抄録
In this research, the influence of channel size on co-current downward Taylor flow in a square channel is studied numerically by a volume-of-fluid method. Three different hydraulic diameters are considered, namely 0.5 mm, 1 mm and 2 mm. The physical properties of the two-phase system correspond to squalane (liquid) and nitrogen (gas). The simulations employ the unit cell concept where the ratio between unit cell length and hydraulic diameter is fixed to four and the gas holdup is 40%. For these conditions and each hydraulic diameter, a series of simulations with different flow rates is performed. The resulting values of the capillary and Reynolds number are in the ranges 0.15–0.5 and 2–17, respectively. The numerical results show that the appropriately non-dimensionalized bubble velocity, bubble diameter and volumetric interfacial area all scale with the capillary number, while the influence of inertia and buoyancy is small, though tiny effects can be recognized.
