Progress in multiphase computational fluid dynamics

This paper is primarily concerned with the development of three dimensional (3-D) multiphase computational fluid dynamics models for use in Pressurized Water Nuclear Reactor (PWR) design and analysis. These models were developed during the last 40 years, that is, during the time since the first NURETH meeting in 1980. The major topics in this paper include: the development of a 3-D two-fluid model for the MCFD prediction of phase distribution in turbulent adiabatic and diabatic bubbly flows. The mechanistic prediction of departure from nucleate boiling (DNB), and the direct numerical simulation (DNS) of bubbly flows. While significant progress has been made in the modeling and prediction of bubbly flows, specific recommendations are made in this paper for further improvements and for the extension of this type of MCFD model to other flow regimes.