A multi-field two-fluid concept for transitions between different scales of interfacial structures

This paper presents a concept for the CFD-modelling of multiphase flows where both segregated and dispersed flow structures occur simultaneously. Transitions between such morphologies, characterized by different scales of interfacial structures, are investigated and a new multi-field two-fluid strategy for a generalized two-phase flow (GENTOP) is presented. The GENTOP-approach extends the inhomogeneous Multiple Size Group (MUSIG)-model by adding an additional continuous gas phase. Within the MUSIG-framework, mass transfers between different bubble size groups due to coalescence and breakup as well as gas–liquid transfers are described. By modelling an additional mass transfer between the polydispersed and continuous gas phase, transitions between the different gas morphologies can be considered dependent on the flow situation. The continuous gas phase summarizes gas structures which are large enough to be resolved within the computed mesh. Therefore a free surface detection and generalized formulations for interfacial transfer models are introduced. The appearance of one particular gas phase due to mass transfer from another gaseous morphology is demonstrated by means of two demonstration cases: the impingement of a liquid jet on a free surface with an associated entrainment of dispersed bubbles as well as an evolving vertical bubble column showing a wide spectrum of bubble sizes.