A unified single-field Volume-of-Fluid-based formulation for multi-component interfacial transfer with local volume changes

Julien Maes (1) , Cyprien Soulaine (2, 3)

1 HWU - Heriot-Watt University [Edinburgh]
2 ISTO - Institut des Sciences de la Terre d'Orléans - UMR7327
3 Milieux Poreux - UMR7327

This paper presents a novel unified single-field formulation for Volume-Of-Fluid simulation of interfacial mass transfer with local volume changes. By comparison with the previous models referred as Continuous Species Transfer in the literature, our improved model uses a single-field formulation of the local mass transfer across the interface, enabling us to take into account local volume changes induced by non-dilute species transfer. The numerical model, implemented in our in-house OpenFOAM-based simulator, is validated by comparison with analytical solutions in 1D and 2D, and a semi-analytical solution in 3D. The implemented approach is first applied to investigate competing mass transfer in an infinite cylinder. We then simulate the shrinking of a single-component rising bubble at low Schmidt number. The numerical model is shown to be well adapted to investigate Sherwood numbers and existing correlation for mass transfer at fluid interfaces.

Keywords: Interface; Mass transfer; Multicomponent fluid; Local volume change; Volume-Of-Fluid; OpenFOAM

Domains: Sciences of the Universe [physics]

Julien Maes, Cyprien Soulaine. A unified single-field Volume-of-Fluid-based formulation for multi-component interfacial transfer with local volume changes. Journal of Computational Physics, 2020, 402, pp.109024. ⟨10.1016/j.jcp.2019.109024⟩. ⟨insu-02426952⟩