Prediction of film thickness, bubble velocity, and pressure drop for capillary slug flow using a CFD-generated database

An extensive computational study of slug flow in circular capillaries using the open source computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code, Gerris (Popinet, 2003, 2009), has been completed. This study consists of 125 different combinations of Ca is an element of [0.005, 2] and Re is an element of [0, 900]. The data from these simulations have been compiled into a numerical database and have been used to derive new correlations for the film thickness, bubble velocity, and pressure drop. Unlike preexisting correlations, our proposed film thickness correlation does not require prior knowledge of the bubble's velocity, thus making it more convenient for modeling applications for which this information is unavailable. The correlation is also applicable over a broader range of capillary and Reynolds numbers than current correlations. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.