CFD modelling of downward two phase pipe flow

A widely used approach to model two-phase bubbly flows for industrial applications is the Eulerian two-fluid framework of interpenetrating continua. The loss of small-scale physics caused by the averaging procedure has to be compensated by introduction of closure relations. These concern the momentum exchange between the phases, the effect of the bubbles on the liquid turbulence and bubble breakup and coalescence. The quest for models with a broad range of applicability allowing predictive simulations is an ongoing venture. A set of best available submodels was assembled and validated against different bubbly flow situations (Rzehak and Krepper 2013, 2015). The present contribution deals with two phase downward pipe flow. Experiments were performed at HZDR using an ultrafast X-ray tomographic measurement technique. Gas fraction distribution, gas velocities, and bubble size distributions were measured at different distances from the gas injection. Deduced from the experimental data, in some tests the complexity of the closure problem could be reduced imposing a fixed bubble size distribution. Considering the effect of bubble sizes on the closure relations the agreement of the simulations with the measurements could be improved remarkably.