Ce travail s’inscrit dans le cadre de nos recherches sur les écoulements à bulles. C’est l’étude expérimentale du mélange d’un traceur très peu diffusif (fluoresceine dans l’eau) dans l’écoulement instationnaire engendré par le passage d’un écoulement uniforme au travers d’un réseau d’obstacles sphériques (2% de fraction volumique) répartis aléatoirement dans l’espace. Cet écoulement reproduit correctement les caractéristiques de l’agitation dans un essaim de bulles en ascension. La vitesse du fluide est mesurée par PIV de manière assez classique. Le traceur est injecté en amont du réseau et l’´evolution de sa concentration est mesurée par PLIF. L’utilisation de la PLIF pour mesurer des champs de grande extension (15 cm) et avec une grande dynamique d’intensité lumineuse fluorescée constitue une contribution importante de ce travail. Les résultats ainsi obtenus montrent que, à petit nombre de Reynolds, le mélange est régi par les forts gradients de vitesse qui existent dans le voisinage des sphères. A grand nombre de Reynolds, il est maîtrisé par la turbulence qui se développe alors. L’analyse des résultats comporte deux parties principales : (1) une analyse statistique des profils de concentration aboutissant à la détermination d’un coefficient de diffusion effectif et (2) une description de la distribution spectrale des fluctuations de vitesse et de concentration. / This research is a part of our research about bubbly flows. Experiments are performed about mixing of a high Schmidt scalar component (fluorescein in water) by the agitation generated by the flow through a random array of fixed spheres (at high Re and with a volume fraction of solid equal to 2%). This flow mimics for a great part the agitation in the liquid phase of a bubble swarm rising in a liquid otherwise at rest. The velocity of the liquid is estimated from PIV measurements. The scalar is injected through a point source in the array and the evolution of its concentration is estimated by PLIF method. An important part of this research is the measurement of large fields of concentration (15 cm) with a good precision by PLIF. The results show that, at moderate Reynolds number (100), mixing is controled by the steep velocity gradients located near the spheres, while, at large Reynolds number, it is controled by the turbulence that develops. The analysis of the results is composed of two parts : (1) the statistical analysis of the spatial distribution of scalar concentration, and the determination of an effective diffusion coefficient, (2) a spectral analysis of the velocity and concentration fields.

<div>Two-phase flow and heat transfer has a wide variety of applications ranging from nuclear power plants to computer chip cooling. The efficient designs of these systems require a clear understanding of the mechanisms by which two-phase flows enhance heat transfer. With the rapid growth in computing power, Computational Fluid Dynamics is becoming an increasingly reliable predictive tool to understand the physics underlying two-phase flow and heat transfer. We identify the two chief phenomena</div><div>affecting heat transfer in two-phase flows as being the improved convective effect in bubbly flows, and the phase change phenomenon. We examine three key aspects of</div><div>bubbly flows in the present work namely: a) The flow of bubbles near vertical walls, b) the heat transfer associated with a non-condensable bubble rising near a vertical wall, and c) the heat transfer associated with boiling and condensation involving bubbles.</div><div><br></div><div>The first part involves studying the rise velocity of a layer of bubbles rising near a vertical wall. We derive a scaling between the rise velocity based Reynold’s number and the Archimedes number. The second part involves examining the flow pattern around a single bubble rising under the buoyancy effect in a shear flow near a heated wall, and how it affects the heat transfer from the wall. We study the dependence of the fractional improvement in Nusselt number at the wall on various non-dimensional parameters such as the Archimedes number, the Laplace number and the shear rate. Our study shows the existence of an optimum dimensionless shear rate for heat transfer enhancement and a strong dependence between the flow pattern around the bubble and its associated heat transfer enhancement. The third part involves building a numerical model to study flow boiling in micro-channels. We validate the proposed model with two benchmark problems and two experimental studies. The validated numerical tool is then used to understand the effect of varying the micro-channel inlet flow rate on its heat transfer characteristics. This numerical tool is further developed to include a stagnant micro-layer model that can simulate nucleate boiling. We then use it to study the flow boiling characteristics of a line of bubbles undergoing boiling and lift-off in a shear flow. In the end, based on existing literature in the field, we propose future tasks to be undertaken in the area of numerical two-phase flow.<br></div><div><br></div>

