Publications
32 results found
Pico P, Kahouadji L, Shin S, et al., 2024, Drop encapsulation and bubble bursting in surfactant-laden flows in capillary channels, Physical Review Fluids, Vol: 9, ISSN: 2469-990X
We present a parametric study of the unsteady phenomena associated with the flow of elongated gas bubbles traveling through liquid-filled square capillaries under high Weber number conditions. These conditions induce the formation of an indentation at the back of the bubble that commonly gives way to a deep reentrant liquid jet penetrating the bubble. Subsequent steps include pinch-off events in the penetrating liquid to generate one or multiple encapsulated drops which may coalesce, in conjunction with the bursting of the bubble-liquid interface by either the liquid jet or the drops. Some of these interfacial instabilities have previously been reported experimentally and numerically for liquid-liquid flow in microchannels. We carry out three-dimensional direct numerical simulations based on a hybrid interface-tracking/level-set method capable of accounting for the presence and dynamic exchange of surfactants between the liquid bulk phase and the liquid-gas interface. Our results indicate that the delicate interplay among inertia, capillarity, viscosity, surfactant adsorption/desorption kinetics, and Marangoni stresses has a dramatic influence over the nonaxisymmetric morphological structures of the encapsulated drops-elongated bubble. This strong coupling also influences the pinch-off time, penetration depth of the liquid, and number, size, and velocity of the encapsulated drops across the bubble. The observed phenomena are summarized in three main morphological regimes based on surfactant-related parameters and dimensionless groups. A discussion of the flow regime maps is also provided.
Valdes JP, Kahouadji L, Liang F, et al., 2023, On the dispersion dynamics of liquid–liquid surfactant-laden flows in a SMX static mixer, Chemical Engineering Journal, Vol: 475, ISSN: 1385-8947
This study aims to elucidate, for the first time, the intricate fundamental physics governing the dispersion dynamics of a surfactant-laden two-phase liquid–liquid system in the well-known SMX static mixer. Following the analysis carried out in the preceding publication to this work (Valdes et al., 2023), a comparative assessment of the most relevant and recurrent deformation and breakup mechanisms is conducted for a 3-drop scenario and then extrapolated to a more industrially-relevant multi-drop set-up. A parametric study on relevant surfactant physico-chemical parameters (i.e., elasticity, sorption kinetics) is undertaken, isolating each property by considering insoluble and soluble surfactants. In addition, the role of Marangoni stresses on the deformation and breakage dynamics is explored. High fidelity, three-dimensional direct numerical simulations coupled with a state-of-the-art hybrid interface capturing algorithm are carried out, providing a wealth of information previously inaccessible via volume-averaged or experimental approaches.
Liang F, Kahouadji L, Valdes JP, et al., 2023, Numerical simulation of surfactant-laden emulsion formation in an un-baffled stirred vessel, CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL, Vol: 472, ISSN: 1385-8947
Constante-Amores CR, Kahouadji L, Williams JG, et al., 2023, Role of kidney stones in renal pelvis flow., Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, Vol: 145, Pages: 1-12, ISSN: 0148-0731
Ureteroscopy is a commonly performed medical procedure to treat stones in the kidney and ureter using a ureteroscope. Throughout the procedure, saline is irrigated through the scope to aid visibility and wash-out debris from stone fragmentation. The key challenge that this research addresses is to build a fundamental understanding of the interaction between the kidney stones/stone fragments and the flow dynamics in the renal pelvis flow. We examine the time-dependent flow dynamics inside an idealized renal pelvis in the context of a surgical procedure for kidney stone removal. Here, we examine the time-dependent evolution of these vortical flow structures in three dimensions, and incorporate the presence of rigid kidney stones. We perform direct numerical simulations, solving the transient Navier-Stokes equations in a spherical domain. Our numerical predictions for the flow dynamics in the absence of stones are validated with available experimental and numerical data, and the governing parameters and flow regimes are chosen carefully in order to satisfy several clinical constraints. The results shed light on the crucial role of flow circulation in the renal cavity and its effect on the trajectories of rigid stones. We demonstrate that stones can either be washed out of the cavity along with the fluid, or be trapped in the cavity via their interaction with vortical flow structures. Additionally, we study the effect of multiple stones in the flow field within the cavity in terms of the kinetic energy, entrapped fluid volume, and the clearance rate of a passive tracer modeled via an advection-diffusion equation. We demonstrate that the flow in the presence of stones features a higher vorticity production within the cavity compared with the stone-free cases.
