Cranmer, J.A., Sharaborin, E., Khodaparast, S. orcid.org/0000-0001-6273-9124 et al. (2 more authors) (2024) Non-negligible buoyancy effect on bubbles travelling in horizontal microchannels of comparable size at small Bond numbers. International Journal of Multiphase Flow, 181. 105019. ISSN 0301-9322
Abstract
When a gas bubble is transported by a liquid flow confined within a horizontal channel of comparable size, buoyancy effects are usually assumed to be negligible if the Bond number of the flow is less than unity. However, recent experimental studies showed that buoyancy may still significantly impact the bubble dynamics even when Bo≪1, provided that the flow speed is sufficiently small, such that the viscous and inertial forces are weak. To derive a new criterion to assess the significance of buoyancy on the flow of small bubbles in horizontal microchannels, we have performed systematic numerical simulations using the free software Basilisk, covering a wide range of Bond, capillary and Reynolds numbers, Bo=0.004−0.4, Ca=10−4−0.5 and Re=0−100, and exploring the bubble-to-channel diameter ratios db/D=0.2−0.9. We demonstrate that the nondimensional group Bo(db/D)2/Ca is effective in assessing the importance of buoyancy in flows with negligible inertial effects. When Bo(db/D)2/Ca<0.1, buoyancy effects are negligible and the bubble travels along the channel axis. When Bo(db/D)2/Ca>10, buoyancy effects dominate and the bubble travels in the vicinity of the upper wall. For intermediate values, bubbles take equilibrium positions between the channel centre and the wall, and the threshold Bo(db/D)2/Ca=1 is effective in predicting whether bubbles will travel closer to the channel centre or to the wall. The capillary number at the denominator describes the lift force generated by the deformation of the bubble due to viscous shear, which acts towards the channel centre thus opposing buoyancy. Inertial forces significantly alter the shape and equilibrium position of the bubble when the Weber number of the flow exceeds unity and Bo/We<1. Under the action of inertia, bubbles of size comparable to the channel diameter become elongated but remain centred. Smaller bubbles migrate towards the channel wall and do not exhibit a preferential near-wall circumferential position.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | 4012 Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Engineering; 40 Engineering |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Mechanical Engineering (Leeds) > Institute of Engineering Thermofluids, Surfaces & Interfaces (iETSI) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 06 Dec 2024 11:12 |
Last Modified: | 06 Dec 2024 11:12 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.ijmultiphaseflow.2024.105019 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:220536 |