Bubbly flows can be found in many applications in chemical, biological and power engineering. Reliable simulation tools of such flows that allow the design of new processes and optimization of existing one are therefore highly desirable. CFD-simulations applying the multi-fluid approach are very promising to provide such a design tool for complete facilities. In the multi-fluid approach, however, closure models have to be formulated to model the interaction between the continuous and dispersed phase. Due to the complex nature of bubbly flows, different phenomena have to be taken into account and for every phenomenon different closure models exist. Therefore, reliable predictions of unknown bubbly flows are not yet possible with the multi-fluid approach. A strategy to overcome this problem is to define a baseline model in which the closure models including the model constants are fixed so that the limitations of the modeling can be evaluated by validating it on different experiments. Afterwards, the shortcomings are identified so that the baseline model can be stepwise improved without losing the validity for the already validated cases. This development of a baseline model is done in the present work by validating the baseline model developed at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf mainly basing on experimental data for bubbly pipe flows to bubble columns, bubble plumes and airlift reactors that are relevant in chemical and biological engineering applications. In the present work, a large variety of such setups is used for validation. The buoyancy driven bubbly flows showed thereby a transient behavior on the scale of the facility. Since such large scales are characterized by the geometry of the facility, turbulence models cannot describe them. Therefore, the transient simulation of bubbly flows with two equation models based on the unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations is investigated. In combination with the before mentioned baseline model these transient simulations can reproduce many experimental setups without fitting any model. Nevertheless, shortcomings are identified that need to be further investigated to improve the baseline model. For a validation of models, experiments that describe as far as possible all relevant phenomena of bubbly flows are needed. Since such data are rare in the literature, CFD-grade experiments in an airlift reactor were conducted in the present work. Concepts to measure the bubble size distribution and liquid velocities are developed for this purpose. In particular, the liquid velocity measurements are difficult; a sampling bias that was not yet described in the literature is identified. To overcome this error, a hold processor is developed. The closure models are usually formulated based on single bubble experiments in simplified conditions. In particular, the lift force was not yet measured in low Morton number systems under turbulent conditions. A new experimental method is developed in the present work to determine the lift force coefficient in such flow conditions without the aid of moving parts so that the lift force can be measured in any chemical system easily.

Bubbly flows can be found in many applications in chemical, biological and power engineering. Reliable simulation tools of such flows that allow the design of new processes and optimization of existing one are therefore highly desirable. CFD-simulations applying the multi-fluid approach are very promising to provide such a design tool for complete facilities. In the multi-fluid approach, however, closure models have to be formulated to model the interaction between the continuous and dispersed phase. Due to the complex nature of bubbly flows, different phenomena have to be taken into account and for every phenomenon different closure models exist. Therefore, reliable predictions of unknown bubbly flows are not yet possible with the multi-fluid approach. A strategy to overcome this problem is to define a baseline model in which the closure models including the model constants are fixed so that the limitations of the modeling can be evaluated by validating it on different experiments. Afterwards, the shortcomings are identified so that the baseline model can be stepwise improved without losing the validity for the already validated cases. This development of a baseline model is done in the present work by validating the baseline model developed at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf mainly basing on experimental data for bubbly pipe flows to bubble columns, bubble plumes and airlift reactors that are relevant in chemical and biological engineering applications. In the present work, a large variety of such setups is used for validation. The buoyancy driven bubbly flows showed thereby a transient behavior on the scale of the facility. Since such large scales are characterized by the geometry of the facility, turbulence models cannot describe them. Therefore, the transient simulation of bubbly flows with two equation models based on the unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations is investigated. In combination with the before mentioned baseline model these transient simulations can reproduce many experimental setups without fitting any model. Nevertheless, shortcomings are identified that need to be further investigated to improve the baseline model. For a validation of models, experiments that describe as far as possible all relevant phenomena of bubbly flows are needed. Since such data are rare in the literature, CFD-grade experiments in an airlift reactor were conducted in the present work. Concepts to measure the bubble size distribution and liquid velocities are developed for this purpose. In particular, the liquid velocity measurements are difficult; a sampling bias that was not yet described in the literature is identified. To overcome this error, a hold processor is developed. The closure models are usually formulated based on single bubble experiments in simplified conditions. In particular, the lift force was not yet measured in low Morton number systems under turbulent conditions. A new experimental method is developed in the present work to determine the lift force coefficient in such flow conditions without the aid of moving parts so that the lift force can be measured in any chemical system easily.

