Numerical Modelling of Fluid Flow with Heat and Mass Transfer at the Surface of a Gas Bubble

Abstract

A numerical modelling of steady axisymmetric viscous external flow and heat and mass transfer at the surface of an inviscid gas bubble has been carried out. A numerical method based on a velocity-pressure formulation combined with a finite-volume discretization of the Navier-Stokes related equations written in a non-orthogonal body-fitted coordinate (BFC) is employed. The method has been validated by calculating the fluid flow with heat and mass transfer around the surface of a rigid sphere and comparing with published data that are well regarded as benchmark solutions. The feasibility of the method for simulating a gas bubble problem is tested by calculating fields around an inviscid fluid sphere (or a pseudo-bubble) at similar conditions to the rigid sphere. On this basis, a deformable gas bubble at Sc = 500 and Pr = 2 is studied. The fields of flow, temperature, and concentration change with Reynolds and Weber numbers are simulated. It is found that the interactions between the fields and the deformation of the bubble interface are significant.