Interfacial area transport equations for gas-liquid flow

Abstract

In relation to the modeling of the interfacial transfer terms in the two-fluid model, the concept of the interfacial area transport equation has been proposed to develop a constitutive relation for the interfacial area concentration. The interfacial area transport equation can replace the traditional flow regime maps and regime transition criteria. The changes in the two-phase flow structure can be predicted mechanistically and the effects of the boundary conditions and flow development are efficiently modeled by this transport equation. A successful development of the interfacial area transport equation can make a significant improvement in the two-fluid model formulation and the prediction accuracy of three-dimensional two-phase flow simulations. In this paper, the basic concept of the interfacial area transport equation and its formulation have been briefly described. Available models of the interfacial area sink and source terms and existing databases have been reviewed and the interfacial area transport equation has been benchmarked using adiabatic bubbly flow and condensation bubbly flow data. Future direction for this research has been suggested.