Numerical investigation of bubble coalescence characteristics under nucleate boiling condition by a lattice-Boltzmann model

A numerical study was performed to investigate the characteristics of bubble growth, detachment and coalescence on vertical, horizontal, and inclined downward-facing surfaces. The FlowLab code, which is based on a lattice-Boltzmann model of two-phase flows, was employed. Macroscopic properties, such as surface tension (sigma) and contact angle (beta), were implemented through the fluid-fluid (G(sigma)) and fluid-solid (G(t)) interaction potentials. The model predicted a linear relationship between the macroscopic properties (sigma, beta) and microscopic parameters (G(sigma), G(t)). The simulation results on bubble departure diameter appear to have the same parametric dependence as the empirical correlation. Hydrodynamic aspects of bubble coalescence are investigated by simulating the growth and detachment behavior of multiple bubbles generated on horizontal, vertical, and inclined downward-facing surfaces. For the case of horizontal surface, three distinct. regimes of bubble coalescence were represented in the lattice-Boltzmann simulation: lateral coalescence of bubbles situated on the surface; vertical coalescence of bubbles detached in a sequence from a site; and lateral coalescence of bubbles, detached from the surface. Multiple coalescence was predicted on the vertical surface as the bubble detached from a lower elevation merges with the bubble forming on a higher site. The bubble behavior on the inclined downward-facing surface was represented quite similar to that in the nucleate boiling regime on a downward facing surface. (C) 2000 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.