CFD-PBM Coupled Simulation of an Airlift Reactor with Non-Newtonian Fluid

Hydrodynamics of an AirLift Reactor (ALR) with tap water and non-Newtonian fluid was studied experimentally and by numerical simulations. The Population Balance Model (PBM) with multiple breakup and coalescence mechanisms was used to describe bubble size characteristics in the ALR. The interphase forces for closing the two-fluid model were formulated by considering the effect of Bubble Size Distribution (BSD). The BSD in the ALR obtained from the coupled Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)-PBM model was validated against results from digital imaging measurements. The simulated velocity fields of both the gas and liquid phases were compared to measured fields obtained with Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). The simulated results show different velocity field profile features at the top of the ALR between tap water and non-Newtonian fluid, which are in agreement with experiments. In addition, good agreement between simulations and experiments was obtained in terms of overall gas holdup and bubble Sauter mean diameter.