59 research outputs found
Mixing of miscible liquids in gas-segmented serpentine channels
No full textThe chaotic mixing of miscible liquids in gas-segmented serpentine channels is studied computationally in a two-dimensional setting. Passive tracer particles are used to visualize and quantify the mixing. The molecular diffusion is ignored and only the mixing due to chaotic stirring is considered. Mixing is quantified using the entropy and intensity of segregation measures. The effects of various non-dimensional parameters on the quality of mixing are investigated and it is found that the relative bubble size, the capillary number and the non-dimensional channel corrugation length are the most important parameters influencing the mixing. The mixing is found to be weakly dependent on Reynolds number and nearly independent of viscosity rati
Axial dispersion in segmented gas-liquid flow: Effects of alternating channel curvature
No full textThe effects of channel curvature on the axial dispersion in segmented gas-liquid flows are studied computationally in a two-dimensional setting using a finite-volume/front-tracking method. Passive tracer particles are used to visualize and quantify the axial dispersion. The molecular diffusion is modeled by random walk of tracer particles. It is found that there is significant axial dispersion in serpentine channels even in the absence of molecular diffusion. The lubricating thin liquid layer that persists on the wall of a straight channel is periodically broken in the serpentine channel leading to enhanced axial dispersion. It is also found that the axial dispersion is always larger in the serpentine channel than that in the straight channel but the effects of channel curvature are more pronounced at high Peclet numbers, i.e., Pe > 10(4). A model is proposed based on the difference between the liquid film thicknesses on the inner and outer side of the bend in the limit as Pe ->infinity. Good agreement is found between the computational results and the model when the liquid slug is well mixed by the chaotic advection. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3531742
A new robust consistent hybrid finite-volume/particle method for solving the PDF model equations of turbulent reactive flows
No full textA new robust hybrid finite-volume (FV)/particle method is developed for solving joint probability density function (JPDF) model equations of statistically stationary turbulent reacting flows. The method is designed to remedy the deficiencies of the hybrid algorithm developed by Muradoglu et al. (1999, 2001). The density-based FV solver in the original hybrid algorithm has been found to be excessively dissipative and yet not very robust. To remedy these deficiencies, a pressure-based PISO algorithm in the open source FV package, OpenFOAM, is used to solve the Favre-averaged mean mass and momentum equations while a particle-based Monte Carlo algorithm is employed to solve the fluctuating velocity-turbulence frequency-compositions JPDF transport equation. The mean density is computed as a particle field and passed to the FV method. Thus the redundancy of the density fields in the original hybrid method is removed making the new hybrid algorithm more consistent at the numerical solution level. The new hybrid algorithm is first applied to simulate non-swirling cold and reacting bluff-body flows. The convergence of the method is demonstrated. In contrast with the original hybrid method, the new hybrid algorithm is very robust with respect to grid refinement and achieves grid convergence without any unphysical vortex shedding in the cold bluff-body flow case. In addition, the results are found to be in good agreement with the earlier PDF calculations and also with the available experimental data. Finally the new hybrid algorithm is successfully applied to simulate the more complicated Sydney swirling bluff-body flame 'SM1'. The method is also very robust for this difficult test case and the results are in good agreement with the available experimental data. In all the cases, the PISO-FV solver is found to be highly resilient to the noise in the mean density field extracted from the particles. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
A Finite-Volume Front-Tracking Method for Computations of Multiphase Flows in Complex Geometries
No full text
A COMPUTATIONAL STUDY OF DROP FORMATION IN AN AXISYMMETRIC FLOW-FOCUSING DEVICE
No full textABSTRACT We investigate the formation and dynamics of drops computationally in an axisymetric geometry using a FrontTracking/Finite-Difference (FT/FD) method. The effects of viscosity ratio between inner and outer liquids on the drop creation process and drop size distribution are examined. It is found that the viscosity ratio critically influences the drop formation process and the final drop distribution. We found that, for small viscosity ratios, i.e., drop size is about the size of the orifice and drop distribution is highly monodisperse. When viscosity ratio is increased, i.e., 1 5 . 0 < < λ a smaller drop is created just after the main drop. For even higher viscosity ratios, the drop distribution is usually monodisperse but a satellite drop is created in some cases. The effect of the flow rates in the inner jet and the co flowing annulus are also studied. It is found that the drop size gets smaller as Q in / Q out is reduced while keeping the outer flow rate constant. NOMENCLATUR
A front tracking method for direct numerical simulation of evaporation process in a multiphase system
No full textEffects of viscoelasticity on drop impact and spreading on a solid surface
No full textThe effects of viscoelasticity on drop impact and spreading on a flat solid surface are studied computationally using a finite-difference-front-tracking method. The finitely extensible nonlinear elastic-Chilcott-Rallison model is used to account for the fluid viscoelasticity. It is found that viscoelasticity favors advancement of contact line during the spreading phase, leading to a slight increase in the maximum spreading, in agreement with experimental observations [Huh, Jung, Seo, and Lee, Microfluid. Nanofluid. 18, 1221 (2015)]. However, in contrast with the well-known antirebound effects of polymeric additives, the viscoelasticity is found to enhance the tendency of the drop rebound in the receding phase. These results suggest that the antirebound effects are mainly due to the polymer-induced modification of wetting properties of the substrate rather than the change in the material properties of the drop fluid. A model is proposed to test this hypothesis. It is found that the model results in good qualitative agreement with the experimental observations and the antirebound behavior can be captured by the modification of surface wetting properties in the receding phase
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