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Download or read book Analysis of Two-phase Flows Under Microgravity (spatial) Conditions Using OpenFOAM. written by Carlos Moreno Tavira and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two-phase flows have gained importance over the last years due to their multiple and useful applications in space systems. For example, two-phase flows are used in fuel cells micro-channel networks, in the fluid management of Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) or in thermal management systems. However, many problems regarding two-phase flows in microgravity conditions are still open, so further research is needed. In this study, numerical simulations of gas-liquid two-phase flow are performed in a T-junction capillary. Bubbles are formed as a consequence of the interaction between air and water. The geometry used is the same as in [1, 2, 3] in order to make reliable comparisons with the results extracted from the laboratory experiments performed in the mentioned literature. OpenFOAM is used as the main software for the simulations, and ParaView and MATLAB are used to post-process the data. InterFoam is selected as the solver since it uses an incompressible, immiscible and isothermal Volume of Fluid (VOF) method. Some validations were made before setting up the definitive cases of the simulations. These validations were related to the adequate capillary length in order to obtain fully-developed flows, to the appropriate mesh quality to get good results and maintain an acceptable computational complexity, to the optimal contact angle value to get close to reality bubble behavior in terms of adherence to the walls, and to the right location of the sampling surfaces responsible for extracting the data. An analysis of the fluid velocity profiles along both of the capillaries of the T-junction was also made. Bubbles are analyzed in terms of their generating frequency, volume, length and velocity. Bubble volume dispersion is quantified using the polydispersity index. A pressure probe is used to measure the gauge pressure at the very center of the T-junction. Visual comparisons are made between simulation bubbles and experimental bubbles. In the end, the results of the simulations qualitatively fitted the experimental data, validating Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) as an alternative and correct tool to perform two-phase flow studies under microgravity conditions.