A Hybrid Model to Predict the Onset of Gas Entrainment With Surface Tension Effects

Abstract

The onset of gas entrainment in a single downward discharge, from a stratified gas-liquid region, was modeled. The discharge was modeled as a point-sink and Kelvin–Laplace’s equation was used to incorporate surface tension effects. Consequently, a criterion to characterize the dip radius of curvature, at the onset of gas entrainment, was required. The dip geometry was experimentally investigated and a correlation was developed relating the dip radius of curvature to the discharge Froude number. The correlation was used in conjunction with the theoretical model. It was found that the predicted critical height demonstrated good agreement with experimental data with the three-dimensional point-sink approach, while poor agreement using the two-dimensional finite-branch approach was found. The inclusion of surface tension improved the model’s capability to predict the critical height, particularly at discharge Froude numbers below 1.