Transient large-scale two-phase flow structures in a 3D bubble column reactor

Abstract This paper analyses the local and time-dependent behavior of large-scale structures responsible for liquid circulation in gas-water flow of a 3-D cylindrical bubble column of high aspect ratio with a multiple orifice for uniform aeration. The large-scale flow structures play an important role in the mixing and the mass transfer while coherent structures dominate hydrodynamic characteristics of the turbulent flow field. A three-dimensional Euler-Euler large eddy simulation (LES) model was used to calculate large-scale structures and their interaction with bubbles at inlet superficial gas velocities of U G = 6 and 8.4 cm/s where vortical-spiral and turbulent flow regimes occur. The two-phase model gives good agreements with experimental measurements. We use a conditional sampling procedure of liquid velocity and gas hold-up time series to identify and educe the development of coherent flow structures which consists in a pair of counter-rotating vortices convected in a staggered pattern along the column in both the vortical-spiral and central plume regions. On average, the detected instantaneous events for each template account for about 12-15 % of the data recorded and may appear simultaneously. These events produce important fluctuations in the axial liquid velocity and gas void fraction. The sampling procedure yielded the averaged topology of the three-dimensional large-scale structures which was visualized using iso-surfaces of the vorticity for different gas flow rates. The structures have spiral tube-shaped topology rotating along the column near the walls with a pair of counter-rotating cells sustained through the flow. This work provides deep insights into turbulent flow field in gas-liquid bubble column by LES and pattern recognition.