Experimental and CFD evaluation of bubble diameter and turbulence model influence on nonlinear flow dynamics in vertical columns: A comparative study

Faisal Shah, Ibra Fall and Desheng Zhang

Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, 2025, vol. 196, issue C

Abstract: This study examined the impact of a few numerical factors, such as mesh density, drag model selections, turbulence models, and bubble size descriptions on the numerical accuracy of gas-liquid (GL) flow. Multiphase flow in a vertical pipe with a diameter of 76.2 mm was simulated using the Eulerian-Eulerian (EE) model provided by ANSYS Fluent. A comparison with experimental findings shows that the two-phase flows are significantly impacted by the bubble size. To determine their effect on simulation accuracy, various kinds of turbulence models are assessed such as Standard k−epsilon, RNG k−epsilon and the Realizable k−epsilon models. Four superficial gas velocities were used to investigate turbulence models where superficial liquid velocity is constant. Realizable k−epsilon model often offers the closest fit to the experimental data. Particularly at high gas velocities and improved bubble sizes. This model often gives a more perfect interpretation of the void fraction and phase distribution than the other two models. Its improved performance implies that the Realizable k−epsilon model is well managing anisotropy in the turbulence, enabling more precise predictions of the void percentage in intricate, extremely turbulent flow regimes. To enhance the precision of nonlinear flow predicts, future research should concentrate on investigating complex turbulence models and higher-order numerical schemes. Additionally, examining the effects of bubble coalescence, breakup dynamics, and three-dimensional flow effects would allow for a deeper comprehension of flow behaviour in vertical columns.

Keywords: Bubble diameter; Computational fluid dynamics; Drag force; Multiphase flow; Turbulence model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960077925004345
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:chsofr:v:196:y:2025:i:c:s0960077925004345

DOI: 10.1016/j.chaos.2025.116421

Access Statistics for this article

Chaos, Solitons & Fractals is currently edited by Stefano Boccaletti and Stelios Bekiros

More articles in Chaos, Solitons & Fractals from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Thayer, Thomas R. ().