Development of modeling and simulation of bubble-liquid hydrodynamics in bubble column

Abstract

In the present work, the investigation on strategies to alleviate the cell death in terms of bubble-liquid two-phase hydrodynamics in bubble column was performed using the modeling and numerical simulation approaches. A multifluid bubble-liquid turbulent model based on the second-order moment algorithm was developed to predict turbulent hydrodynamics. In this model, the anisotropic characteristics of Reynolds stresses and the interactions between bubble and liquid phases are considered by means of the defined bubble-liquid two-phase fluctuation velocities correlation. Hydrodynamic parameters such as turbulent energy dissipation rate, the turbulent kinetic energy, the distributions of bubble normal and shear stresses, and the operation conditions of gas entrance velocity and height to diameter of column are accurately simulated. A proposed correlation named turbulent energy production rate is revealed successfully the higher cell death rate at the gas inlet regions that cannot be verified by the rest of the two-phase hydrodynamics. Superficial gas velocity is the predominant influence on this value distribution as smaller the ratio of height to diameter of bubble column, which reduced by two order of magnitude under decreased by one level of gas velocity. Near inlet region with large height-to-diameter ratio, this value is always larger than those of small one.