Euler-Euler simulation of absorption and desorption in co- and counter-current bubble column flows

Abstract

Mass transfer in bubbly flows is important in many engineering applications. Simulation of such processes on technical scales is feasible by the Euler-Euler two-fluid model, which relies on suitable closure relations describing interfacial exchange processes. In comparison with the pure fluid dynamics of bubbly flows however, modeling and simulation of bubbly flows including mass transfer is significantly less developed. In particular, previous studies have focused entirely on absorption in upward vertical flows, whereas the present study considers a larger variety of conditions including desorption and counter-current (downward) flow. Suitable experimental data for comparison are available from the classic work of Deckwer et al. [Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering 56 (1978) 43–55]. In line with previous studies on the co-current absorption cases from that work, a monodisperse approximation is made. In addition, a class method to treat bubble shrinkage and growth is implemented in the OpenFOAM code and tested by showing the crossover between two monodisperse cases.