimental measurements. Gas bubble in jetting gas-solids fluidized bed was also simulated numerically.     

The shape and position of bubbles at horizontal liquid surfaces

The scope of this investigation comprises the determination of the shape and position of a gas bubble floating at the horizontal surface of a liquid. — A starting point towards the solution of this problem is provided by Laplace's law, but this equation is soluble analytically in very few cases only. It is shown that the most useful parameters can be obtained from Princen's table which is a modified version of Bashford and Adams table and other dimensions can be evaluated from the equations as proposed in the context. It is suggested that r√c should be used as the fundamental dimensionless shape parameter and further the radius r of the equivalent sphere can be related to original radius r₀ of the bubble by means of a correction factor. — This system has also been studied experimentally. A photographic technique has been used, both the length x_c and the height h of upper part of the bubble at the surface have been measured on photographs thus allowing a sensitive test of the theory.     

Numerical study of bubble rise and interaction in a viscous liquid

In this article, the flow instabilities during the rise of a single bubble in a narrow vertical tube are studied using a transient two-dimensional/axisymmetric model. To predict the shape of the bubble deformation, the Navier-Stokes equations in addition to an advection equation for liquid volume fraction are solved. A modified volume-of-fluid technique based on Youngs' algorithm is used to track the bubble deformation. To validate the model, the results of simulations for terminal rise velocity and bubble shape are compared with those of the experiments. The effect of different parameters such as initial bubble radius, channel height, liquid viscosity and surface tension on the shape and rise velocity of the bubble is investigated.     

Oscillation and breakup of a bubble under forced vibration

Coupled shape oscillations and translational motion of an incompressible gas bubble in a vibrating liquid container is studied numerically. The bubble oscillation characteristics are mapped based on the bubble Bond number (Bo) and the ratio of the vibration amplitude of the container to the bubble diameter (A/D). At small Bo and A/D, the bubble oscillation is found to be linear with small amplitudes, and at large Bo and A/D, it is nonlinear and chaotic. This chaotic bubble oscillation is similar to those observed in two coupled nonlinear systems, here being the gas inside the bubble and its surrounding liquid. Further increases in the forcing, results in the bubble breakup due to large liquid inertia.     

The dynamics and dissolution of gas bubbles in a viscoelastic fluid

This paper reports an experimental study of the motion of dissolving and non-dissolving gas bubbles in a quiescent viscoelastic fluid. The objective of the investigation was to determine the influence of the abrupt transition in bubble velocity, which had been observed at a critical radius of approx. on the rate of mass transfer. Thus, a range of bubble sizes from an equivalent (spherical) radius of 0.2–0.4 cm was employed using CO₂ gas, and five different fluids, including one Newtonion glycerine/water solution and four viscoelastic solutions of Separan AP30 in water (0.1, 0.5, 1% by weight) and in a water/glycerine mixture.The experimental data on bubble velocity shows that the discontinuous increase with bubble volume observed previously for air bubbles in viscoelastic fluids, does not occur for dissolving CO₂ bubbles—presumably due to the continuous decrease in bubble volume. Instead, a very steep but definitely continuous transition is found. Mass transfer rates are found to be significantly enhanced by viscoelasticity, and comparison with available theoretical results shows that the increase is greater than expected for purely viscous, power-law fluids. We conclude that a fully viscoelastic constitutive model would be necessary for a successful analysis of the dissolution of a gas bubble which is translating through a (high molecular weight) polymer solution.     

Effects of particle size and concentration on bubble coalescence and froth formation in a slurry bubble column

