On the modelling of population balance in isothermal vertical bubbly flows - average bubble number density approach

To model the spatial evolution of the geometrical structure of the gas bubbles in isothermal vertical bubbly flow conditions, the population balance approach has been employed and merged with the three-dimensional two-fluid model. The population balance is realized by incorporating an average bubble number density transport equation into a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD)codeANSYS CFX 10. The coalescence and breakage effects of the gas bubbles are formulated according to the bubble coalescence by random collision driven by turbulence and wake entrainment while for bubble breakage by the impact of turbulent eddies. Three models representing these coalescence and breakage mechanisms proposed by Wu et al. [1], Hibiki and Ishii [2] and Yao and Morel [3] are assessed. Local radial distributions of the five primitive variables in bubbly flows: void fraction, Sauter mean diameter, interfacial area concentration, and gas and liquid velocities, are compared with two experimental data of Liu and Bankoff [4,5] and Hibiki et al. [6]. Close agreements between the predictions and measurements demonstrated the capability of the average bubble number density transport equation in modelling bubbly flow conditions

EML4-ALK variants: biological and molecular properties, and the implications for patients

Since the discovery of the fusion between EML4 (echinoderm microtubule associated protein-like 4) and ALK (anaplastic lymphoma kinase), EML4-ALK, in lung adenocarcinomas in 2007, and the subsequent identification of at least 15 different variants in lung cancers, there has been a revolution in molecular-targeted therapy that has transformed the outlook for these patients. Our recent focus has been on understanding how and why the expression of particular variants can affect biological and molecular properties of cancer cells, as well as identifying the key signalling pathways triggered, as a result. In the clinical setting, this understanding led to the discovery that the type of variant influences the response of patients to ALK therapy. Here, we discuss what we know so far about the EML4-ALK variants in molecular signalling pathways and what questions remain to be answered. In the longer term, this analysis may uncover ways to specifically treat patients for a better outcome

Modelling horizontal gas-liquid flow using averaged bubble number density approach

In this study, the internal phase distributions of gas-liquid bubbly flow in a horizontal pipe have been predicted using the population balance model based on Average Bubble Number Density approach. Four flow conditions with average gas volume fraction ranging from 4.4% to 20% have been investigated. Predicted local radial distributions of void fraction, interfacial area concentration and gas velocity have been validated against the experimental data. In general, satisfactory agreements between predicted results and measured values have been achieved. For high superficial gas velocity, it has been ascertained that peak local void fraction of 0.7 with interfacial area concentration of 800 m-1 can be encountered near the top wall of the pipe. Some discrepancies have nonetheless been found between the numerical and experimental results at certain locations of the pipe. The insufficient resolution of the turbulent model in fully accommodating the strong turbulence in the current pipe orientation and the inclusion of additional interfacial force such as the prevalent bouncing force among bubbles remain some of the outstanding challenging issues need to be addressed in order to improve the prediction of horizontal gas-liquid bubbly flow

A study of drag force in isothermal bubbly flow

Driven by the extensive demands of simulating highly concentrated gas bubbly flows in many engineering fields, numerical studies have been performed to investigate the neighbouring effect of a swarm of bubbles on the interfacial drag forces. In this study, a novel drag coefficient correlation (Simonnet et al., 2007) in terms of local void fraction coupled with the population balance model based on average bubble number density (ABND) has been implemented and compared with Ishii-Zuber densely distributed fluid particles drag model. The predicted local radial distributions of three primitive variables: gas void fraction, Sauter mean bubble diameter, and gas velocity, are validated against the experimental data of Hibiki et al. (2001). In general, satisfactory agreements between predicted and measured results are achieved by both drag force models. With additional consideration for closely packed bubbles, the latest coefficient model by Simonnet et al. (2007) shows considerably better performance in capturing the reduction of drag forces incurred by neighbouring bubbles

