On the flow of a bubble pair rising in temperature-sensitive gel propellants

Abstract

The gel propellant is a novel type of propellant created by introducing gelling agents to the liquid propellant. Similar to other types of propellants, the occurrence of air bubbles in the gels is common and unavoidable during the manufacturing and casting process. The presence of bubbles can adversely impact the stable combustion of the engine and may even pose safety hazards when they enter the combustion chamber. In order to gain a better understanding of the bubble interaction within the gel propellant, we have conducted a study on the motion of a pair of bubbles rising in a quiescent water-gel. In this study, the volume of fluid (VOF) method is adopted for modeling the multiphase feature of the flow. The shear and temperature dependent viscosity of the gel has been modeled using the temperature-coupled Carreau–Yasuda model. The effects of various factors, including the initial distance between the bubble pair, bubble diameters, and the temperature, on the motion characteristics of the bubble pair are studied. It is found that an increase in the initial distance leads to a reduction in the bubble interaction; for side-by-side bubble pairs, the bubbles exhibit slower ascent rates and reduced lateral displacement; for inline bubble pairs, the coalescence of the bubble pair becomes slower. Increasing the diameter of the dominant bubble accelerates the coalescence of the bubble pair and the ascent. Elevating the temperature results in a decrease in viscosity, thereby accelerating the coalescence and ascent of inline bubble pairs and producing viscosity reduction around the bubble pair.