A new approach for simulating the formation of a froth layer in a slurry bubble column is proposed. Froth is considered a separate phase, comprised of a mixture of gas, liquid, and solid. The simulation was carried out using commercial flow simulation software (FIRE v2014) for particle sizes of 60–150 μm at solid concentrations of 0–40 vol%, and superficial gas velocities of 0.02–0.034 m/s in a slurry bubble column with a hydraulic diameter of 0.2 m and height of 1.2 m. Modelling calculations were conducted using a Eulerian–Eulerian multiphase approach with k–ε turbulence. The population balance equations for bubble breakup, bubble coalescence rate, and the interfacial exchange of mass and momentum were included in the computational fluid dynamics code by writing subroutines in Fortran to track the number density of different bubble sizes. Flow structure, radial gas holdup, and Sauter mean bubble diameter distributions at different column heights were predicted in the pulp zone, while froth volume fraction and density were predicted in the froth zone. The model was validated using available experimental data, and the predicted and experimental results showed reasonable agreement. To demonstrate the effect of increasing solid concentration on the coalescence rate, a solid-effect multiplier in the coalescence efficiency equation was used. The solid-effect multiplier decreased with increasing slurry concentration, causing an increase in bubble coalescence efficiency. A slight decrease in the coalescence efficiency was also observed owing to increasing particle size, which led to a decrease in Sauter mean bubble diameter. The froth volume fraction increased with solid concentration. These results provide an improved understanding of the dynamics of slurry bubble reactors in the presence of hydrophilic particles.     

Prediction of mono-disperse gas–liquid turbulent flow in a vertical pipe

A two-fluid model in the Eulerian–Eulerian framework has been implemented for the prediction of gas volume fraction, mean phasic velocities, and the liquid phase turbulence properties for gas–liquid upward flow in a vertical pipe. The governing two-fluid transport equations are discretized using the finite volume method and a low Reynolds number $k-\varepsilon$ model is used to predict the turbulence field for the continuous liquid phase. In the present analysis, a fully developed one-dimensional flow is considered where the gas volume fraction profile is predicted using the radial force balance for the bubble phase. The current study investigates: (1) the turbulence modulation terms which represent the effect of bubbles on the liquid phase turbulence in the k–ε transport equations; (2) the role of the bubble induced turbulent viscosity compared to turbulence generated by shear; and (3) the effect of bubble size on the radial forces which results in either a center-peak or a wall-peak in the gas volume fraction profiles. The results obtained from the current simulation are generally in good agreement with the experimental data, and somewhat improved over the predictions of some previous numerical studies.     

Bubbly jets in stagnant water

Air–water bubbly jets are studied experimentally in a relatively large water tank with a gas volume fraction, C_o, of up to 80% and nozzle Reynolds number, Re, ranging from 3500 to 17,700. Measurements of bubble properties and mean axial water velocity are obtained and two groups of experiments are identified, one with relatively uniform bubble sizes and another with large and irregular bubbles. For the first group, dimensionless relationships are obtained to describe bubble properties and mean liquid flow structure as functions of C_o and Re. Measurements of bubble slip velocity and estimates of the drag coefficient are also provided and compared to those for isolated bubbles from the literature. The study confirms the importance of bubble interactions to the dynamics of bubbly flows. Bubble breakup processes are also investigated for bubbly jets. It was found that a nozzle Reynolds number larger than 8000 is needed to cause breakup of larger bubbles into smaller bubbles and to produce a more uniform bubble size distribution. Moreover, the Weber number based on the mean water velocity appears to be a better criteria than the Weber number based on the bubble slip velocity to describe the onset of bubble breakup away from the nozzle, which occurs at a Weber number larger than 25.     

A computational study of the effect of initial bubble conditions on the motion of a gas bubble rising in viscous liquids

In order to examine the influence of initial bubble conditions on bubble rise motion, two-dimensional direct numerical simulations of the motion of a gas bubble rising in viscous liquids were carried out by a coupled level set/volume-of-fluid (CLSVOF) method. For dimensionless groups predicting a “spherical-cap bubble shape” (high Eötvös and low Morton numbers), we have found computationally that solutions depend on initial bubble conditions. Specifically, for spherical-cap bubble areas, we could obtain computational results of toroidal bubbles or spherical-cap bubbles depending on initial bubble conditions. On the other hand, we showed for low Eo and high M conditions that initial bubble conditions did not affect the final state of bubble rise motion.     

