Gas–liquid flows in medium and large vertical pipes

Gas–liquid bubbly flows with wide range of bubble sizes are commonly encountered in many industrial gas–liquid flow systems. To assess the performances of two population balance approaches – Average Bubble Number Density (ABND) and Inhomogeneous MUlti-SIze-Group (MUSIG) models – in tracking the chan...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chemical engineering science 2011-03, Vol.66 (5), p.872-883
Main Authors: Duan, X.Y., Cheung, S.C.P., Yeoh, G.H., Tu, J.Y., Krepper, E., Lucas, D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Break-up
Bubble
Bubble columns
Bubbles
Chemical engineering
Coalescence
Coalescing
Density
Evolution
Exact sciences and technology
Hydrodynamics of contact apparatus
industrial applications
Mathematical models
Multiphase flow
pipes
Population balance
prediction
Tracking
Volume fraction
Walls
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Summary:Gas–liquid bubbly flows with wide range of bubble sizes are commonly encountered in many industrial gas–liquid flow systems. To assess the performances of two population balance approaches – Average Bubble Number Density (ABND) and Inhomogeneous MUlti-SIze-Group (MUSIG) models – in tracking the changes of gas volume fraction and bubble size distribution under complex flow conditions, numerical studies have been performed to validate predictions from both models against experimental data of Lucas et al. (2005) and Prasser et al. (2007) measured in the Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf FZD facility. These experiments have been strategically chosen because of flow conditions yielding opposite trend of bubble size evolution, which provided the means of carrying out a thorough examination of existing bubble coalescence and break-up kernels. In general, predictions of both models were in good agreement with experimental data. The encouraging results demonstrated the capability of both models in capturing the dynamical changes of bubbles size due to bubble interactions and the transition from “wall peak” to “core peak” gas volume fraction profiles caused by the presence of small and large bubbles. Predictions of the inhomogeneous MUSIG model appeared marginally superior to those of ABND model. Nevertheless, through the comparison of axial gas volume fraction and Sauter mean bubble diameter profiles, ABND model may be considered an alternative approach for industrial applications of gas–liquid flow systems.
ISSN:0009-2509
1873-4405
DOI:10.1016/j.ces.2010.11.031