One-field equations for two-phase flows

Abstract

A new derivation of the averaged heat and mass transport equations for two-phase flows is presented. A volume averaging technique is used in which averaging is performed over both phases simultaneously in order to derive equations that describe transport in the mixture, rather than transport in each phase. The derivation is particularly applicable to incompressible liquid/solid systems in which the two phases are tightly coupled. An example of the numerical solution of the equations is then presented in which a thermally convecting suspension is modelled. It is seen that large-scale instability can result from the interaction of thermal and compositional density gradients. © Australian Mathematical Society, 1997.