Bubbly-to-cap bubbly flow transition in a long-26 m vertical large diameter pipe at low liquid flow rate

The concurrent upward two-phase flow of air and water in a long vertical large diameter pipe with an inner diameter (D) of 200 mm and a height (z) of 26 m (z/D = 130) was investigated experimentally at low superficial liquid velocities from 0.05009 to 0.3121 m/s and the superficial gas velocities from 0.01779 to 0.5069 m/s. The resultant void fractions range from 0.03579 to 0.4059. According to the observations using a high speed video camera, the flow regimes of bubbly, developing cap bubbly and fully-developed cap bubbly flows prevailed in the flows. The developing cap bubbly flow appeared as a flow regime transition from bubbly to fully-developed cap bubble flow in the vertical large diameter pipe. The developing cap bubbly flow changes gradually and lasts for a long time period and a wide axial region in the flow direction, in contrast to a sudden transition from bubbly to slug flows in a small diameter pipe. The analysis in this study showed that the flow regime transition depends not only on the void fraction but also on the axial distance in the flow and the pipe diameter. The axial flow development brings about the transition to happen in a lower void fraction flow and the increase of pipe diameter causes the transition to happen in a higher void fraction flow. The measured void fraction showed an N-shaped axial changing manner that the void fraction increases monotonously with axial position in the bubbly flow, decreases non-monotonously with axial position in the developing cap bubbly flow, and increases monotonously again with axial position in the fully-developed cap bubbly flow. The temporary void fraction decrease phenomenon in the transition region from bubbly to cap bubbly flow can be attributed to the formation of medium to large cap bubbles and their gradual growth into the maximum size of cap bubble and/or cluster of large cap bubbles in the developing cap bubbly flow. In order to predict the N-shaped axial void fraction changing behaviors in the flow regime transition from bubbly to cap bubbly flow, the existing 12 drift flux correlation sets for large diameter pipes are reviewed and their predictabilities are studied against the present experimental data. Although some drift flux correlation sets, such as those of Clark and Flemmer (1986) and Hibiki and Ishii (2003), can predict the present experimental data with reasonable average relative deviations, no drift flux correlation set for distribution parameter and drift velocity can give a reliable prediction for the observed N-shaped axial void fraction changing behaviors in the region from bubbly to cap bubbly flow in a vertical large diameter pipe.     

Axisymmetric simulation of the interaction of a rising bubble with a rigid surface in viscous flow

The interaction between a rising deformable gas bubble and a solid wall in viscous liquids is investigated by direct numerical simulation via an arbitrary-Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) approach. The flow field is assumed to be axisymmetric. The bubble is driven by gravity only and the motion of the gas inside the bubble is neglected. Deformation of the bubble is tracked by a moving triangular mesh and the liquid motion is obtained by solving the Navier–Stokes equations in a finite element framework. To understand the mechanisms of bubble deformation as it interacts with the wall, the interaction process is studied as a function of two dimensionless parameters, namely, the Morton number (Mo) and Bond number (Bo). We study the range of Bo and Mo from (2, 6.5 × 10⁻⁶) to (16, 0.1). The film drainage process is also considered in this study. It is shown that the deformation of a bubble interacting with a solid wall can be classified into three modes depending on the values of Mo and Bo.     

Co-current flow effects on a rising Taylor bubble

The effects of co-current flows on a rising Taylor bubble are systematically investigated by a front tracking method coupled with a finite difference scheme based on a projection approach. Both the upward (the co-current flows the same direction as the buoyancy force) and the downward (the co-current moves in the opposite direction of the buoyancy force) co-currents are examined. It is found that the upward co-current tends to elongate the bubble, while the downward co-current makes the bubble fatter and shorter. For large N_f (the inverse viscosity number), the upward co-current also elongates the skirted tail and makes the tail oscillate, while the downward co-current shortens the tail and even changes a dimpled bottom to a round shape. The upward co-current promotes the separation at the tail, while the downward co-current suppresses the separation. The terminal velocity of the Taylor bubble rising in a moving flow is a linear combination of the mean velocity (U_C) of the co-current and the terminal velocity (U₀) of the bubble rising in the stagnant liquid, and the constant is around 2 which agrees with the literature. The wake length is linearly proportional to the velocity ratio (U_C/U₀). The co-currents affect the distribution of the wall shear stresses near the bubble, but not the maximum.     

