Prediction of mono-disperse gas-liquid turbulent flow in a vertical pipe

A two-fluid model in the Eulerian-Eulerian framework has been implemented for the prediction of gas volume fraction, mean phasic velocities, and the liquid phase turbulence properties for gas-liquid upward flow in a vertical pipe. The governing two-fluid transport equations are discretized using the finite volume method and a low Reynolds number k−ɛ model is used to predict the turbulence field for the continuous liquid phase. In the present analysis, a fully developed one-dimensional flow is considered where the gas volume fraction profile is predicted using the radial force balance for the bubble phase. The current study investigates: (1) the turbulence modulation terms which represent the effect of bubbles on the liquid phase turbulence in the k-ε transport equations; (2) the role of the bubble induced turbulent viscosity compared to turbulence generated by shear; and (3) the effect of bubble size on the radial forces which results in either a center-peak or a wall-peak in the gas volume fraction profiles. The results obtained from the current simulation are generally in good agreement with the experimental data, and somewhat improved over the predictions of some previous numerical studies.