Numerical analysis of detailed flow structures of a bubble plume

Detailed flow structure of bubbly flours observed in a bubble plume is investigated numerically using the Euler-Lagrange model where the bubbly flow is treated as a continuum and each bubble is tracked in the flow. The governing equations are formulated with emphasis on the translational motion of the bubble in non-uniform unsteady liquid flow. Improvement of the present numerical method is confirmed by comparison with the Eulerian method, and the numerical results are validated by the comparison with the two kinds of experimental results, i.e., global flow pattern visualized by direct-lighting method, and local bubble motion measured by particle imaging velocimetry. In this paper, two-dimensional bubble plume which is confined by two parallel plates is analyzed and the parametric dependency, such as influence of the bubble size distribution and void fraction, on the whole two-phase behavior is clarified and experimental validation is conducted.