Computational Study of the Dynamics of the Taylor Bubble

Abstract

We perform high-resolution numerical simulations of three-dimensional dynamics of an elongated bubble in a microchannel at moderate Reynolds numbers up to 1800. For this purpose, we use the coupled Brinkman penalization and volume of fluid methods implemented in the open-source framework Basilisk. The new results are validated with available experimental data and compared with previous numerical and theoretical predictions. We extend existing results to regimes with significant inertia, which are characterized by intense deformations of the bubble, including cases with azimuthal symmetry breaking. Various dynamical features are analyzed in terms of their spatiotemporal characteristics, such as frequencies and wavelengths of the bubble surface undulations and vortical structures in the flow.

Liquid film distribution around long gas bubbles propagating in rectangular capillaries

“…The bubble nose elongates for increasing Reynolds numbers and the thin liquid film forms at increasing distance from the bubble nose. Furthermore, inertia is responsible for the appearance and growth of undulations on the liquid-gas interface, in the proximity of the bubble rear meniscus, as the Weber number of the flow exceeds a threshold value of about 0.1 [4,39,40].…”