Dispersed
gas (vapor)–liquid flow through an inclined microchannel with
bends has successfully been simulated, that is, without numerical
difficulties, by means of a two-phase Lattice Boltzmann method. Combining
in this method the Shan-Chen pseudopotential
interaction model with the Yuan and Schaefer proposal for dealing with nonideal equations of state makes high
density ratios achievable. This approach also allows simulation of
gas–liquid flows without explicitly having to track the phase
interfaces. Rather, a potential function related to the equation of
state for vapor–liquid equilibrium, a coupling strength representing
attraction or repulsion between species, and a relaxation time scale
take care of microscale and mesoscale phenomena such as phase separation
and interfacial tension as well as interphase transport and multiphase
flow. In addition, fluid–wall interaction (contact angle) is
taken into account by selecting proper potential functions and coupling
strengths. As far as the phase behavior is concerned, we assessed
our method by studying the phase separation process and by validating
against Maxwell’s equilibrium rule. Qualitative validation
of our approach of gas–liquid flow has been done with a comparison
against experimental data on a single bubble rise. Detailed simulations
were carried out for an individual Taylor bubble in a channel, the
results of which compared favorably to literature data.