Ce travail est dédié au développement d'une méthode numérique pour la simulation des écoulements liquide-bulles. La présence des bulles dans l'écoulement visqueux et incompressible est prise en compte via une méthode de pénalisation. Dans cette représentation Euler-Lagrange, les bulles supposées indéformables et parfaitement sphériques sont assimilées à des objets pénalisés interagissant avec le fluide. Une méthode VOF (Volume Of Fluid) est employée pour le suivi de la fonction de phase. Une adaptation de la discrétisation des équations de Navier-Stokes est proposée afin d'imposer la condition de glissement à l'interface entre le liquide et les bulles. Une méthode de couplage entre le mouvement des bulles et l'action du liquide est proposée. La stratégie de validation est la suivante. Dans un premier temps, une série de cas-tests est proposée; les objets pénalisés sont supposés en non-interaction avec le fluide. L'étude permet d'exhiber la convergence et la précision de la méthode numérique. Dans un second temps le couplage est testé via deux types de configurations de validation. Le couplage est d'abord testé en configuration de bulle isolée, pour une bulle en ascension dans un liquide au repos pour les Reynolds Re=17 and Re=71. Les résultats sont comparés avec la théorie établie par la corrélation de Mei pour les bulles sphériques propres décrivant intégralement la dynamique de la bulle. Enfin, des simulations en configurations de nuage de bulles sont présentées, pour des populations mono- et bidisperses dans un domaine entièrement périodique pour des taux de vide s'établissant entre 1% et 15%. Les statistiques fournies par les simulations caractérisant l'agitation induite par les bulles sont comparées à des résultats expérimentaux. Pour les simulations de nuages de bulles bidisperses, de nouveaux résultats sont présentés. / This work is devoted to the development of a numerical method for the simulation of two-phase liquid-bubble flows. We use a volume penalization method to take into account bubbles in viscous incompressible flows. The chosen Euler-Lagrange framework involves spherical and nondeformable bubbles represented as moving penalized obstacles interacting with the fluid. A VOF (Volume Of Fluid) method is used to track the phase function while a discretization of the penalized conservation equations is realized to impose slip conditions at the liquid-bubble interface. A coupling method devised from the penalized momentum equations is proposed. The validation process is set as following. First, the fluid is supposed non-acting on the bubbles; several test-cases are presented; we consider configurations with different penalized obstacles shapes (curved channel, inclined channel), the obstacles are either static or dynamic; in each configuration an analytical solution is known. The results show the compliance and the quality of our numerical closures by exposing the convergence order of the method. In order to verify the accuracy of the coupling method, numerical simulations of a 1mm diameter single bubble rising in a quiescent liquid are performed for Re=17 and Re=71. Results are compared with theory established by using Mei correlation for clean spherical bubbles describing the whole dynamics of the rising bubble. Finally, simulations of bubble swarms, in mono- and bidisperse configurations have been carried out in a fully periodic box with moderate void fractions ranging from 1% to 15%. The statistics provided by the simulations characterizing the bubble-induced agitation are compared to experimental results. For the bidisperse bubble swarm configuration, new results are presented.

