Effects of non-uniform inlet boundary conditions and lift force on prediction of phase distribution in upward bubbly flows with Fluent-IATE

This study investigates the profile effects of the boundary conditions in two-phase flows, such as the inlet void fraction, interfacial area concentration, and phase velocity, on the predictions of flow behaviors downstream. Simulations are performed for upward air–water bubbly flows in a 48.3-mm inner diameter pipe by employing Fluent's two-fluid model together with an interfacial area transport equation (IATE) model. The IATE was developed in the literature to model the interfacial area concentration by taking into account the bubble coalescence and disintegration, and phase change effects.In this study, two types of inlet boundary conditions are considered, one being a uniform-profile boundary condition in the radial direction with area-averaged experimentally measured values while the other being a non-uniform profile condition based on the actual measured profiles at the inlet. The numerical predictions of downstream profiles of the phase distributions indicate that the two types of boundary conditions yield similar results for the downstream flow behaviors for the bubbly flow conditions investigated. In addition, the results with and without the lift force demonstrated that the lift force is essential to obtain accurate lateral phase distribution.

► A one-group IATE is implemented into FLUENT to simulate two-phase bubbly flows.
► Uniform and non-uniform inlet boundary conditions yield similar predictions.
► The predictions show lift force is essential for lateral phase distributions.