Development of a double-MRT pseudopotential model for tridimensional boiling simulation

Abstract

A new thermal lattice Boltzmann scheme for the simulation of heat transfer and phase change in multiphase flows based on the pseudopotential formulation is introduced. The model includes a novel elaboration of the equilibrium distribution function, source term, and off-diagonal elements of the relaxation matrix. The resulting equation formally recovers the macroscopic advection-diffusion equation for energy transport avoiding unwanted non-physical terms. Moreover, the thermal diffusivity can be controlled using relaxation factors and free parameters of the equilibrium distribution. The new model is applied to simulate the stratification of a van der Waals fluid and the one-dimensional Stefan problem. In particular, the predictive capability of the model is tested against real experimental conditions, finding good agreement in the bubble growth rate and the wall-temperature dependence of the departure diameter.