Many flow regimes in Nuclear Reactor Safety Research are characterized by multiphase flows, with one phase being a continuous liquid and the other phase consisting of gas or vapour of the liquid phase. In dependence on the void fraction of the gaseous phase the flow regimes e.g. in vertical pipes are varying from bubbly flows with low and higher volume fraction of bubbles to slug flow, churn turbulent flow, annular flow and finally to droplet flow. In the regime of bubbly and slug flow the multiphase flow shows a spectrum of different bubble sizes. While disperse bubbly flows with low gas volume fraction are mostly mono-disperse, an increase of the gas volume fraction leads to a broader bubble size distribution due to breakup and coalescence of bubbles. Bubbles of different sizes are subject to lateral migration due to forces acting in lateral direction different from the main drag force direction. The bubble lift force was found to change the sign dependent on the bubble size. Consequently this lateral migration leads to a de-mixing of small and large bubbles and to further coalescence of large bubbles migrating towards the pipe center into even larger Taylor bubbles or slugs. An adequate modeling has to consider all these phenomena. A Multi Bubble Size Class Test Solver has been developed to investigate these effects and test the influence of different model approaches. Basing on the results of these investigations a generalized inhomogeneous Multiple Size Group (MUSIG) Model based on the Eulerian modeling framework has been proposed and was finally implemented into the CFD code CFX. Within this model the dispersed gaseous phase is divided into N inhomogeneous velocity groups (phases) and each of these groups is subdivided into Mj bubble size classes. Bubble breakup and coalescence processes between all bubble size classes Mj are taken into account by appropriate models. The inhomogeneous MUSIG model has been validated against experimental data from the TOPFLOW test facility.

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>

This thesis aims at contributing to the characterization of the dynamics of bubbles in microfluidics through modeling and experiments. Two flow regimes encountered in microfluidics are studied, namely, the bubbly flow regime and the Taylor flow regime (or slug flow).In particular, the first part of this thesis focuses on the dynamics of a bubbly flow inside a horizontal, cylindrical microchannel in the presence of surfactants using numerical simulations. A numerical method allowing to simulate the transport of surfactants along a moving and deforming interface and the Marangoni stresses created by an in-homogeneous distribution of these surfactants on this interface is implemented in the Level set module of the research code. The simulations performed with this code regarding the dynamics of a bubbly flow give insights into the complexity of the coupling of the different phenomena controlling the dynamics of the studied system. Fo example it shows that the confinement imposed by the microchannel walls results in a significantly different distribution of surfactants on the bubble surface, when compared to a bubble rising in a liquid of infinite extent. Indeed, surfactants accumulate on specific locations on the bubble surface, and create local Marangoni stresses, that drastically influence the dynamics of the bubble. In some cases, the presence of surfactants can even cause the bubble to burst, a mechanism that is rationalized through a normal stress balance at the back of the bubble. The numerical method implemented in this thesis is also used for a practical problem, regarding the artisanal production of Mezcal, an alcoholic beverage from Mexico.The second part of the thesis deals with the dynamics of a Taylor flow regime, through experiments and analytical modeling. An experimental technique that allows to measure the thickness of the lubrication film forming between a pancake-like bubble and the microchannel wall is developed. The method requires only a single instantaneous bright-field image of a pancake-like bubble translating inside a microchannel. In addition to measuring the thickness of the lubrication film, the method also allows to measure the depth of a microchannel. Using the proposed method together with the measurment of the bubble velocity allows to infer the surface tension of the interface between the liquid and the gaz. In the last chapter of this thesis, the effect of buoyancy on the dynamics of a Taylor flow is quantified. Though often neglected in microfluidics, it is shown that buoyancy effects can have a significant impact on the thickness of the lubrication film and consequently on the dynamics of the Taylor flow. These effects are quantified using experiments and analytical modeling. This work was performed at Princeton University with Professor Howard A. Stone during an eight month stay. / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur et technologie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Bubbly flows around ships have been studied for years, mostly in relation with ship acoustic signatures. Bubbles are generated at the bow and shoulder breaking waves, at the hull/free surface contact line, the propeller and the highly turbulent stern flow. These bubbles are further transported downstream by the flow forming a two-phase mixture in the wake that can be kilometers long. The presence of bubbles in the wake of a ship significantly affects the acoustic response of the medium and can be detected by measuring acoustic attenuation and backscattering making a ship vulnerable to detection. Additionally, the bubbly wake shows at the surface as a characteristic signature of white water, and given the length of the bubbly wake, it makes a ship visible from satellites. Therefore, the bubbly wake can be used to detect and identify surface ships. Bubbly flows do not scale to model scale experiments, and experiments on full scale ships are scarce mostly due to difficult access areas and the high speeds involved. It is therefore of interest to simulate the bubbly flow around ships to provide information difficult, if not impossible, to obtain with experiments. This work presents the development of a code for the simulation of polydispersed bubbly flows with a focus on ship hydrodynamics. The mathematical model implemented is based on a two-fluid formulation coupled with a Boltzmann-like transport equation describing the bubbly phase. The tool developed attempts to include most of the relevant physics of the problem to represent better the conditions of real scenarios. The resulting code allows the simulation of polydispersed bubbly flows in situations including free surface and air entrainment, high void fraction levels and moving control surfaces and propulsors. The code is two-way coupled, with a strong coupling between the two phases and between the bubble sizes. The complexity of the problems tackled in this research required the development of novel numerical methods solving issues never identified before or simply neglected. These methods play an essential role in the accuracy, robustness and efficiency of the code and include: a two-phase projection method that not only couples pressure and velocity but also implicitly couples void fraction, a time splitting marching scheme to solve separately coupling in space and in bubble sizes, and a stable numerical method to integrate the strong coupling introduced by collision forces. The implemented code is applied to the simulation of the bubbly flow around a full scale ship using the latest available models and computational techniques. A study is performed on the influence of several mechanisms on the predicted bubbly wake and comparisons with available experimental data are presented. The influence of breakup in the boundary layer is analyzed in detail as well. In addition, this work identifies several modeling and implementations issues and attempts to provide a path for future studies. To illustrate the flexibility and robustness of the code, a final demonstration case is presented that includes rotating propellers. The computation is performed at full scale, with the fully appended geometry of the vessel and includes incoming waves, oceanic background and rectified diffusion models. Many of these features are unique to this computation and make it the first of its kind.

