Comparison of Two Solvers for Simulation of Single Bubble Rising Dynamics: COMSOL vs. Fluent

0542383 - ÚCHP 2022 RIV CH eng J - Journal Article
Crha, Jakub - Basařová, P. - Růžička, Marek - Kašpar, O. - Zedníková, Mária
Comparison of Two Solvers for Simulation of Single Bubble Rising Dynamics: COMSOL vs. Fluent.
Minerals. Roč. 11, č. 5 (2021), č. článku 452. E-ISSN 2075-163X
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA19-09518S
Institutional support: RVO:67985858
Keywords : rising bubble * COMSOL * level set * multiphase
OECD category: Chemical process engineering
Impact factor: 2.818, year: 2021
Method of publishing: Open access
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/11/5/452

The aim of this work was to study how two commercial CFD solvers, COMSOL Multiphysics and Ansys Fluent, can simulate the motion of a single rising bubble in a stagnant liquid. Simulations were performed for spherical or slightly deformed bubbles (Db = 0.6, 0.8, and 1.5 mm) rising in water or in propanol. A simple 2D axisymmetric approach was used. Calculated bubble terminal velocities and bubble shape deformations were compared to both experimental data and theoretical estimations. Solver Comsol Multiphysics was able to precisely calculate the movement of smaller and larger bubbles, due to the 2D rotational symmetry, better results were obtained for small spherical bubbles. The deformation of larger bubbles was calculated sufficiently. Solver Ansys Fluent failed to simulate the motion of small bubbles due to parasitic currents but allowed for modelling of the motion of larger bubbles.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0319828