Modelling of air bubble rising in water and polymeric solution

This study investigates a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model for a single air bubble rising in water and xanthan gum solution. The bubble rise characteristics through the stagnant water and 0.05% xanthan gum solution in a vertical cylindrical column is modelled using the CFD code Fluent. Single air bubble rise dispersed into the continuous liquid phase has been considered and modelled for two different bubble sizes. Bubble velocity and vorticity magnitudes were captured through a surface-tracking technique i.e. Volume of Fluid (VOF) method by solving a single set of momentum equations and tracking the volume fraction of each fluid throughout the domain. The simulated results of the bubble flow contours at two different heights of the cylindrical column were validated by the experimental results and literature data. The model developed is capable of predicting the entire flow characteristics of different sizes of bubble inside the liquid column.