Numerical Analysis of Water and Air in Venturi Tube to Produce Micro-Bubbles

Abstract

Two-phase flow regimes are affected by conduit position, alignment, geometry, flow direction, physical characteristics, and flow rate of each phase as well as the heat flux toward the boundaries. Due to the importance of two-phase flow, numerous regimes have been identified. The first step in studying micro-bubble formation inside a venturi tube is to recognize the type of flow regimes. In this study, which is devoted to the study of micro-bubble formation, a numerical investigation by OpenFOAM software and a VOF model was conducted. Results suggest that flow regime inside the venturi tube is roughly similar to flow regimes inside the horizontal tubes. For having bubble flow and consequently forming micro-bubble, flow rate of gas phase should be very smaller than liquid phase flow rate while the air inlet diameter should be chosen much smaller than water input diameter. Numerical simulations indicate that the best results are achieved for the water velocity of about 1-2m/s.