Optimization of a two-fluid hydrodynamic model of churn-turbulent flows

A hydrodynamic model of two-phase, churn-turbulent flows is being developed using the computational multiphase fluid dynamics (CMFD) code, NPHASE-CMFD. The numerical solutions obtained by this model are compared with experimental data obtained at the TOPFLOW facility of the Institute of Safety Research at the Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf. The TOPFLOW data is a high quality experimental database of upward, co-current air-water flows in a vertical pipe suitable for validation of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes. A five-field CMFD model was developed for the continuous liquid phase and four bubble size groups using mechanistic closure models for the ensemble-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. Mechanistic models for the drag and non-drag interfacial forces are implemented to include the governing physics to describe the hydrodynamic forces controlling the gas distribution. The closure models provide the functional form of the interfacial forces, with user defined coefficients to adjust the force magnitude. An optimization strategy was devised for these coefficients using commercial design optimization software. This paper demonstrates an approach to optimizing CMFD model parameters using a design optimization approach. Computed radial void fraction profiles predicted by the NPHASE-CMFD code are compared to experimental data for four bubble size groups.