Characteristics of Counter current Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow in Vertical Tubes

Investigations into the flow pattern and the void fraction for countercurrent air-water flow in vertical tubes of diameter D = 40 and 80 mm were reported. The flow maps were presented and showed slug flow regime occupied larger portion on them. The void fraction was measured by the quick-closing valve technique, in bubbly and slug flow regime.

The void fraction data available in the literatures as well as present work for counter- current flow in vertical tubes were correlated in terms of dimensionless groups. The experimental results of the present work were also compared with the drift flux model.     

Void Fraction and Pressure Drop in Liquid Metal Two-Phase Flow

This paper describes a new correlation for predicting a two-phase frictional pressure drop multiplier, and discusses the pressure level effects and the mass velocity effects. This correlation predicts satisfactorily the frictional pressure drop not only for liquid metals but also for ordinary fluid two-phase flow in a wide range of flow variables.

The authors' void fraction correlation previously proposed is also compared with published data of void fraction for liquid metal two-phase flow, and is found to represent well the mass velocity effects. Wettability and magnetohydrodynamic effects are discussed briefly in relation to the hydrodynamic characteristics of liquid metal two-phase flow.     

垂直上升两相流漂移流模型研究

漂移流模型在两相流空泡率计算中处于非常重要的地位,长期以来,研究者对模型中分布参数及漂移速度的确定持不同的观点.本文采用理论分析与实验研究相结合的方法,总结了分布参数和漂移速度的一般规律,提出了垂直上升两相流漂移流模型分布参数和漂移速度必须满足的限制条件,根据理论分析以及实验数据的验证,得出了漂移流模型推荐关系式.     

气液两相流的网络模型探讨

运用网络理论 ,针对气液两相管网流动进行了机理上的探讨。并基于均相流模型 ,推导出无损管路和平均摩擦管路条件下气液两相流的网络参数———阻抗和导纳的表达式。对于不适于均相流模型的流型的模型给出了一些建议。     

Vertically Downward Two-Phase Flow, (I)

Fully developed vertically downward two-phase flow of air-water mixture was investigated on void distribution and average void fraction among the three basic flow regimes; bubbly, slug and annular flows. The annular flow further was divided into two regimes of falling film flow and annular drop flow. Test channel is in form of inverted U-tube and tests were carried out at 100 tube diameters downstream from the curved part. Distributions of local void fraction were measured by means of a conductance needle probe method and the average void fraction was obtained from numerical integration of the measured local void fraction According to the results, profiles of local void fraction in bubby and slug flows showed characteristic natures with a peak in the middle region between the center and the wall of tube The average void fraction in downward flow depended greatly on the flow regimes. Accordingly correlation for each flow regime was developed to predict the average void fraction, based on flow mechanisms and experiments. The correlations were compared with experimental results for atmospheric air-water flow and showed satisfactory agreement.     

摇摆对垂直上升管内气液两相流截面含气率影响的研究

对垂直上升管内气液两相流在摇摆状态下和非摇摆状态下分别做了截面含气率的实验研究,发现在水流量较小时,两相流在摇摆状态下的截面含气率小于非摇摆状态下的截面含气率.通过对实验现象的观察和对单相液体在两种状态下摩阻系数的分析,合理解释了产生这种结果的原因.     

Safety Relief Valve Performance for Two-Phase Flow

The performance of main steam safety relief valve has been evaluated with respect only to the steam. In the present study, two-phase flow and subcooled water blow-out tests with model valves were performed in order to evaluate the valve's characteristics and performance. From the test results, it was made clear that not only for the steam but also for the two-phase flow the measurement data were hardly affected by scaling and also that the reaction force of the fluid to the valve stem was hardly dependent upon the void fraction. Analytical study was performed using the two-phase flow model in the valve. The results of the analysis showed good agreement with the test data. It was shown from the test and analysis results that the reaction force of the two-phase flow and subcooled water to the valve stem was almost as much as that of the steam flow, and the integrity of the safety relief valve could be maintained.     

Hydrodynamic and Hydraulic Studies on Void Fractions in Two-Phase Flow

For gas-liquid two-phase flow, two kinds of fundamental equations have been proposed by the methods of hydrodynamics and hydraulics. The hydrodynamic equation, to avoid analytical difficulties, does not deal with two-phase flow itself, but with a hypothetical liquid flow which has actual physical quantities in the region where the liquid phase really exists and has the imaginary physical quantities of liquid in the region where the gas exists, for each instant, and with a hypothetical gas flow similarly. The hydraulic equation differs from the usual form in the treatment of friction term or interaction, and has better physical insight. These equations are analyzed mathematically and some relationship between physical quantities centering void fraction are discussed. Hydrodynamic equation shows the void fraction distribution to have relation to pressure loss and velocity distributions, and, for the case of laminar two-phase flow with axial symmetry, explicit expression is presented. By hydraulic equation, the relation between void fraction and other variables are discussed. For the upward two-phase flow with constant flow area, gas-liquid interaction force is discussed theoretically and experimentally.     