Kalli M, Pico P, Chagot L, et al., 2023, Effect of surfactants during drop formation in a microfluidic channel: a combined experimental and computational fluid dynamics approach, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol: 961, Pages: 1-25, ISSN: 0022-1120
The effect of surfactants on the flow characteristics during rapid drop formation in a microchannel is investigated using high-speed imaging, micro-particle image velocimetry and numerical simulations; the latter are performed using a three- dimensional multiphase solver that accounts for the transport of soluble surfactants in the bulk and at the interface. Drops are generated in a flow-focusing microchannel, using silicone oil ( 4.6 mPa s) as the continuous phase and a 52 % w/w glycerol solution as the dispersed phase. A non-ionic surfactant (Triton X-100) is dissolved in the dispersed phase at concentrations below and above the critical micelle concentration. Good agreement is found between experimental and numerical data for the drop size, drop formation time and circulation patterns. The results reveal strong circulation patterns in the forming drop in the absence of surfactants, whose intensity decreases with increasing surfactant concentration. The surfactant concentration profiles in the bulk and at the interface are shown for all stages of drop formation. The surfactant interfacial concentration is large at the front and the back of the forming drop, while the neck region is almost surfactant free. Marangoni stresses develop away from the neck, contributing to changes in the velocity profile inside the drop.
Constante-Amores CR, Kahouadji L, Shin S, et al., 2023, Impact of droplets onto surfactant-laden thin liquid films, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol: 961, ISSN: 0022-1120
We study the effect of insoluble surfactants on the impact of surfactant-free droplets onto surfactant-laden thin liquid films via a fully three-dimensional direct numerical simulation approach that employs a hybrid interface-tracking/level-set method, and by taking into account surfactant-induced Marangoni stresses due to gradients in interfacial surfactant concentration. Our numerical predictions for the temporal evolution of the surfactant-free crown are validated against the experimental work by Che & Matar (Langmuir, vol. 33, 2017, pp. 12140–12148). We focus on the ‘crown-splash regime’, and we observe that the crown dynamics evolves through various stages: from the growth of linear modes (through a Rayleigh–Plateau instability) to the development of nonlinearities leading to primary and secondary breakup events (through droplet shedding modulated by an end-pinching mechanism). We show that the addition of surfactants does not affect the wave selection via the Rayleigh–Plateau instability. However, the presence of surfactants plays a key role in the late stages of the dynamics as soon as the ligaments are driven out from the rim. Surfactant-induced Marangoni stresses delay the end-pinching mechanisms to result in longer ligaments prior to their capillary singularity. Our results indicate that Marangoni stresses bridge the gap between adjacent protrusions promoting the adjacent protrusions' collision and the merging of ligaments. Finally, we demonstrate that the addition of surfactants leads to surface rigidification and consequently to the retardation of the flow dynamics.
Valdes JP, Kahouadji L, Liang F, et al., 2023, Direct numerical simulations of liquid–liquid dispersions in a SMX mixer under different inlet conditions, Chemical Engineering Journal, Vol: 462, Pages: 1-18, ISSN: 1385-8947
The internal dynamics of static mixers handling liquid–liquid flows have been comprehensively explored over the past decade. Although the effect of the inlet configuration is often overlooked, a few studies have suggested a relationship between the phases’ initial set-up and the performance of the mixer in terms of the droplet size distribution (DSD). Accordingly, different dispersed phase morphologies at the inlet of a SMX static mixer have been tested and their effect on the overall dispersion performance of the mixer has been evaluated based on the DSD and growth of interfacial area. In particular, three representative scenarios are considered: (1) Isolated cases, where one and three individual droplets are injected, mimicking a controlled syringe injection; (2) Numerous variable-sized droplets, simulating a pre-mixed/dispersed inlet; and (3) Jet inlet, emulating a standard phase injection from a gear pump. In addition, this study provides novel insight into the underlying physics dictating droplet deformation and breakage in SMX mixers for industrially-relevant scenarios. This can be achieved thanks to the massively-parallel high-fidelity three-dimensional direct numerical simulations computed with a robust hybrid front-tracking/level-set algorithm, which provides a wealth of information on intricate interfacial dynamics; this information cannot be obtained via experimental or volume-averaged modelling techniques implemented in past studies.
