Numerical Validation of Bubble Rising in a Viscous Liquid Using Advanced Interface Tracking Methods

Abstract

An in-depth analysis of bubble rise is of critical importance in many industries such as metallurgical, power plants, nuclear, microfluidic, printing industry, waste water, petrochemical. In this paper three types of advanced numerical interface tracking methods are validated against the experimental data for bubbles rising in a column. Bubbles rise inside quiescent viscous liquid due to buoyancy effects. The traditional Volume of Fluid (VOF) method is also validated and compared with the advanced interface tracking methods. Thorough simulations of a single bubble rising and deforming under different flow regimes and properties are performed. Terminal bubble shape and the rising velocity of the bubble are compared with the experimental results. The flow regimes considered for the simulation have wide ranges of Reynolds number, Bond number, Weber number, density ratio and viscosity ratio. These parameters have a significant effect on the bubble shape and bubble rise velocity. Grid independence studies are performed to minimize computational errors. One of the three advanced interface tracking methods called Geometric VOF gives the best results both in terms of computational performance and accuracy.