Development and validation of bubble breakup and coalescence constitutive models for the one-group interfacial area transport equation

A local mechanistic model for bubble coalescence and breakup for the one-group interfacial area transport equation has been developed, in agreement and within the limits of the current understanding, based on an exhaustive survey of the theory and of the state of the art models for bubble dynamics simulation. The new model has been tested using the commercial 3D CFD code ANSYS CFX. Upward adiabatic turbulent air-water bubbly flow has been simulated and the results have been compared with the data obtained in the experimental facility PUMA. The range of the experimental data available spans between 0.5 to 2 m/s liquid velocity and 5 to 15 % volume fraction. For the implementation of the models, both the monodispersed and the interfacial area transport equation approaches have been used. The first one to perform a detailed analysis of the forces and models to reproduce the dynamic of the dispersed phase adequately and to be used in the next phases of the work. Also two different bubble induced turbulence models have been tested to consider the effect of the presence of the gas phase on the turbulence of the liquid phase. The interfacial area transport equation has been successfully implemented into the CFD code and the state of the art breakup and coalescence models have been used for simulation. The limitations of the actual theory have been shown and a new bubble interactions model has been developed. The simulations showed that a considerable improvement is achieved if compared to the state of the art closure models. Limits in the implementation derive from the actual understanding and formulation of the bubbly dynamics. A strong dependency on the interfacial non-drag force models and coefficients have been shown. More experimental and theory work needs to be done in this field to increase the prediction capability of the simulation tools regarding the distribution of the phases along the pipe radius.