Assessment of the turbulence models for modelling of bubble column

Abstract

This paper presents an Eulerian two-fluid modelling of the gas-liquid flow in a bubble column. The influence of the bubble size, turbulence models and the grid size on the gas hold-up and the axial liquid velocity were evaluated. The results for the gas hold-up and liquid axial velocity shows good agreement with experimental data from literature. The modelling results suggest that the two-phase k-ε turbulence model is more appropriate for bubble column operating at high gas loading (of approx. 30% hold-up) and the assumption of a monodispersed bubble size is adequate for bubble column simulation.