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Turbulent circulation in bubble columns from eddy viscosity distributions of single‐phase pipe flow
Author(s) -
Luo Hean,
Svendsen Hallvard F.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
the canadian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1939-019X
pISSN - 0008-4034
DOI - 10.1002/cjce.5450690622
Subject(s) - mechanics , turbulence modeling , turbulence , bubble , flow (mathematics) , reynolds number , viscosity , thermodynamics , two phase flow , circulation (fluid dynamics) , physics , materials science , classical mechanics
The exact prediction of the flow structure in bubble columns is important for their design and scale‐up. This paper proposes a theoretical model for the liquid circulation on the basis of Reynolds equation of motion and the eddy viscosity distribution of single phase pipe flow, and presents a derivation of an analytical equation for the axial liquid velocity profiles that is fast and easy to use. The model shows a strong analogy for the eddy viscosity between multiphase and single‐phase systems, and how both eddy and molecular viscosities affect the flow. The velocity profiles calculated from the model are shown to agree well with reported experimental data for both low and high viscosity fluids.