Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: Object: Bubbly flows, as present in bubble column reactors, can be simulated using a variety of simulation techniques. It is presented, how Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methods are used to simulate a pseudo 2D bubble column using Euler-Lagrange (EL) and Euler-Euler (EE) techniques. Method: The presented EL method uses the open access software OpenFOAM to solve bubble dynamics with bubble interactions computedviaMonte Carlo methods. The estimated bubble size distribution and the predicted hold-up are compared with experimental data and other simulative EE work with a reasonable consensus for both. Benchmarks with state of the art EE simulations shows that the EL approach shows good performance if the bubble number stays at a certain level, as the EL approach scales linearly with the number of bubbles simulated. Therefore, different computational meshes have been used to account for influence of the resolution quality. Conclusion: The EL approach indicated faster solution for all realistic cases, only deliberate decrease of coalescence rates could push CPU time to the limits. Critical bubble number - when EE becomes superior to the EL approach - was estimated to be 40.000 in this particular case.
Authors: Andreas Weber, Hans-Jörg Bart
Institution: University of Kaiserslautern
Language: English
Topic: Fluid Dynamics and Mixing
Subfield: Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes
Field: Chemical Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
Award: G3974323006
OpenAlex ID: W2648229383