Chen J, Anastasiou C, Cheng S, et al., 2023, Computational fluid dynamics simulations of phase separation in dispersed oil-water pipe flows, Chemical Engineering Science, Vol: 267, Pages: 1-18, ISSN: 0009-2509
The separation of liquid–liquid dispersions in horizontal pipes is common in many industrial sectors. It remains challenging, however, to predict the separation characteristics of the flow evolution due to the complex flow mechanisms. In this work, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations of the silicone oil and water two-phase flow in a horizontal pipe are performed. Several cases are explored with different mixture velocities and oil fractions (15%-60%). OpenFOAM (version 8.0) is used to perform Eulerian-Eulerian simulations coupled with population balance models. The ‘blending factor’ in the multiphaseEulerFoam solver captures the retardation of the droplet rising and coalescing due to the complex flow behaviour in the dense packed layer (DPL). The blending treatment provides a feasible compensation mechanism for the mesoscale uncertainties of droplet flow and coalescence through the DPL and its adjacent layers. In addition, the influence of the turbulent dispersion force is also investigated, which can improve the prediction of the radial distribution of concentrations but worsen the separation characteristics along the flow direction. Although the simulated concentration distribution and layer heights agree with the experiments only qualitatively, this work demonstrates how improvements in drag and coalescence modelling can be made to enhance the prediction accuracy.
Constante-Amores CR, Abadie T, Kahouadji L, et al., 2023, Direct numerical simulations of turbulent jets: vortex-interface-surfactant interactions, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol: 955, Pages: 1-25, ISSN: 0022-1120
We study the effect of insoluble surfactants on the spatio-temporal evolution of turbulent jets. We use three-dimensional numerical simulations and employ an interface-tracking/level-set method that accounts for surfactant-induced Marangoni stresses. The present study builds on our previous work (Constante-Amores et al., J. Fluid Mech., vol. 922, 2021, A6) in which we examined in detail the vortex–surface interaction in the absence of surfactants. Numerical solutions are obtained for a wide range of Weber and elasticity numbers in which vorticity production is generated by surface deformation and surfactant-induced Marangoni stresses. The present work demonstrates, for the first time, the crucial role of Marangoni stresses, brought about by surfactant concentration gradients, in the formation of coherent, hairpin-like vortex structures. These structures have a profound influence on the development of the three-dimensional interfacial dynamics. We also present theoretical expressions for the mechanisms that influence the rate of production of circulation in the presence of surfactants for a general, three-dimensional, two-phase flow, and highlight the dominant contribution of surfactant-induced Marangoni stresses.
Panda D, Kahouadji L, Tuckerman LS, et al., 2023, Axisymmetric and azimuthal waves on a vibrated sessile drop, Physical Review Fluids, Vol: 8
This paper is associated with a poster winner of a 2022 American Physical Society's Division of Fluid Dynamics (DFD) Gallery of Fluid Motion Award for work presented at the DFD Gallery of Fluid Motion. The original poster is available online at the Gallery of Fluid Motion, https://doi.org/10.1103/APS.DFD.2022.GFM.P0027
Liang F, Kahouadji L, Valdes JP, et al., 2022, Numerical study of oil–water emulsion formation in stirred vessels: effect of impeller speed, Flow: Applications of Fluid Mechanics, Vol: 2, Pages: 1-19, ISSN: 2633-4259
The mixing of immiscible oil and water by a pitched blade turbine in a cylindrical vessel is studied numerically. Three-dimensional simulations combined with a hybrid front-tracking/level-set method are employed to capture the complex flow and interfacial dynamics. A large eddy simulation approach, with a Lilly–Smagorinsky model, is employed to simulate the turbulent two-phase dynamics at large Reynolds numbers Re=1802−18 026 . The numerical predictions are validated against previous experimental work involving single-drop breakup in a stirred vessel. For small Re , the interface is deformed but does not reach the impeller hub, assuming instead the shape of a Newton's Bucket. As the rotating speed increases, the deforming interface attaches to the impeller hub which leads to the formation of long ligaments that subsequently break up into small droplets. For the largest Re studied, the system dynamics becomes extremely complex wherein the creation of ligaments, their breakup and the coalescence of drops occur simultaneously. The simulation outcomes are presented in terms of spatio-temporal evolution of the interface shape and vortical structures. The results of a drop size analysis in terms of the evolution of the number of drops, and their size distribution, is also presented as a parametric function of Re .
