A multiphase Lattice Boltzmann model (LBM) is developed to explore the presence, evolution, and behavior of nanobubbles. The existence and behavior of nanobubbles has been a recent area of interest since the presence of nanobubbles challenges classical nucleation theory which dictates that bubbles below the critical radius should collapse. Nanobubbles have many areas of interest including cleaning of surfaces, nucleate boiling in microchannels, and nucleation on nanostructured materials. Multiphase Lattice Boltzmann methods have been demonstrated to be an effective mesoscale approach to modeling multiphase flows and phase-change processes. These methods provide accurate macroscopic results while accounting for microscopic interactions without invoking an extraordinary computational cost. In this study, an LBM is used to model the evolution of nanobubbles with diameters ranging from 2 to 50 nanometers. LBM results are provided for a variety of real physical conditions by varying the nondimensional Bond, Weber, and Capillary numbers which are calculated using the LBM units. In addition to the single nanobubble analysis, the effects of multiple bubble interactions and bubble behavior with smooth and nanostructured solid surfaces present are also presented. The implications of these results on heat transfer applications including multiphase flows and nucleate boiling in microchannels and on roughened nanostructured surfaces are discussed.


Modeling Nanobubble Interactions and Behavior Using Multiphase Lattice Boltzman Methods

Division / Sponsors: 
Heat Transfer Division (HTD), Fluids Engineering Division (FED)

Heat Transfer Summer Conference
Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/HT/HT2020/volume/83709

18th International Conference on Nanochannels, Microchannels, and Minichannels
Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ICNMM/ICNMM2020/volume/83693

Fluids Engineering Division Summer Meeting
Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/FEDSM/FEDSM2020/volume/83716

HT-ICNMM2020 - Virtual Conference, SHTC - Virtual Conference, FEDSM2020 - Virtual Conference

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