BUBBLE TRACKING SIMULATION OF BUBBLE-INDUCED PSEUDOTURBULENCE

Abstract

Bubble tracking simulations of bubbly flows in a rectangular column are carried out to examine the applicability of a bubble tracking method to flows involving the bubble-induced pseudoturbulence. Experimental data of void fraction, mean liquid and bubble velocities, and liquid fluctuation velocity are obtained for validation. As a result, the following conclusions are obtained: (1) The order of liquid fluctuation velocity is similar to that of the bubble relative velocity, and the fluctuation is well scaled in terms of the bubble terminal velocity and the void fraction, as Risso & Ellingsen suggested [J. Fluid Mech., vol. 440, pp. 235-268, 2001]. (2) The Reynolds shear stress is not produced by the bubble motion when both void fraction and liquid velocity are uniform. (3) The Reynolds stress model proposed by Lopez de Bertodano et al. [Int. J. Multiphase Flow, vol. 20, pp. 805-818, 1994] underestimates the normal stress, whereas the bubble tracking simulation with a spatial resolution comparable to the bubble size gives better predictions than the model. (4) The fluctuation in liquid velocity induced by bubbles is partly resolved with a spatial resolution comparable to the bubble size, and subgrid turbulence models do not have much influence on predictions. (5) Eddy viscosity models would be a reasonable choice to capture the shear-induced turbulence in the near-wall region in bubble tracking simulations with an inevitably insufficient spatial resolution for large eddy simulation.