Film thickness prediction in an annular two-phase flow around C-shaped bend

Abstract

A finite volume method-based CFD model has been developed in the commercial code Star CD to simulate the annular gas-liquid flow through pipes and bends. The liquid film is solved explicitly by means of a modified Volume of Fluid (VOF) method. The droplets are traced using a Lagrangian technique. The film to droplets (entrainment) and droplets to film (stick, bounce, spread and splash) interactions are taken into account using sub-models to complement the VOF model. A good agreement is found between the computed film thickness value and those cited in the literature.