Abstract: Firstly, the bubbly wake around a model-scaled KRISO container ship KCS was numerically simulated based on the Euler two-fluid(ETF) model with uniform bubble size. Then the bubbles were divided into a few size groups, and the ship bubbly wake was numerically simulated again based on a discrete population balance model(PBM). The size distribution characteristics of bubbles such as number density and volume fraction of each size were derived. The effects of initial uniform bubble size and the size groups on the wake were researched through the analysis of mean Sauter diameters. The results show that the big bubbles aggregate on the ship wall, while small bubbles on the free surface; the ETF results can be used as the initial value of PBM; the more close the uniform ETF bubble size to the mean Sauter diameter, the more easy the PBM computation converges.  

Key words: population balance model, ship bubbly wake, multiphase flow, numerical simulation