%0 Journal Article
%T CFD Modeling of Gas-Liquid Bubbly Flow in Horizontal Pipes: Influence of Bubble Coalescence and Breakup
%A K. Ekambara
%A R. Sean Sanders
%A K. Nandakumar
%A J. H. Masliyah
%J International Journal of Chemical Engineering
%D 2012
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2012/620463
%X Modelling of gas-liquid bubbly flows is achieved by coupling a population balance equation with the three-dimensional, two-fluid, hydrodynamic model. For gas-liquid bubbly flows, an average bubble number density transport equation has been incorporated in the CFD code CFX 5.7 to describe the temporal and spatial evolution of the gas bubbles population. The coalescence and breakage effects of the gas bubbles are modeled. The coalescence by the random collision driven by turbulence and wake entrainment is considered, while for bubble breakage, the impact of turbulent eddies is considered. Local spatial variations of the gas volume fraction, interfacial area concentration, Sauter mean bubble diameter, and liquid velocity are compared against experimental data in a horizontal pipe, covering a range of gas (0.25 to 1.34£żm/s) and liquid (3.74 to 5.1£żm/s) superficial velocities and average volume fractions (4% to 21%). The predicted local variations are in good agreement with the experimental measurements reported in the literature. Furthermore, the development of the flow pattern was examined at three different axial locations of L/D = 25, 148, and 253. The first location is close to the entrance region where the flow is still developing, while the second and the third represent nearly fully developed bubbly flow patterns. 1. Introduction Gas-liquid, two-phase flow in horizontal pipes is encountered often in a number of industrial processes. Common applications include chemical plants, evaporators, oil wells and pipelines, fluidized bed combustors, and evaporators. Horizontal bubbly flows have received less attention in the literature than vertical flows, even though this flow orientation is equally important in industrial applications such as hydrotransport, an important technology in bitumen extraction. Experimental observations are also difficult in this case, as the migration of dispersed bubbles towards the top of the pipe, due to buoyancy, causes a highly nonsymmetric volume distribution in the pipe cross-section. This density stratification is not often accompanied by a strong secondary flow. Gas volume fraction, interfacial area concentration, and mean bubble diameter are the three characterizing field variables that characterize the internal flow structure of two-phase, gas-liquid flows in horizontal pipe. In various industrial processes, the gas volume fraction parameter is required for hydrodynamic and thermal design. The interfacial transport of mass, momentum, and energy is proportional to the interfacial area and the driving forces. This is an
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijce/2012/620463/