Vertically Downward Two-Phase Flow, (II)

Following Part (I) of the present paper, which presented the experimental results obtained on the void distribution and average void fraction shown by nearly fully-developed, vertically downward two-phase flow of air-water mixture, this Part (?) covers the flow regime transition criteria among the three basic flow regimes : bubbly, slug and annular flows. The annular flow further was divided into two subregions of falling film flow and annular drop flow. The general situation of the transition criteria is as follows : (1) bubbly-to-slug flow transition occurs when the local void fraction in the central region of the tube is 0.3; (2) slug-to-annular drop flow transition criterion is given as a case which equations giving average void fraction for the slug flow and the annular flow are simultaneously satisfied; (3) slug-to-falling film flow transition occurs when the pressure difference between the crest of large wave and the bottom overcomes the surface tension; (4) the occurrence of liquid droplets from wave crests gives the transition criterion between the falling film flow and the annular drop flow.

These criteria were correlated to predict each flow regime boundary respectively considering flow mechanisms or from experimental results. The correlations obtained were compared with published flow regime maps for atmospheric air-water flow and showed satisfactory agreement.     

Flow Behavior and Phase Distribution in Two-Phase Flow around Inverted U-Bend

Experimental results are presented on the flow behavior, phase distribution, average void fraction and slip ratio in air-water two-phase mixture flowing through an inverted U-bend. The curved test section of transparent acrylic resin tubing with 24 mm I. D. was used, comprising a riser, an inverted U-bend with radius of 96 mm, and a downcomer. From the visual observation, a flow map was derived, which indicates the relation between the flow patterns and velocities. Distributions of local void fraction along a diameter lying in the central plane of the bend and over the whole cross section of bend tube were measured, and those distribution mechanisms were explained by the effect of centrifugal and gravitational forces. The average void fraction around the bend was obtained by numerical integration of the measured local void fraction, and the slip ratio was calculated using the average void fraction.     

Flow Regime Transition to Wavy Dispersed Flow for High-Pressure Steam/Water Two-Phase Flow in Horizontal Pipe

A wavy-dispersed flow regime was observed between slug and annular-dispersed flow regimes in TPTF high-pressure steam/water horizontal pipe experiments, employing the video probe visual observation. The onset OF entrainment was identified to cause slug to wavy-dispersed flow transition. The wavy-dispersed flow regime extended towards lower gas flow rates as pressure was increased. Furthermore, it was found that the gas-liquid relative velocity for the onset of entrainment decreases significantly, resulting in decrease in the minimum void fraction. Consequently, the slug flow regime was found to disappear for pressures above 8.6MPa, as observed in the previous TPTF experiments. Applicability of available models and correlations on the onset of entrainment was assessed against the TPTF data. Steen-Wallis parameter correlated the data well when the superficial gas velocity term in this parameter 1s replaced by the gas-liquid relative velocity.     

矩形小通道内空气-水两相流动均相流模型研究

在机玻璃竖直矩形通道内,以空气和去离子水为工质获得实验数据。据此对竖直矩形小通道内均相流模型的适用性进行评价。结果表明,采用McAdams两相粘度时均相流模型及Chen等提出的修正均相流模型能较好用于1.41 mm间隙通道压降的预测,平均绝对误差分别为10.92%和12.20%;采用McAdams两相粘度时均相流模型对于3 mm间隙通道在两相雷诺数Re大于6000时平均绝对误差为10.04%,但气-液两相Re较低时预测偏差较大。通过实验数据分析得到了均相流模型适用于3 mm间隙通道的范围;针对两相Re较低的区域拟合得到了新的经验关系式,其预测值与实验值符合较好。     

Experimental Study on Gas Carry-Under in Liquid Down Flow from a Two-Phase Mixture

The gas carry-under characteristics in liquid down flow from a two-phase mixture flow have been studied for various flow parameters, based on experiments with a small scale air- water system simulating the concept of a natural circulation BWR with no separators. For high void fraction in the riser, as the liquid superficial velocity jf increased to 0.17 m/s, the void fraction in the lower part of the downcomer αd increased sharply due to the descent of comparatively large bubbles (diameter: about 4–6mm). In the region of jf> 0.17m/s, on increasing jf, the void fraction αd increased until it reached a maximum value at jf.3. For liquid descending velocities higher than 0.3 m/s, αd became almost constant and the level of the mixture above the riser had little effect on the void fraction ad due to the phase separation of the large bubbles formed by bubble coalescence in the upper part of the downcomer. The void fraction αd increased as the void fraction αr increased until bubble coalescence occurred in the upper part of the downcomer, and αd became constant and independent of αr after the occurrence of bubble coalescence. Under the conditions of high void fractions in the riser, 0.4<αr<0.64 (upper limit of the tests), and high liquid descending velocities in the down-comer, 0.3 m/s<jf.<0.4 m/s (upper limit of the tests), the void fraction αd was represented by a dimensionless number (G = η⁴ g/σ³ pf) and by the upper limit of void fractions in bubbly flow, αd=0.3.     