Panda D, Kahouadji L, Shin S, et al., 2022, Poster: Self Inducing Subharmonic Waves, 75th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics, Publisher: American Physical Society
Kahouadji L, Liang F, Valdes JP, et al., 2022, The transition to aeration in turbulent two-phase mixing in stirred vessels, Flow, Turbulence and Combustion, Vol: 2, Pages: 1-20, ISSN: 0003-6994
We consider the mixing dynamics of an air–liquid system driven by the rotation of a pitched blade turbine (PBT) inside an open, cylindrical tank. To examine the flow and interfacial dynamics, we use a highly parallelised implementation of a hybrid front-tracking/level-set method that employs a domain-decomposition parallelisation strategy. Our numerical technique is designed to capture faithfully complex interfacial deformation, and changes of topology, including interface rupture and dispersed phase coalescence. As shown via transient, a three-dimensional (3-D) LES (large eddy simulation) using a Smagorinsky–Lilly turbulence model, the impeller induces the formation of primary vortices that arise in many idealised rotating flows as well as several secondary vortical structures resembling Kelvin–Helmholtz, vortex breakdown, blade tip vortices and end-wall corner vortices. As the rotation rate increases, a transition to ‘aeration’ is observed when the interface reaches the rotating blades leading to the entrainment of air bubbles into the viscous fluid and the creation of a bubbly, rotating, free surface flow. The mechanisms underlying the aeration transition are probed as are the routes leading to it, which are shown to exhibit a strong dependence on flow history.
Heaney CE, Wolffs Z, Tómasson JA, et al., 2022, An AI-based non-intrusive reduced-order model for extended domains applied to multiphase flow in pipes, Physics of Fluids, Vol: 34, Pages: 1-22, ISSN: 1070-6631
The modeling of multiphase flow in a pipe presents a significant challenge for high-resolution computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models due to the high aspect ratio (length over diameter) of the domain. In subsea applications, the pipe length can be several hundreds of meters vs a pipe diameter of just a few inches. Approximating CFD models in a low-dimensional space, reduced-order models have been shown to produce accurate results with a speed-up of orders of magnitude. In this paper, we present a new AI-based non-intrusive reduced-order model within a domain decomposition framework (AI-DDNIROM), which is capable of making predictions for domains significantly larger than the domain used in training. This is achieved by (i) using a domain decomposition approach; (ii) using dimensionality reduction to obtain a low-dimensional space in which to approximate the CFD model; (iii) training a neural network to make predictions for a single subdomain; and (iv) using an iteration-by-subdomain technique to converge the solution over the whole domain. To find the low-dimensional space, we compare Proper Orthogonal Decomposition with several types of autoencoder networks, known for their ability to compress information accurately and compactly. The comparison is assessed with two advection-dominated problems: flow past a cylinder and slug flow in a pipe. To make predictions in time, we exploit an adversarial network, which aims to learn the distribution of the training data, in addition to learning the mapping between particular inputs and outputs. This type of network has shown the potential to produce visually realistic outputs. The whole framework is applied to multiphase slug flow in a horizontal pipe for which an AI-DDNIROM is trained on high-fidelity CFD simulations of a pipe of length 10 m with an aspect ratio of 13:1 and tested by simulating the flow for a pipe of length 98 m with an aspect ratio of almost 130:1. Inspection of the predicted liquid volume
Kahouadji L, Batchvarov A, Adebayo IT, et al., 2022, A numerical investigation of three-dimensional falling liquid films, Environmental Fluid Mechanics, Vol: 22, Pages: 367-382, ISSN: 1567-7419
In this article, we present a full three-dimensional numerical study of thin liquid films falling on a vertical surface, by solving the full three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations with a hybrid front-tracking/level-set method for tracking the interface. General falling film flow applications span across many types of process industries but also occur in a multitude of natural and environmental applications such as ice sheets, glaciology and even volcanic lava flows. In this study, we propose three configurations of falling films. Two of them, with small and moderate Reynolds number, are set to mimic pulsed and forced falling film types inside a minimum periodic domain, able to cover entirely the temporal evolution of a single wave. The latest example, corresponding to a high Reynolds number, is initialised with a flat interface without any specific perturbations. For the first time, this study highlights the natural transition from a non-deformed interface to its first streamwise disturbance (two-dimensional wavy flow), and then a second spanwise wave disturbance (three-dimensional wavy flow).
