Simulation of Polydisperse Bubbly Flows with CFD and PBM: Importance of Interfacial Forces

Developing reliable Computational Fluid Dynamics Population Balance Model (CFD-PBM) is beneficial for studying the behavior of any industrial-scale polydisperse mixing system. Overall performance of this method relies on the closure relations employed in the averaged field equations. This work focuses on the relations proposed for the lift and wall lubrication forces used in the momentum balance equation. The selected relations are assessed using the experimental data of a polydisperse bubbly flow. Following this, the necessity of adjusting lift coefficient for improving the results is illustrated. Finally, the evolution of the bubble size distribution predicted by the CFD-PBM is evaluated against the experimental data.