To simulate dispersed two-phase flows CFD tools for predicting the local particle number density and the size distribution are required. These quantities do not only have a significant effect on rates of mixing, heterogeneous chemical reaction rates or interfacial heat and mass transfers, but also a direct relevance to the hydrodynamics of the total system, such as the flow pattern and flow regime. The Multiple Size Group (MUSIG) model available in the commercial codes CFX-4 and CFX-5 was developed for this purpose. Mathematically, this model is based on the population balance method and the two-fluid modeling approach. The dispersed phase is divided into N size classes. In order to reduce the computational cost, all size groups are assumed to share the same velocity field. This model allows to use a sufficient number of particle size groups required for the coalescence and breakup calculation. Nevertheless, the assumption also restricts its applicability to homogeneous dispersed flows. We refer to the CFX MUSIG model mentioned above as the homogeneous model, which fails to predict the correct phase distribution when heterogeneous particle motion becomes important. In many flows the non-drag forces play an essential role with respect to the bubble motion. Especially, the lift force acting on large deformed bubbles, which is dominated by the asymmetrical wake, has a direction opposite to the shear induced lift force on a small bubble. This bubble separation cannot be predicted by the homogeneous MUSIG model. In order to overcome this shortcoming we developed an efficient inhomogeneous MUSIG model in cooperation with ANSYS CFX. A novel multiple velocity multiple size group model, which incorporates the population balance equation into the multi-fluid modeling framework, was proposed. The validation of this new model is discussed in this report.

Turbulence dispersion is a phenomenon of practical importance in many multiphase flow systems. It has a strong effect on the distribution of the dispersed phase. Physically, this phenomenon is a result of interactions between individual particles of the dispersed phase and the continuous phase turbulence eddies. In a Lagrangian simulation, a particle-eddy interaction sub-model can be introduced and the effect of turbulence dispersion is automatically accounted for during particle tracking. Nevertheless, tracking of particleturbulence interaction is extremely expensive for the small time steps required. For this reason, the Lagrangian method is restricted to small-scale dilute flow problems. In contrast, the Eulerian approach based on the continuum modeling of the dispersed phase is more efficient for densely laden flows. In the Eulerian frame, the effect of turbulence dispersion appears as a turbulent diffusion term in the scalar transport equations and the so-called turbulent dispersion force in the momentum equations. The former vanishes if the Favre (mass-weighted) averaged velocity is adopted for the transport equation system. The latter is actually the total account of the turbulence effect on the interfacial forces. In many cases, only the fluctuating effect of the drag force is important. Therefore, many models available in the literature only consider the drag contribution. A new, more general derivation of the FAD (Favre Averaged Drag) model in the multi-fluid modeling framework is presented and validated in this report.