Numerical simulation of a bubble rising in shear-thinning fluids

The motion of a single bubble rising freely in quiescent non-Newtonian viscous fluids was investigated experimentally and computationally. The non-Newtonian effects in the flow of viscous inelastic fluids are modeled by the Carreau rheological model. An improved level set approach for computing the incompressible two-phase flow with deformable free interface is used. The control volume formulation with the SIMPLEC algorithm incorporated is used to solve the governing equations on a staggered Eulerian grid. The simulation results demonstrate that the algorithm is robust for shear-thinning liquids with large density (ρ₁/ρ_g up to 10³) and high viscosity (η₁/η_g up to 10⁴). The comparison of the experimental measurements of terminal bubble shape and velocity with the computational results is satisfactory. It is shown that the local change in viscosity around a bubble greatly depends on the bubble shape and the zero-shear viscosity of non-Newtonian shear-thinning liquids. The shear-rate distribution and velocity fields are used to elucidate the formation of a region of large viscosity at the rear of a bubble as a result of the rather stagnant flow behind the bubble. The numerical results provide the basis for further investigations, such as the numerical simulation of viscoelastic fluids.     

Critical heat flux in pool boiling on a vertical heater

Critical heat flux during pool boiling on a vertical heater of wire or plate has been measured employing water and R113. The experiment was made for a wire of 0.5 to 2 mm in diameter and for a plate of 5, 7 and 30 mm in width and from 20 to 300 mm in height. The pressure was 1 and 2 bar for water and 1, 2, 3 and 4 bar for R113. The experiment shows that for the case of both wire and plate of 5, 7 mm, a large coalesced bubble entirely surrounds the vertical heater and rises surrounding it, while for the case of w = 30 mm, a large bubble cannot surround and rises along its surface. The characteristic of CHF can be divided into two regimes depending on the flow condition when CHF takes place. Correlations are proposed for the CHF of the wire and the plate of w = 5, and 7 mm, yielding good accuracy. The CHF for the plate of w = 30 mm has a similar tendency to that in one side headed surface and can be predicted reasonably by existing correlation for one side heated surface.     

An intermittency model for predicting roughness induced transition

An intermittency transport equation for RANS modeling, formulated in local variables, is extended for roughness-induced transition. To predict roughness effects in the fully turbulent boundary layer, published boundary conditions for k and ω are used. They depend on the equivalent sand-grain roughness height, and account for the effective displacement of wall distance origin. Similarly in our approach, wall distance in the transition model for smooth surfaces is modified by an effective origin, which depends on equivalent sand-grain roughness. Flat plate test cases are computed to show that the proposed model is able to predict transition onset in agreement with a data correlation of transition location versus roughness height, Reynolds number, and inlet turbulence intensity. Experimental data for turbine cascades are compared to the predicted results to validate the proposed model.     

Blasenbewegung aufgrund von Marangonikonvektion

This is an experimental study on gas bubble motion in a vertical temperature gradient. Surface tension convection (Marangoni convection) superimposing gravity is discussed with respect to the theory of Young et al. as another cause for bubble motion. The Marangoni numbers for the convection inside the bubble (N ⁱ _Ma) and outside the bubble in the medium (N ^e _Ma) are introduced as criterion for the applicability of the theory. It is shown by the experiments that the Young theory holds up to Marangoni numbersN ⁱ _Ma=10^?2 and N^e _Ma=2, respectively.     

Motion of singles bubbles moving under a slightly inclined surface through stationary liquids

The influence of the liquid properties on the dynamical bubble shape and on the bubble motion has been investigated for bubbles moving under a downward facing inclined surface. The Morton number Mo varied from 2.59 × 10⁻¹¹ to 2.52 × 10⁺⁰¹. The Bond number Bo covered the range from 10 to 150 and the surface inclination angle θ was varied from 2° to 6°. To cover the wide range of Mo, several liquids such as glycerine, propanediol, water and isopropanol were used. The results have shown that the relation Fr = Fr(Bo, Mo, θ) is not adequate to describe the bubble motion, where Fr is the terminal Froude number. The choice of the terminal Reynolds number Re as the dependent parameter, allowed the clarification of the role of the Morton number on the bubble motion. At a given Bond number, the bubble Reynolds number decreases monotonously with the Morton number. Furthermore, an empirical correlation Re = Re(Bo, Mo, θ) is given that can be readily used in the mathematical modelling of bubble laden flows under solids.