Direct simulation of liquid-gas-solid flow with a free surface lattice Boltzmann method

Direct numerical simulation of liquid-gas-solid flows is uncommon due to the considerable computational cost. As the grid spacing is determined by the smallest involved length scale, large grid sizes become necessary -- in particular if the bubble-particle aspect ratio is on the order of 10 or larger. Hence, it arises the question of both feasibility and reasonability. In this paper, we present a fully parallel, scalable method for direct numerical simulation of bubble-particle interaction at a size ratio of 1-2 orders of magnitude that makes simulations feasible on currently available super-computing resources. With the presented approach, simulations of bubbles in suspension columns consisting of more than $100\,000$ fully resolved particles become possible. Furthermore, we demonstrate the significance of particle-resolved simulations by comparison to previous unresolved solutions. The results indicate that fully-resolved direct numerical simulation is indeed necessary to predict the flow structure of bubble-particle interaction problems correctly.Comment: submitted to International Journal of Computational Fluid Dynamic

Comparison of multiphase SPH and LBM approaches for the simulation of intermittent flows

Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) and Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) are increasingly popular and attractive methods that propose efficient multiphase formulations, each one with its own strengths and weaknesses. In this context, when it comes to study a given multi-fluid problem, it is helpful to rely on a quantitative comparison to decide which approach should be used and in which context. In particular, the simulation of intermittent two-phase flows in pipes such as slug flows is a complex problem involving moving and intersecting interfaces for which both SPH and LBM could be considered. It is a problem of interest in petroleum applications since the formation of slug flows that can occur in submarine pipelines connecting the wells to the production facility can cause undesired behaviors with hazardous consequences. In this work, we compare SPH and LBM multiphase formulations where surface tension effects are modeled respectively using the continuum surface force and the color gradient approaches on a collection of standard test cases, and on the simulation of intermittent flows in 2D. This paper aims to highlight the contributions and limitations of SPH and LBM when applied to these problems. First, we compare our implementations on static bubble problems with different density and viscosity ratios. Then, we focus on gravity driven simulations of slug flows in pipes for several Reynolds numbers. Finally, we conclude with simulations of slug flows with inlet/outlet boundary conditions. According to the results presented in this study, we confirm that the SPH approach is more robust and versatile whereas the LBM formulation is more accurate and faster

Pore-scale mass and reactant transport in multiphase porous media flows

Reactive processes associated with multiphase flows play a significant role in mass transport in unsaturated porous media. For example, the effect of reactions on the solid matrix can affect the formation and stability of fingering instabilities associated with the invasion of a buoyant non-wetting fluid. In this study, we focus on the formation and stability of capillary channels of a buoyant non-wetting fluid (developed because of capillary instabilities) and their impact on the transport and distribution of a reactant in the porous medium. We use a combination of pore-scale numerical calculations based on a multiphase reactive lattice Boltzmann model (LBM) and scaling laws to quantify (i)the effect of dissolution on the preservation of capillary instabilities, (ii)the penetration depth of reaction beyond the dissolution/melting front, and (iii)the temporal and spatial distribution of dissolution/melting under different conditions (concentration of reactant in the non-wetting fluid, injection rate). Our results show that, even for tortuous non-wetting fluid channels, simple scaling laws assuming an axisymmetrical annular flow can explain (i)the exponential decay of reactant along capillary channels, (ii)the dependence of the penetration depth of reactant on a local Péclet number (using the non-wetting fluid velocity in the channel) and more qualitatively (iii)the importance of the melting/reaction efficiency on the stability of non-wetting fluid channels. Our numerical method allows us to study the feedbacks between the immiscible multiphase fluid flow and a dynamically evolving porous matrix (dissolution or melting) which is an essential component of reactive transport in porous medi

Buoyancy-driven bubbly flows: ordered and free rise at small and intermediate volume fraction

International audienceVarious expressions have been proposed previously for the rise velocity of gas bubbles for homogeneous steady bubbly flows, generally a monotonically decreasing function of the bubble volume fraction. For suspensions of freely moving bubbles, some of these are of the form expected for ordered arrays of bubbles, and vice versa, as they do not reduce to the behaviour expected theoretically in the dilute limit. The microstructure of weakly inhomogeneous bubbly flows not being known generally, the effect of microstructure is an important consideration. We revisit this problem here for bubbly flows at small to moderate Reynolds number values for deformable bubbles, using direct numerical simulation and analysis. For ordered suspensions, the rise velocity is demonstrated not to be monotonically decreasing with volume fraction due to cooperative wake interactions. The fore-and-aft asymmetry of an isolated ellipsoidal bubble is reversed upon increasing the volume fraction, and the bubble aspect ratio approaches unity. Recent work on rising bubble pairs is used to explain most of these results; the present work therefore forms a platform of extending the former to suspensions of many bubbles. We adopt this new strategy also to support the existence of the oblique rise of ordered suspensions, the possibility of which is also demonstrated analytically. Finally, we demonstrate that most of the trends observed in ordered systems also appear in freely evolving suspensions. These similarities are supported by prior experimental measurements, and attributed to the fact that free bubbles keep the same neighbours for extended periods of time