Valdés JP, Kahouadji L, Matar OK, 2022, Current advances in liquid–liquid mixing in static mixers: A review, Chemical Engineering Research and Design, Vol: 177, Pages: 694-731, ISSN: 0263-8762
This review article revisits the role of static mixers in the process industry nowadays and summarizes the most relevant developments and literature available on this type of mixers handling liquid-phase systems. In particular, this review seeks to discuss in depth the progress that has been made on the hydrodynamic understanding of immiscible liquid–liquid dispersions and emulsion formation using motionless types of mixers, both through experimental and computational approaches. Models and correlations on key process parameters, such as mean droplet size and pressure drop, proposed over the last couple of decades, are compiled and discussed. The latest progress on computational modelling through numerous frameworks is also thoroughly covered. In addition, this paper includes a brief review of the fundamental concepts in liquid static mixing and emulsion formation to further enrich the discussion on the innovations made on this field.
Constante-Amores CR, Batchvarov A, Kahouadji L, et al., 2021, Role of surfactant-induced Marangoni stresses in drop-interface coalescence, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol: 925, Pages: 1-21, ISSN: 0022-1120
We study the effect of surfactants on the dynamics of a drop-interface coalescence using full three-dimensional direct numerical simulations. We employ a hybrid interface-tracking/level-set method, which takes into account Marangoni stresses that arise from surface-tension gradients, interfacial and bulk diffusion and sorption kinetic effects. We validate our predictions against the experimental data of Blanchette and Bigioni (Nat. Phys., vol. 2, issue 4, 2006, pp. 254–257) and perform a parametric study that demonstrates the delicate interplay between the flow fields and those associated with the surfactant bulk and interfacial concentrations. The results of this work unravel the crucial role of the Marangoni stresses in the flow physics of coalescence, with particular attention paid to their influence on the neck reopening dynamics in terms of stagnation-point inhibition, and near-neck vorticity generation. We demonstrate that surfactant-laden cases feature a rigidifying effect on the interface compared with the surfactant-free case, a mechanism that underpins the observed surfactant-induced phenomena.
Obeysekara A, Salinas P, Heaney CE, et al., 2021, Prediction of multiphase flows with sharp interfaces using anisotropic mesh optimisation, Advances in Engineering Software, Vol: 160, Pages: 1-16, ISSN: 0965-9978
We propose an integrated, parallelised modelling approach to solve complex multiphase flow problems with sharp interfaces. This approach is based on a finite-element, double control-volume methodology, and employs highly-anisotropic mesh optimisation within a framework of high-order numerical methods and algorithms, which include adaptive time-stepping, metric advection, flux limiting, compressive advection of interfaces, multi-grid solvers and preconditioners. Each method is integral to increasing the fidelity of representing the underlying physics while maximising computational efficiency, and, only in combination, do these methods result in the accurate, reliable, and efficient simulation of complex multiphase flows and associated regime transitions. These methods are applied simultaneously for the first time in this paper, although some of the individual methods have been presented previously. We validate our numerical predictions against standard benchmark results from the literature and demonstrate capabilities of our modelling framework through the simulation of laminar and turbulent two-phase pipe flows. These complex interfacial flows involve the creation of bubbles and slugs, which involve multi-scale physics and arise due to a delicate interplay amongst inertia, viscous, gravitational, and capillary forces. We also comment on the potential use of our integrated approach to simulate large, industrial-scale multiphase pipe flow problems that feature complex topological transitions.
