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On the turbulence modelling of bubble plumes

Abstract

Proper turbulence modelling of bubble plumes is critical for accurate simulation of liquid phase and bubble dynamics. The k-epsilon turbulence model is widely used. However, the model is unsatisfactory due to not accounting for the following physics: (1) turbulence damping in the vicinity of a free surface; (2) turbulence modifications created by non-uniform distribution of the bubbles; (3) extra turbulence agitation by bubble wakes. In order to remedy these deficiencies, an enhanced turbulence model has been developed, followed with application to a literature experiment of a gas-stirred ladle. The model framework is an Eulerian-Lagrangian large scale interface-capturing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach, coupling a volume-of-fluid model with discrete phase model. The implications of each physical process in turbulence modelling are investigated. The detailed model-experiment comparisons indicate that the enhanced turbulence model allows improved representation of the physics of bubble plumes, as well as the transport phenomena at, and close to, the free surface.

Category

Academic article

Language

English

Author(s)

Affiliation

  • SINTEF Industry / Process Technology
  • SINTEF Ocean / Climate and Environment
  • Norwegian University of Science and Technology
  • China

Year

2021

Published in

Chemical Engineering Science (CES)

ISSN

0009-2509

Volume

229

Page(s)

1 - 15

View this publication at Norwegian Research Information Repository