Flow Pattern of Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow Driven by a Rotating Cylinder

Abstract

Two-phase flow pattern of gas-liquid motion driven by a rotating cylinder is numerically studied. Two-dimensional direct numerical simulations are performed using a fixed mesh approach based on Volume Of Fluid (VOF) and Boundary Data Immersion (BDI) methods. With varying rotation speed Ω, material properties, and radius ratio, the distribution of the computed VOF function is classified into four patterns with respect to the liquid film thickness and liquid fraction on the rotating cylinder wall. The relevance of the flow pattern to the torque is discussed. The liquid film thickness at low Ω is found to be scaled using a ratio of viscous force to gravitational force.