3D t
ransient CFD simulations of bubble column have been pe
rfo
rmed fo
r a wide
range of supe
rficial gas velocity on an indust
rially
relevant cylind
rical column and the CFD p
redictions have been compa
red with the expe
riments of
Menzel et al. [T. Menzel, T. Weide, O. Staudache
r, U. Onken, Reynolds st
ress model fo
r bubble column
reacto
r, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 29 (1990) 988–994]. Simulations have also been pe
rfo
rmed to unde
rstand the sensitivity of diffe
rent inte
rphase fo
rces (d
rag, lift, tu
rbulent dispe
rsion and added mass). This wo
rk highlights the impo
rtance of choosing the
CL value and the d
rag law in acco
rdance with the bubble size. Fu
rthe
r, a labo
rato
ry scale bubble column with th
ree diffe
rent spa
rge
rs (pe
rfo
rated plate, sinte
red plate and single hole) has been simulated using th
ree diffe
rent tu
rbulence closu
re (
k–
rc="http://www.sciencedirect.com/scidirimg/entities/25b.gif" alt="var epsilon" title="var epsilon" border="0">, RSM and LES) models, with the pu
rpose of c
ritically compa
ring thei
r p
redictions with expe
rimental data [M.R. Bhole, S. Roy, J.B. Joshi, Lase
r dopple
r anemomete
r measu
rements in bubble column: effect of spa
rge
r, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 45 (26) (2006) 9201–9207; A.A. Kulka
rni, K. Ekamba
ra, J.B. Joshi, On the development of flow patte
rn in a bubble column
reacto
r: expe
riments and CFD, Chem. Eng. Sci. 62 (2007) 1049–1061]. It has been found that the RSM shows bette
r ag
reement than the
k–
rc="http://www.sciencedirect.com/scidirimg/entities/25b.gif" alt="var epsilon" title="var epsilon" border="0"> model in p
redicting the tu
rbulent kinetic ene
rgy p
rofiles. Compa
ratively, the LES has been successful in captu
ring the ave
raged behavio
r of the flow, while at some locations; it slightly ove
r p
redicts the kinetic ene
rgy p
rofiles. Fu
rthe
r, it has been able to simulate the instantaneous vo
rtical-spi
ral flow
regime in case of sieve plate column, as well as, the bubble plume dynamics in case of single hole spa
rge
r. Thus, LES can be effectively used fo
r study of flow st
ructu
res and instantaneous flow p
rofiles.