This thesis presents the investigation of an Euler-Lagrange framework for modeling bubble coalescence in dispersed bubbly flows. The interaction between bubbles may be caused by several mechanisms. Among them, the random motion due to turbulent fluctuations is normally of major significance. One focus of this work is to apply a bubble dispersion model for modeling turbulence-induced coalescence, occurring in a certain percentage of collision events. Large bubbles appear due to coalescence, and their disturbance to the liquid phase is not negligible in most circumstances. However, the point-mass Euler-Lagrange method requires the bubble or particle size to be much smaller than the cell size when the interphase coupling is considered. Otherwise, numerical instabilities may arise. Therefore, interpolation methods between the Euler and the Lagrange phase for finite-size bubbles that are bigger than or of the same size as numerical cells are studied. The Euler-Lagrange method describes the continuous phase on the Euler grid, and the dispersed phase is treated as Lagrange points in the simulation. Bubble motion is governed by an ordinary differential equation for the linear momentum considering different forces. The turbulent dispersion of the dispersed phase is reconstructed with the continuous random walk (CRW) model. Bubble-bubble collisions and coalescence are accounted for deterministically. The time-consuming search for potential collision partners in dense bubbly flows is accelerated by the sweep and prune algorithm, which can be utilized in arbitrary mesh types and sizes. If the interphase coupling is considered in the simulations, the spatially distributed coupling method is used for the Lagrange-to-Euler coupling. For the Euler-to-Lagrange coupling, a new approach is proposed. To evaluate the dispersion and coalescence models, one-way coupled simulations of bubbly pipe flows at low Eötvös numbers are conducted. Validation against the experiments demonstrates that the one-way coupled EL-CRW dispersion model can well reproduce the bubble distribution in a typical dense bubbly pipe flow. Good agreement of the bubble size distribution at the pipe outlet between the simulation and the experiment is obtained. Two-way coupled simulations are performed to validate the interpolation methods. A combination of coupling approaches is employed in a square bubble column reactor to examine the general validity for a large-scale bubbly flow. Combining the proposed interpolation scheme with the dispersion and bubble interaction models, the coalescence and breakage in bubbly flows are studied in a turbulent pipe flow. The predicted bubble size distribution shows a good match to the measurement. The results are independent of the mesh resolution in the studied range from point-mass simulations to finite-size situations.:Nomenclature 1 Introduction 1.1 Motivation and background for the thesis 1.2 Outline 2 Equations for modeling bubbly flows 2.1 Governing equations of the continuous phase 2.2 Governing equations of the dispersed phase 2.3 Modifications to the bubble force equations 2.3.1 One-way coupled simulations with RANS modeling 2.3.2 Two-way coupled simulations 2.4 Generation of fluctuations 2.4.1 Different approaches to dispersion modeling 2.4.2 Normalized continuous random walk model 2.4.3 Employing the mean velocity field to determine forces 3 Bubble collision, coalescence and breakup 3.1 Previous studies and requirement of the interaction modeling 3.2 Detection of collisions with the sweep and prune algorithm 3.3 Coalescence modeling 3.3.1 Condition of bubble coalescence 3.3.2 Model of Kamp et al. [2001] 