Constante-Amores CR, Kahouadji L, Batchvarov A, et al., 2021, Direct numerical simulations of transient turbulent jets: vortex-interface interactions, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol: 922, Pages: 1-28, ISSN: 0022-1120
The breakup of an interface into a cascade of droplets and their subsequent coalescence is a generic problem of central importance to a large number of industrial settings such as mixing, separations and combustion. We study the breakup of a liquid jet introduced through a cylindrical nozzle into a stagnant viscous phase via a hybrid interface-tracking/level-set method to account for the surface tension forces in a three-dimensional Cartesian domain. Numerical solutions are obtained for a range of Reynolds (Re) and Weber (We) numbers. We find that the interplay between the azimuthal and streamwise vorticity components leads to different interfacial features and flow regimes in Re–We space. We show that the streamwise vorticity plays a critical role in the development of the three-dimensional instabilities on the jet surface. In the inertia-controlled regime at high Re and We, we expose the details of the spatio-temporal development of the vortical structures affecting the interfacial dynamics. A mushroom-like structure is formed at the leading edge of the jet inducing the generation of a liquid sheet in its interior that undergoes rupture to form droplets. These droplets rotate inside the mushroom structure due to their interaction with the prevailing vortical structures. Additionally, Kelvin–Helmholtz vortices that form near the injection point deform in the streamwise direction to form hairpin vortices, which, in turn, trigger the formation of interfacial lobes in the jet core. The thinning of the lobes induces the creation of holes which expand to form liquid threads that undergo capillary breakup to form droplets.
Constante-Amores CR, Kahouadji L, Batchvarov A, et al., 2021, Dynamics of a surfactant-laden bubble bursting through an interface, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol: 911, Pages: 1-17, ISSN: 0022-1120
We study the effect of surfactant on the dynamics of a bubble bursting through an interface. We perform fully three-dimensional direct numerical simulations using a hybrid interface-tracking/level-set method accounting for surfactant-induced Marangoni stresses, sorption kinetics and diffusive effects. We select an initial bubble shape corresponding to a large Laplace number and a vanishingly small Bond number in order to neglect gravity, and isolate the effects of surfactant on the flow. Our results demonstrate that the presence of surfactant affects the dynamics of the system through Marangoni-induced flow, driving motion from high to low concentration regions, which is responsible for the onset of a recirculation zone close to the free surface. These Marangoni stresses rigidify the interface, delay the cavity collapse and influence the jet breakup process.
Batchvarov A, Kahouadji L, Constante-Amores CR, et al., 2021, Three-dimensional dynamics of falling films in the presence of insoluble surfactants, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol: 906, Pages: A16-1-A16-13, ISSN: 0022-1120
We study the effect of insoluble surfactants on the wave dynamics of vertically falling liquid films. We use three-dimensional numerical simulations and employ a hybrid interface-tracking/level-set method, taking into account Marangoni stresses induced by gradients of interfacial surfactant concentration. Our numerical predictions for the evolution of the surfactant-free, three-dimensional wave topology are validated against the experimental work of Park & Nosoko (AIChE J., vol. 49, 2003, pp. 2715–2727). The addition of surfactants is found to influence significantly the development of horseshoe-shaped waves. At low Marangoni numbers, we show that the wave fronts exhibit spanwise oscillations before eventually acquiring a quasi-two-dimensional shape. In addition, the presence of Marangoni stresses is found to suppress the peaks of the travelling waves and preceding capillary wave structures. At high Marangoni numbers, a near-complete rigidification of the interface is observed.
Constante-Amores CR, Kahouadji L, Batchvarov A, et al., 2020, Rico and the jets: Direct numerical simulations of turbulent liquid jets, Physical Review Fluids, Vol: 5, Pages: 110501-1-110501-4, ISSN: 2469-990X
This paper is associated with a poster winner of a 2019 American Physical Society's Division of Fluid Dynamics (DFD) Milton van Dyke Award for work presented at the DFD Gallery of Fluid Motion. The original poster is available online at the Gallery of Fluid Motion, https://doi.org/10.1103/APS.DFD.2019.GFM.P0020.
