Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes that are able to describe in detail the dynamic evolution of the deformable interface in gas-liquid or liquid-liquid flows may be a valuable tool to explore the potential of multi-fluid flow in narrow channels for process intensification. In the present paper, a computational exercise for co-current bubble-train flow in a square vertical mini-channel is performed to investigate the performance of well-known CFD codes for this type of flows. The computations are based on the volume-of-fluid method (VOF) where the transport equation for the liquid volumetric fraction is solved either by the methods involving a geometrical reconstruction of the interface or by the methods that use higher-order difference schemes instead. The codes contributing to the present code-to-code comparison are an in-house code and the commercial CFD packages CFX, FLUENT and STAR-CD. Results are presented for two basic cases. In the first one, the flow is driven by buoyancy only, while in the second case the flow is additionally forced by an external pressure gradient. The results of the code-to-code comparison show that only the VOF method with interface reconstruction leads to physically sound and consistent results, whereas the use of difference schemes for the volume fraction equation shows some deficiencies.

A mass transfer model is developed using the volume-of-fluid (VOF) method with a piecewise linear interface calculation (PLIC) scheme in ANSYS FLUENT for a free-rising bubble. The mass flow rate is defined via the interface by Fick's law and added into the species equation as a source term in the liquid phase using the user-defined functions (UDFs) in ANSYS FLUENT. The interfacial concentration field for the mass flow rate is discretized by two numerical methods. One of them is based on the calculation of the discretization length between the centroid of the liquid volume and the interface using the liquid void fraction and interface normal vectors at the interface cells, while in the second method the discretization length is approximated using only the liquid void fraction at the interface cells. The influence of mesh size, schemes, and different Schmidt numbers on the mass transfer mechanism is numerically investigated for a free-rising bubble. Comparison of the developed mass transfer model with the theoretical results shows reasonable and consistent results with a smaller time-step size and with cell size.

The contact angle of a gas-liquid-solid system plays a significant role in predicting flow patterns in microchannels for multiphase flows. The contact angle, which is a result of surface forces, is strongly influenced by the channel material. In the present study, we describe contact angle measurements and simulations of flow in a microchannel for the multiphase system hydrogen and nitrobenzene. Contact angles for nitrobenzene-hydrogen-stainless steel and nitrobenzene-hydrogen-carbon systems were measured using the sessile drop method at various pressures. Simulation of the two-phase system was performed using ANSYS FLUENT. The static contact angle is used as a boundary condition. The results from simulation of flow for a wide range of contact angles and the measured contact angles are presented. Experimental observations and simulation results agree in that the contact angle must be smaller 90• to obtain small bubbles and to increase the gas-liquid interfacial surface area.