Multiphase lattice Boltzmann method for particle suspensions

A two-dimensional mass conserving lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) has been developed for multiphase (liquid and vapor) flows with solid particles suspended within the liquid and/or vapor phases. The main modification to previous single-phase particle suspension models is the addition of surface (adhesive) forces between the suspended particle and the surrounding fluid. The multiphase dynamics between fluid phases is simulated via the single-component multiphase model of Shan and Chen [Phys. Rev. E 47, 1815 (1993)]. The combined multiphase particle suspension model is first validated and then used to simulate the dynamics of a single-suspended particle on a planar liquid-vapor interface and the interaction between a single particle and a free-standing liquid drop. It is observed that the dynamics of suspended particles near free-standing liquid droplets is affected by spurious velocity currents although the liquid-vapor interface itself is a local energy minimum for particles. Finally, results are presented for capillary interactions between two suspended particles on a liquid-vapor interface subjected to different external forces and for spinodal decomposition of a liquid-vapor mixture in the presence of suspended particles. Qualitative agreements are reached when compared with results of suspended particles in a binary mixture based on multicomponent LBM models.