Computational Fluid Dynamic Analysis of a Vibrating Turbine Blade

This study presents the numerical fluid-structure interaction (FSI) modelling of a vibrating turbine blade using the commercial software ANSYS-12.1. The study has two major aims: (i) discussion of the current state of the art of modelling FSI in gas turbine engines and (ii) development of a “tuned” one-way FSI model of a vibrating turbine blade to investigate the correlation between the pressure at the turbine casing surface and the vibrating blade motion. Firstly, the feasibility of the complete FSI coupled two-way, three-dimensional modelling of a turbine blade undergoing vibration using current commercial software is discussed. Various modelling simplifications, which reduce the full coupling between the fluid and structural domains, are then presented. The one-way FSI model of the vibrating turbine blade is introduced, which has the computational efficiency of a moving boundary CFD model. This one-way FSI model includes the corrected motion of the vibrating turbine blade under given engine flow conditions. This one-way FSI model is used to interrogate the pressure around a vibrating gas turbine blade. The results obtained show that the pressure distribution at the casing surface does not differ significantly, in its general form, from the pressure at the vibrating rotor blade tip

Low disordered, stable, and shallow germanium quantum wells: a playground for spin and hybrid quantum technology

Buried-channel semiconductor heterostructures are an archetype material platform to fabricate gated semiconductor quantum devices. Sharp confinement potential is obtained by positioning the channel near the surface, however nearby surface states degrade the electrical properties of the starting material. In this paper we demonstrate a two-dimensional hole gas of high mobility ($5\times 10^{5}$ cm$^2$/Vs) in a very shallow strained germanium channel, which is located only 22 nm below the surface. This high mobility leads to mean free paths $\approx6 \mu m$, setting new benchmarks for holes in shallow FET devices. Carriers are confined in an undoped Ge/SiGe heterostructure with reduced background contamination, sharp interfaces, and high uniformity. The top-gate of a dopant-less field effect transistor controls the carrier density in the channel. The high mobility, along with a percolation density of $1.2\times 10^{11}\text{ cm}^{-2}$, light effective mass (0.09 m$_e$), and high g-factor (up to $7$) highlight the potential of undoped Ge/SiGe as a low-disorder material platform for hybrid quantum technologies

Correlated enhancement of Hc2 and Jc in carbon nanotube-doped MgB2

The use of MgB2 in superconducting applications still awaits for the development of a MgB2-based material where both current-carrying performance and critical magnetic field are optimized simultaneously. We achieved this by doping MgB2 with double-wall carbon nanotubes (DWCNT) as a source of carbon in polycrystalline samples. The optimum nominal DWCNT content for increasing the critical current density, Jc is in the range 2.5-10%at depending on field and temperature. Record values of the upper critical field, Hc2(4K) = 41.9 T (with extrapolated Hc2(0) ~ 44.4 T) are reached in a bulk sample with 10%at DWCNT content. The measured Hc2 vs T in all samples are successfully described using a theoretical model for a two-gap superconductor in the dirty limit first proposed by Gurevich et al.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

Numerical investigation on the performance of coalescence and break-up kernels in subcooled boiling flows in vertical channels

In order to accurately predict the thermal hydraulic of two-phase gas-liquid flows with heat and mass transfer, special numerical considerations are required to capture the underlying physics: characteristics of the heat transfer and bubble dynamics taking place near the heated wall and the evolution of the bubble size distribution caused by the coalescence, break-up, and condensation processes in the bulk subcooled liquid. The evolution of the bubble size distribution is largely driven by the bubble coalescence and break-up mechanisms. In this paper, a numerical assessment on the performance of six different bubble coalescence and break-up kernels is carried out to investigate the bubble size distribution and its impact on local hydrodynamics. The resultant bubble size distributions are compared to achieve a better insight of the prediction mechanisms. Also, the void fraction, bubble Sauter mean diameter, and interfacial area concentration profiles are compared against the experimental data to ensure the validity of the models applied