Thermocapillary Flow and Coalescences of Heterogeneous Bubble Size Diameter in a Rotating Cylinder: 3D Study

Two dimensional axisymmetric and three-dimensional VOF simulations of gas/liquid transient flow were performed using a multiphase flow algorithm based on the finite-volume method. The results for motion of a multiple bubbles of a heterogeneous sizes aligned horizontally and perpendicular to a hot surface incorporating thermocapillary forces in a rotating liquid in a zero-gravity environment have been presented for the first time. No bubbles broke in any of the cases observed. The results also show that collision and agglomeration of bubbles of unequal sizes diameter are different from those of similar size diameters presented from earlier research work of Alhendal et al. Acta Astronaut. 117, 484–496 (2015). Different flow patterns such as thermocapillary bubble migration, collision, and stream function were observed and presented for the 2-D and 3-D models.