Numerical simulation of lateral phase distribution in turbulent upward bubbly two-phase flows Original Research Article

New constitutive models for the interfacial forces acting on bubbles were developed for accurately predicting the lateral phase distribution in turbulent bubbly two-phase flow in vertical channels. Several experimental measurements have revealed that the lateral void profile in bubbly two-phase flow varies from the void peaking near the wall to the almost flat distributions as the liquid velocity increases. However, within the authorsʹ knowledge, the effect of liquid velocity on the void profile has not been successfully predicted by the existing models; this would indicate the strong limitation of the existing multidimensional two-phase flow models. In view of these, the validity of the present constitutive models was tested in varied conditions of the liquid velocity as well as the bubble size. Since several assumptions were required in the models mainly due to the insufficient knowledge of the bubble motion, further improvements should still be needed. Nevertheless, the predicted lateral phase distributions were found to be in reasonably good agreement with available experimental data. It is hence expected that the present constitutive models can effectively be used in the practical applications and also be the base of the more sophisticated ones.