Modeling Air Bubble Transport in Hydraulic Jump Flows using Population Balance Approach

Abstract

This paper proposed a numerical model aiming at coupling the MUltiple-SIze-Group (MUSIG) with the semiempirical air entrainment model based on the Euler-Euler two-fluid framework to handle the bubble transport in hydraulic jump flows. The internal flow structure including the recirculation region, the shear layer region and the jet region was accurately predicted. The flow parameters such as the water velocity and void fraction distributions were examined and compared with the experimental data, validating the effectiveness of the numerical model. Prediction of the Sauter mean bubble diameter distributions by the population balance approach at different axial locations confirmed the dominance of breakage due to the high turbulent intensity in the shear layer region which led to the generation of small gas bubbles at high void fraction. Comparison between different cases indicates that high Froude number not only give rise to longer recirculation region and higher void fraction due to larger air entrainment rate, but also generate larger bubble number density and smaller bubble size because of the stronger turbulence intensity in the same axial position.