Batchvarov A, Kahouadji L, Magnini M, et al., 2020, Effect of surfactant on elongated bubbles in capillary tubes at high Reynolds number, Physical Review Fluids, Vol: 5, Pages: 093605 – 1-093605 – 21, ISSN: 2469-990X
The effect of surfactants on the tail and film dynamics of elongated gas bubbles propagating through circular capillary tubes is investigated by means of an extensive three-dimensional numerical study using a hybrid front-tracking/level-set method. The focus is on the visco-inertial regime, which occurs when the Reynolds number of the flow is much larger than unity. Under these conditions, “clean” bubbles exhibit interface undulations in the proximity of the tail, with an amplitude that increases with the Reynolds number. We perform a systematic analysis of the impact of a wide range of surfactant properties, including elasticity, bulk surfactant concentration, solubility, and diffusivity, on the bubble and flow dynamics in the presence of inertial effects. The results show that the introduction of surfactants is effective in suppressing the tail undulations as they tend to accumulate near the bubble tail. Here large Marangoni stresses are generated, which lead to a local “rigidification” of the bubble. This effect becomes more pronounced for larger surfactant elasticities and adsorption depths. At reduced surfactant solubility, a thicker rigid film region forms at the bubble rear, where a Couette film flow is established, while undulations still appear at the trailing edge of the downstream “clean” film region. In such conditions, the bubble length becomes an influential parameter, with short bubbles becoming completely rigid.
Constante-Amores CR, Kahouadji L, Batchvarov A, et al., 2020, Dynamics of retracting surfactant-laden ligaments at intermediate Ohnesorge number, Physical Review Fluids, Vol: 5, Pages: 084007 – 1-084007 – 24, ISSN: 2469-990X
The dynamics of ligaments retracting under the action of surface tension occurs in a multitude of natural and industrial applications; these include inkjet printing and atomization. We perform direct, fully three-dimensional, two-phase numerical simulations of the retracting process over a range of system parameters that account for surfactant solubility, sorption kinetics, and Marangoni stresses. Our results indicate that the presence of surfactant inhibits the “end-pinching” mechanism and promotes neck reopening through Marangoni-flow; this is induced by the formation of surfactant concentration gradients that drive flow-reversal toward the neck. The vortical structures associated with this flow are also analyzed in detail. We also show that these Marangoni stresses lead to interfacial rigidification, observed through a reduction of the retraction velocity and ligament kinetic energy.
Russell AW, Kahouadji L, Mirpuri K, et al., 2019, Mixing viscoplastic fluids in stirred vessels over multiple scales: An experimental and CFD approach, Chemical Engineering Science, Vol: 208, ISSN: 1873-4405
Dye visualisation techniques and CFD are used to characterise the flow of viscoplastic CarbopolTM solutions in stirred vessel systems over multiple scales. Centrally-mounted, geometrically-similar Rushton turbine (RT) impellers are used to agitate various Carbopol 980 (C980) fluids. The dimensionless cavern diameters, Dc/D, are scaled against a combination of dimensionless parameters: Rem-0.3Rey0.6n-0.1ks-1, where Rem, Rey, n and ks are the modified power-law Reynolds number, yield stress Reynolds number, flow behaviour index and impeller geometry constant, respectively. Excellent collapse of the data is demonstrated for the fluids and flows investigated. Additional data are collected using a pitched-blade turbine (PBT) with cavern size similarity being shown between the RT and PBT datasets. These results are important in the context of scale-up/scale-down mixing processes in stirred vessels containing complex fluids and can be used to show that flow similarity can be achieved in these systems if the processes are scaled appropriately.
Kahouadji L, Nowak E, Kovalchuk N, et al., 2018, Simulation of immiscible liquid-liquid flows in complex microchannel geometries using a front-tracking scheme, MICROFLUIDICS AND NANOFLUIDICS, Vol: 22, ISSN: 1613-4982
The three-dimensional two-phase flow dynamics inside a microfluidic device of complex geometry is simulated using a parallel, hybrid front-tracking/level-set solver. The numerical framework employed circumvents numerous meshing issues normally associated with constructing complex geometries within typical computational fluid dynamics packages. The device considered in the present work is constructed via a module that defines solid objects by means of a static distance function. The construction combines primitive objects, such as a cylinder, a plane, and a torus, for instance, using simple geometrical operations. The numerical solutions predicted encompass dripping and jetting, and transitions in flow patterns are observed featuring the formation of drops, ‘pancakes’, plugs, and jets, over a wide range of flow rate ratios. We demonstrate the fact that vortex formation accompanies the development of certain flow patterns, and elucidate its role in their underlying mechanisms. Experimental visualisation with a high-speed imaging are also carried out. The numerical predictions are in excellent agreement with the experimental data.
