Euler–Euler simulation of bubbly flow in a rectangular bubble column: Experimental validation with Radioactive Particle Tracking

This work presents an Euler–Euler (E–E) Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model developed for flow inside a rectangular air–water bubble column, in which we have also implemented population balance method (PBM) based evolution of the various bubble size classes using the Homogeneous Discrete method, Inhomogeneous Discrete method, Quadrature Method of Moments (QMOM) and Direct Quadrature Method of Moments (DQMOM) technique. The results are validated with liquid velocity field measurements obtained from the Radioactive Particle Tracking (RPT) technique. The study presents a comparative analysis of the effect of incorporating various interfacial closures like drag force, lift force and virtual mass effect in the E–E CFD coupled with PBM framework. The importance of the lift force in the transient three-dimensional simulations for predicting the time-averaged velocity profiles is highlighted.

► Exhaustive Euler–Euler CFD coupled with population balance, in air–water 2D-bubble column.
► Equivalence of four different population balance methods shown.
► Simulations show excellent agreement with Radioactive Particle Tracking (RPT) experiments.
► Systematic investigation of drag and lift forces.