Collapse of a bubble injected side-by-side with another bubble into an incipiently fluidized bed: A CFD-DEM study

Computational fluid dynamics--discrete element method simulation results demonstrate the bubble collapse phenomenon observed in a prior experimental study when two bubbles are injected side-by-side into an incipiently fluidized bed. Results confirm that one of the bubbles collapses when there is a slight size difference between the two bubbles and its extent is beyond a critical value. The collapse occurs because of a preferential gas channeling toward the larger bubble, which leaves the smaller bubble without sufficient gas flow to support its shape.