Seungwon S, Chergui J, Juric D, et al., 2018, A hybrid interface tracking – level set technique for multiphase flow with soluble surfactant, Journal of Computational Physics, Vol: 359, Pages: 409-435, ISSN: 0021-9991
A formulation for soluble surfactant transport in multiphase flows recently presented by Muradoglu & Tryggvason (JCP 274 (2014) 737–757) is adapted to the context of the Level Contour Reconstruction Method, LCRM, (Shin et al. IJNMF 60 (2009) 753–778) which is a hybrid method that combines the advantages of the Front-tracking and Level Set methods. Particularly close attention is paid to the formulation and numerical implementation of the surface gradients of surfactant concentration and surface tension. Various benchmark tests are performed to demonstrate the accuracy of different elements of the algorithm. To verify surfactant mass conservation, values for surfactant diffusion along the interface are compared with the exact solution for the problem of uniform expansion of a sphere. The numerical implementation of the discontinuous boundary condition for the source term in the bulk concentration is compared with the approximate solution. Surface tension forces are tested for Marangoni drop translation. Our numerical results for drop deformation in simple shear are compared with experiments and results from previous simulations. All benchmarking tests compare well with existing data thus providing confidence that the adapted LCRM formulation for surfactant advection and diffusion is accurate and effective in three-dimensional multiphase flows with a structured mesh. We also demonstrate that this approach applies easily to massively parallel simulations.
Roumpea E, Chinaud M, Kahouadji L, et al., 2016, Plug flow of shear-thinning liquids in microchannels, Pages: 395-397
Kahouadji L, Périnet N, Tuckerman LS, et al., 2015, Numerical simulation of super-square patterns in Faraday waves, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, ISSN: 1469-7645
We report the first simulations of the Faraday instability using the full three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations in domains much larger than the characteristic wavelength of the pattern. We use a massively parallel code based on a hybrid front-tracking/level-set algorithm for Lagrangian tracking of arbitrarily deformable phase interfaces. Simulations performed in square and cylindrical domains yield complex patterns. In particular, a superlattice-like pattern similar to those of Douady & Fauve (Europhys. Lett., vol. 6, 1988, pp. 221–226) and Douady (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 221, 1990, pp. 383–409) is observed. The pattern consists of the superposition of two square superlattices. We conjecture that such patterns are widespread if the square container is large compared with the critical wavelength. In the cylinder, pentagonal cells near the outer wall allow a square-wave pattern to be accommodated in the centre.
Kahouadji L, Witkowski LM, 2014, Free surface due to a flow driven by a rotating disk inside a vertical cylindrical tank: Axisymmetric configuration, Physics of Fluids, Vol: 26, ISSN: 1070-6631
<jats:p>The flow driven by a rotating disk at the bottom of an open fixed cylindrical cavity is studied numerically and experimentally. The steady axisymmetric Navier-Stokes equations projected onto a curvilinear coordinate system are solved by a Newton-Raphson algorithm. The free surface shape is computed by an iterative process in order to satisfy a zero normal stress balance at the interface. In previous studies, regarding the free surface deflection, there is a significant disagreement between a first-order approximation [M. Piva and E. Meiburg, “Steady axisymmetric flow in an open cylindrical container with a partially rotating bottom wall,” Phys. Fluids 17, 063603 (2005)] and a full numerical simulation [R. Bouffanais and D. Lo Jacono, “Unsteady transitional swirling flow in the presence of a moving free surface,” Phys. Fluids 21, 064107 (2009)]. For a small deflection, the first-order approximation matches with our numerical simulation and for a large deflection a good agreement is found with experimental measurements.</jats:p>
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