Numerical Simulation With a CFD-PBM Model of Hydrodynamics and Bubble Size Distribution of a Rectangle Bubble Column

A coupled CFD-PBM (population balance mode) model is adopted to investigate complex behavior in a rectangle bubble column. In this work The Euler–Euler (E–E) model was adopted for the liquid phase and gas phase, while accounting for bubble coalescence and breakup a PBM discrete model was employed. The total gas holdup for a range of superficial gas velocities were studied and compared with the literature and modest agreement was found. The simulation result shows that the superficial gas velocity has great effect on bubble size distribution, and a wider bubble size distribution is found at higher superficial gas velocity. This indicates an increasing of the superficial gas velocity increases the bubble coalescence and break-up rate.