Methane hydrates are naturally-occurring ice-like substances found in permafrost and in ocean sediments along continental shelves. These compounds are often the source of cold seeps—plumes which vent methane into aquatic environments, and may subsequently release the potent greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. Methane hydrates and methane gas seeps are of particular interest both for their potential as an energy source and for their possible contribution to climate change. In an effort to improve location of hydrates through the use of seismic surveys and echo-sounding technology, this work aims to describe the low-frequency (10 Hz to 10 kHz) acoustic behavior of methane gas bubbles and methane hydrates in water under simulated ocean-floor conditions of low temperatures and high pressures. Products of the experiments and analysis presented in this thesis include (a) passive acoustic techniques for measurement of gas flux from underwater seeps, (b) a modified form of Wood's model of low-frequency sound propagation through a bubbly liquid containing real gas, and (c) low-frequency measurements of bulk moduli and dissociation pressures of four natural samples of methane hydrates. Experimental procedures and results are presented, along with analytical and numerical models which support the findings. / text

The rise velocity of injected air phase from the injection point toward the vadose zone is a critical factor in in-situ air sparging operations. It has been reported in the literature that air injected into saturated gravel rises as discrete air bubbles in bubbly flow of air phase. The objective of this study is to develop a quantitative technique to estimate the rise velocity of an air bubble in coarse porous media. The model is based on the macroscopic balance equation for forces acting on a bubble rising in a porous medium. The governing equation incorporates inertial force, added mass force, buoyant force, surface tension and drag force that results from the momentum transfer between the phases. The momentum transfer terms take into account the viscous as well as the kinetic energy losses at high velocities. Analytical solutions are obtained for steady, quasi-steady, and accelerated bubble rise velocities. Results show that air bubbles moving up through a porous medium equilibrate after a short travel time and very iv short distances of rise. It is determined that the terminal rise velocity of a single air bubble in an otherwise water saturated porous medium cannot exceed 18.5 cm/sec. The theoretical model results compared favorably with the experimental data reported in the literature. A dimensional analysis conducted to study the effect of individual forces indicates that the buoyant force is largely balanced by the drag force for bubbles with an equivalent radius of 0.2-0.5 cm. With increasing bubble radius, the dimensionless number representing the effect of the surface tension force decreases rapidly. Since the total inertial force is quite small, the accelerated bubble rise velocity can be approximated by the terminal velocity.

In this study, the phenomenon of two-phase flow was investigated in a square channel. The experiment was performed with stagnant liquid conditions. The gas and liquid dynamics of the bubbly flow were observed in two regions far from the inlet. Air was inserted through a porous media at three superficial gas velocities: 4.6 mm/s, 2.5 mm/s, and 1.4 mm/s. Two techniques were applied in the experiment to measure the bubbly flow: an optical probe and an in-house developed tracking algorithm. Measurements of the bubble interface velocity, void fraction, bubble frequency, time of flight, and Sauter mean diameter were obtained by using the optical probe. The duration of the probe measurements for all three flow rates and both regions lasted approximately 33 hours. The tracking algorithm was used to analyze the experimental data for two visual methods: shadowgraphy and Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV). Shadowgraphy provided gas-phase measurements of the bubble centroid velocity and its fluctuations, void fraction, bubble size, and Reynolds stresses. Five data sets were acquired for each flow rate, resulting in a total of 327,540 shadowgraphy images. Liquid parameters such as the velocity, fluctuations in the velocity, and the Reynolds stresses were provided by PTV. Only one data set containing 10,918 images was obtained from liquid measurements for each flow rate. One data set was sufficient to provide reliable statistics since tracking two consecutive images lead to approximately 15,000 velocity vectors. The data obtained from this study was an effort to assist in the verification, validation, and improvement of two-phase flow simulations.