3.3.3 Model of Hoppe and Breuer [2018] 3.3.4 Model of Schwarz et al. [2013] 3.3.5 Comparison of coalescence models 3.4 Breakup modeling 3.4.1 Turbulence induced breakups 3.4.2 Post-breakup treatment 4 Interpolation techniques for two-way coupled simulations 4.1 Lagrange-to-Euler coupling 4.1.1 Introduction to the spatially distributed coupling 4.1.2 Intersection plane method 4.1.3 Subcell method 4.1.4 Random points method 4.2 Euler-to-Lagrange coupling 4.2.1 Approaches for computing the undisturbed velocity 4.2.2 Coarser grid method 4.2.3 Averaging the fluid velocity in front of the bubble 4.2.4 Velocity from upstream disk 4.2.5 Gradient of the undisturbed liquid velocity 5 One-way coupled simulation of bubble dispersion and resulting interaction 5.1 Implementation and verification of the continuous random walk model 5.2 Bubble dispersion in turbulent channel flows 5.3 Bubble dispersion and interaction in turbulent pipe flows 5.3.1 Overview of studied cases 5.3.2 Results of the bubble dispersion 5.3.3 Results of the bubble coalescence 6 Two-way coupled simulation of finite-size bubbles 6.1 Flow solver and algorithm 6.2 Assessing the Lagrange-to-Euler coupling methods 6.2.1 Previous studies 6.2.2 Simulation setups for a single bubble in quiescent liquid 6.2.3 Results and discussion 6.3 Assessing the Euler-to-Lagrange coupling methods 6.3.1 Simulation of two bubbles rising inline 6.3.2 Simulation of a bubble rising in linear shear flows 6.4 Large-eddy simulation for a square bubble column 6.5 Bubble coalescence in a turbulent pipe flow 7 Conclusions and outlook Appendices A.1 Equations of turbulence models A.2 Numerical implementation of the full CRW drift term A.3 Results of bubble coalescence modeling for case B to case E A.4 Search algorithm of the upstream disk method Bibliography / Diese Arbeit stellt die Untersuchung eines Euler-Lagrange-Rahmens zur Modellierung der Blasenkoaleszenz in dispergierten Blasenströmungen vor. Die Interaktion zwischen Blasen kann durch mehrere Mechanismen verursacht werden. Unter ihnen sind die zufälligen Bewegungen aufgrund von turbulenten Fluktuationen von großer Bedeutung. Ein Schwerpunkt dieser Arbeit ist die Anwendung eines Blasendispersionsmodells zur Modellierung der turbulenzinduzierten Koaleszenz, die in einem bestimmten Prozentsatz der Kollisionsereignisse auftritt. Große Blasen entstehen durch Koaleszenz und ihre Störung der flüssigen Phase ist in den meisten Fällen nicht zu vernachlässigen. Die Punkt-Masse-Euler-Lagrange-Methode erfordert jedoch, dass die Blasengröße viel kleiner als die Zellgröße ist, wenn die Interphasenkopplung berücksichtigt wird. Andernfalls kann es zu numerischen Instabilitäten kommen. Daher werden Interpolationsmethoden zwischen den zwei Phasen untersucht. Die kontinuierliche Phase wird auf dem Euler-Gitter beschrieben und die dispergierte Phase wird als Punkte behandelt. Die Blasenbewegung wird durch eine gewöhnliche Differentialgleichung unter Berücksichtigung verschiedener Kräfte bestimmt. Die turbulente Dispersion der Blasen wird mit dem CRW-Modell (continuous random walk) rekonstruiert. Blasen-Blasen-Kollisionen werden deterministisch berücksichtigt. Die Suche nach potentiellen Kollisionspartnern wird durch den Sweep- und Prune-Algorithmus beschleunigt, der in beliebigen Gittertypen und -größen eingesetzt werden kann. Wird die Interphasenkopplung berücksichtigt, so wird für die Lagrange-zu-Euler-Kopplung die spatially distributed coupling verwendet. Für die Euler-zu-Lagrange-Kopplung wird ein neuer Ansatz vorgeschlagen. Um die Dispersions- und Koaleszenzmodelle zu bewerten, werden Einweg-gekoppelte Simulationen von blasenbeladenen