Eulerian-Eulerian two-fluid model for laminar bubbly pipe flows: validation of the baseline model

In the present paper, an Euler-Euler two-fluid model combined with the baseline model, which is a set of closures for the interfacial momentum and turbulence transfer, is validated against experimental data for low Reynolds number bubbly flows in vertical pipes. The model has already been validated for high Reynolds number pipe flows and bubble columns in the previous work (Liao et al., 2019, Chem. Eng. Sci. 202, 55-69). To further substantiate the k-omega SST model with consideration of bubble-induced source included in the baseline model, it is of interest to examine it for low Reynolds number pipe flows, where the bulk is laminar and the transition to turbulence is induced sorely by the agitation of bubbles. Simulations are configured and carried out in the open source CFD code OpenFOAM for eight test cases. Each of them has a different combination of gas and liquid volumetric flow rates. The numerical results are then compared with the experimental data taken from the literature. The comparison is based on different parameters including air void fraction, mean bubble velocity, mean liquid velocity, turbulent kinetic energy and Reynolds shear stress.
Although, mostly, confirming results with the experimental data are presented but further improvement of the model for turbulent transition as well as inter-phase momentum transfer is necessary. Reliable prediction of velocity profile in single-phase and extremely sparse bubbly flow cases is shown, and the phase distribution in fully-developed cases is well captured. In addition to the bulk Reynolds and void fraction, the pipe-to-bubble size ratio is found to have definite influence on the laminar-turbulent transition.