Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.56, No.29, 8311-8329, 2017
Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations of Single Drops in Confined Geometries
Understanding of drop rise in confined domains is important as it influences drop rise velocity and drag coefficient. In this work, the motion of a single liquid drop rising in a quiescent channel filled with water in the presence of a wall effect is studied numerically using the combined volume of fluid and level set method. The ratio of drop diameter to column diameter is used as a parameter to quantify the presence of the wall effect. Simulations were carried out for n-butanol and toluene drops. A reduction in rise velocity is seen in all the cases. It is seen that pressure profile, strain rate, and vorticity magnitude near the drop surface have a significant effect on the evolution of a drop shape in confined geometries. Drag coefficients have been calculated from the force balance equation. The correlation for the correction factor for the drag coefficient has been developed to account for the wall effect.