Simulating spiraling bubble movement in the EL approach

Abstract

Simulating the detailed movement of a rising bubble can be challenging, especially when it comes to bubble path instabilities. Free rising ellipsoidal bubbles not only move in straight lines but can describe sinusoidal, zigzag or spiraling paths. The common Euler Euler (EE) simulation techniques can no longer resolve the actual movement patterns and Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) tend to be very costly when simulating a larger number of bubbles. A solution based on the Euler Lagrange (EL) approach is presented, where the bubbles show oscillating shape and/or instable paths while computational cost are at a far lower level than in DNS. The model calculates direction, shape and rotation of the bubbles to finally create typical instable path lines. This is embedded in an EL simulation, which can resolve bubble size distribution, mass transfer and chemical reactions. To ensure realistic solution, validation against experimental data of single rising bubbles and bubble swarms are presented. References with 2D and also 3D analysis are taken into account to compare simulative data in terms of typical geometrical parameters and average field values.