Lattice Boltzmann method for particulate multiphase flow system

• Published in: International journal of mechanical sciences 2024-07, Vol.273, p.109217, Article 109217
• Main Authors: Li, Qiangqiang, Yang, Guang, Huang, Yunfan, Lu, Xukang, Min, Jingchun, Wang, Moran
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Complex fluids; Gel particle suspension; Lattice Boltzmann; Multiphase flow; Two-fluid model
• ISSN: 0020-7403; 1879-2162
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmecsci.2024.109217

•A numerical model (mr-TFM) for particulate three-phase flow in microchannels is proposed.•The two-fluid model is modified by introducing measurable rheology properties.•The reliability and accuracy are validated via theoretical and experimental benchmarks.•Inertial lagging and accumulation of microgel particles can be well captured. This study proposes a numerical model for particulate three-phase flow in microchannels based on multiphase lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). The model combines the color-gradient method to track the immiscible fluid-fluid interface and the two-fluid model (TFM) to describe particle-particle and particle-fluid interactions, which can efficiently simulate transport and displacement processes involving large amounts of particles. A mixture-rheology TFM algorithm is proposed by introducing a mixture phase with rheology properties obtained from experiments instead of the conventional TFM particle phase with artificial viscosity models. Multi-relaxation-time (MRT) collision operator and GPU computing are adopted to enhance the numerical stability and efficiency. Various theoretical benchmarks for particle transport and two-phase flow are performed respectively to verify the accuracy of the proposed model. Exceptional consistency between results from particulate three-phase flow simulation and microfluidic experiments further confirms the reliability of our model, especially in capturing the inertial lagging and accumulation phenomena under multiphase and porous flow conditions. The proposed numerical framework will benefit our understanding of multiphase displacement with microgels in microchannels with complex geometries. [Display omitted]