The flow patterns and heat transfer of a downstream bubbly flow in a sudden pipe expansion are experimentally and numerically studied. Measurements of the bubble size were performed using shadow photography. Fluid phase velocities were measured using a PIV system. The numerical model was employed the Eulerian approach. The set of RANS equations was used for modelling two-phase bubbly flows. The turbulence of the carrier liquid phase was predicted using the Reynolds stress model. The peak of axial and radial fluctuations of the carrier fluid (liquid) velocity in the bubbly flow is observed in the shear layer. The addition of air bubbles resulted in a significant increase in the heat transfer rate (up to 300%). The main enhancement in heat transfer is observed after the point of flow reattachment.Energies 2019, 12, 2735 2 of 18 regime. Gas concentration increased immediately after the cross-section of the flow separation. Measurements by [7] were performed in an upward, vertical flow of a liquid (water) and CO 2 bubbles. The distribution of the mean carrier fluid velocity was strongly dependent on the bubbles' diameter. A review of the literature for two-phase flow in sudden expansions and contractions was performed in [8]. Wang et al. [8] have found that none of the existing eight correlations can accurately predict the experimental database. Most of these correlations greatly overpredicted the results for mini test sections. Some of the correlations also underpredicted the data for large test sections.There are only a few papers that consider the numerical modeling of isothermal bubbly flows in a pipe with sudden expansion [9,10]. Krepper et al. [9] presented a mathematical model for polydisperse flow in a vertical pipe with sudden expansion. The numerical predictions for bubbly pipe flow with an obstacle demonstrated very difficult nature of such flows [9]. The Eulerian model was developed to simulate bubbly flows in a pipe with sudden expansion in [10]. Predictions were carried out using the CFD commercial package STAR-CCM+. The developed model was validated against measurements of Bel Fdhila [11]. The eddy-viscosity k−ε model showed poor reproduction of the bubbly flow structure because it disregarded much of the information on fluid flow turbulence. The Second-Moment Closure and LES methods captured the main characteristic turbulent length-scales responsible for the diffusion of the bubble gas phase, and moreover, these methods predicted the flow patterns and bubble distributions across the pipe section [10].Recently published numerical works [12,13] investigated heat transfer in bubbly flows without an abrupt pipe or channel expansion. These studies showed the significant influence of bubble diameter and gas volumetric flow rate ratios on the flow patterns and heat transfer. Heat transfer in bubbly flow increased up to three times that of one-phase fluid flow. The liquid turbulence was modeled using an isotropic k−ε model [12]. The DNS of bubbly flow with heat transfer was performed [13]. The numerical [14...
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