Rohrströmungen bei niedriger Eötvös-Zahl durchgeführt. Die Validierung zeigt, dass das einseitig gekoppelte EL-CRW-Dispersionsmodell die Blasenverteilung in einer typischen dichten, blasenbeladenen Rohrströmung gut reproduzieren kann. Es wird eine gute Übereinstimmung der Blasengrößenverteilung am Rohrauslass zwischen der Simulation und dem Experiment erzielt. Zur Validierung der Interpolationsmethoden werden Zweiweg-gekoppelte Simulationen durchgeführt. Eine Kombination von Kopplungsansätzen wird in einem Blasensäulenreaktor eingesetzt, um die allgemeine Gültigkeit zu untersuchen. Durch Kombination des vorgeschlagenen Interpolationsschemas mit den Dispersions- und Blasenwechselwirkungsmodellen werden die Koaleszenz und der Zerfall in einer turbulenten blasenbeladenen Rohrströmung untersucht. Die berechnete Blasengrößenverteilung zeigt eine gute Übereinstimmung mit der Messung und erweist sich als unabhängig von der Netzauflösung im untersuchten Bereich von PunktMasse-Simulationen bis zu Situationen mit Blasen endlicher Größe.:Nomenclature 1 Introduction 1.1 Motivation and background for the thesis 1.2 Outline 2 Equations for modeling bubbly flows 2.1 Governing equations of the continuous phase 2.2 Governing equations of the dispersed phase 2.3 Modifications to the bubble force equations 2.3.1 One-way coupled simulations with RANS modeling 2.3.2 Two-way coupled simulations 2.4 Generation of fluctuations 2.4.1 Different approaches to dispersion modeling 2.4.2 Normalized continuous random walk model 2.4.3 Employing the mean velocity field to determine forces 3 Bubble collision, coalescence and breakup 3.1 Previous studies and requirement of the interaction modeling 3.2 Detection of collisions with the sweep and prune algorithm 3.3 Coalescence modeling 3.3.1 Condition of bubble coalescence 3.3.2 Model of Kamp et al. [2001] 3.3.3 Model of Hoppe and Breuer [2018] 3.3.4 Model of Schwarz et al. [2013] 3.3.5 Comparison of coalescence models 3.4 Breakup modeling 3.4.1 Turbulence induced breakups 3.4.2 Post-breakup treatment 4 Interpolation techniques for two-way coupled simulations 4.1 Lagrange-to-Euler coupling 4.1.1 Introduction to the spatially distributed coupling 4.1.2 Intersection plane method 4.1.3 Subcell method 4.1.4 Random points method 4.2 Euler-to-Lagrange coupling 4.2.1 Approaches for computing the undisturbed velocity 4.2.2 Coarser grid method 4.2.3 Averaging the fluid velocity in front of the bubble 4.2.4 Velocity from upstream disk 4.2.5 Gradient of the undisturbed liquid velocity 5 One-way coupled simulation of bubble dispersion and resulting interaction 5.1 Implementation and verification of the continuous random walk model 5.2 Bubble dispersion in turbulent channel flows 5.3 Bubble dispersion and interaction in turbulent pipe flows 5.3.1 Overview of studied cases 5.3.2 Results of the bubble dispersion 5.3.3 Results of the bubble coalescence 6 Two-way coupled simulation of finite-size bubbles 6.1 Flow solver and algorithm 6.2 Assessing the Lagrange-to-Euler coupling methods 6.2.1 Previous studies 6.2.2 Simulation setups for a single bubble in quiescent liquid 6.2.3 Results and discussion 6.3 Assessing the Euler-to-Lagrange coupling methods 6.3.1 Simulation of two bubbles rising inline 6.3.2 Simulation of a bubble rising in linear shear flows 6.4 Large-eddy simulation for a square bubble column 6.5 Bubble coalescence in a turbulent pipe flow 7 Conclusions and outlook Appendices A.1 Equations of turbulence models A.2 Numerical implementation of the full CRW drift term A.3 Results of bubble coalescence modeling for case B to case E A.4 Search algorithm of the upstream disk method Bibliography