Numerical Simulation of Hold-up and Velocity Profiles for Two-phase Developed Flows in a Column

• Main Authors: Pâmela Palhares, Reginaldo Guirardello
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: AIDIC Servizi S.r.l. 2021-06-01
• Series: Chemical Engineering Transactions
• Online Access: https://www.cetjournal.it/index.php/cet/article/view/11625

The purpose of this article is to simulate and analyse two-phase fluid dynamics in a bubble column, through two different numerical approaches, in a fast and effective way, to minimize project costs and increase productivity. Bubble column reactors are commonly employed in chemical processes because of their wide application area, such as simple construction and operation, high heat and mass transfer coefficients. Despite the model chosen in this article does not consider the reaction rate, bubble columns usually feature complex hydrodynamic interactions that requires a high computational effort for modelling. In this study, to simulate a bubble column reactor with continuous flow (e.g., air-water), two approaches were compared to predict axial and radial profiles for the two-phase, the finite volume and the variational method. The values of holdups and the axial velocity are in agreement with the experimental results in the literature. Key Words: fluid dynamic, hold-up, finite volume method, variational method, modelling.