Experimental Study on Gas Carry-Under in Down Flow from Two-Phase Mixture

In this paper, simultaneous optimization is carried out for successive two cycles of pressurized water reactors. At first, a simplified problem of the simultaneous optimization was studied by assuming the batch-wise power sharing as independent variable, i.e., batch-wise power sharing was optimized without considering corresponding loading patterns. The optimization of the batch-wise power sharing was carried out for the conventional single cycle, the equilibrium cycle and the two successive (tandem) cycles. The analysis indicated that the tandem cycle optimization well reproduce that of the equilibrium cycle optimization, which is considered as a typical case of the true multicycle optimization. Next, simultaneous optimization of loading patterns for tandem cycles is carried out using the simulated annealing method. Since the design space of the tandem cycles optimization is much larger than that of the conventional single cycle optimization, the optimization condition (i.e., number of calculated patterns) are established through sensitivity study. The optimization results are compared with those obtained by the successive single cycle optimizations and it is clarified that the successive single cycle optimization well reproduces the optimization results obtained by the simultaneous optimization if objective functions are appropriately chosen. The above result will be encouraging for the current in-core optimization method since single cycle optimization is utilized due to limitation of computation time.     

Two-Phase Flow Phenomena in Broken Recirculation Line of BWR

When a primary recirculation line of BWR is ruptured, a primary recirculation pump may be subjected to very high velocity two-phase flow and its speed may be accelerated by this flow. It is important for safety evaluation to estimate the pump behavior during blowdown. There are two problems involved in analyzing this behavior. One problem concerns the pump characteristics under two-phase flow. The other involves the two-phase conditions at the pump inlet. If the rupture occurs at a suction side of the pump, choking is considered to occur at a broken jet pump nozzle. Then, a void fraction becomes larger downstream from the jet pump nozzle and volumetric flow through the pump will be very high. However, there is little experimental data available on two-phase flow downstream from a choking plane. Blowdown tests were performed using a simulated broken recirculation line and measured data were analyzed by TRAC-PIA. Analytical results agreed with measured data.     

New Theoretical Model for Two-Phase Flow Discharged from Stratified Two-Phase Region through Small Break

A theoretical and experimental study was conducted to understand two-phase flow discharged from a stratified two-phase region through a small break. This problem is important for an analysis of a small break loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) in a light water reactor (LWR). The present theoretical results show that a break quality is a function of h/h_b , where h is the elevation difference between a bulk water level in the upstream region and the break and b the suffix for entrainment initiation. This result is consistent with existing experimental results in literature. An air-water experiment was also conducted changing a break orientation as an experimental parameter to develop and assess the model. Comparisons between the model and the experimental results show that the present model can satisfactorily predict the flow rate and the quality at the break without using any adjusting constant when liquid entrainment occurs in a stratified two-phase region. When gas entrainment occurs, the experimental data are correlated well by using a single empirical constant.     

空泡份额模型在矩形通道沸腾压降计算中的适用性评价

分析了各空泡份额模型随质量流量、系统压力及质量含气率的变化关系,并对各空泡份额计算模型在窄矩形通道内的应用进行了评价。研究结果表明:尽管空泡份额模型选取对重位压降及加速压降计算影响极大,但由于窄矩形通道内的饱和沸腾流动以环状流为主,重位压降及加速压降在两相总压降中的份额极小,因此在两相摩擦压降计算过程中,空泡份额模型的影响非常轻微。采用Zivi模型计算得到的沸腾摩擦压降与其他关系式计算值相对偏差在±5%范围内,因此建议采用Zivi模型计算窄矩形通道内空泡份额。     

Electrical Conductivity of Liquid Metal Two-Phase Mixture in Bubbly and Slug Flow Regime

A correlation function for reactor noise is determined through a conditional polarity-correlation technique in which the polarity of neutron-counting fluctuations is analyzed with the start condition that the counting rate reaches a preset level. This technique, evidently, is an example of flash-start technique, developed for the purpose of improving the efficacy of reactor noise analysis. In the present case, the conditional polarity-correlation function is described mathematically assuming that the counting fluctuations of the detector conform with a Gaussian distribution. The expression thus derived reveals that this function is approximately proportional to a cross-correlation function and is a differential type of polarity-correlation function.

In order to examine the validity of the obtained expression, an experiment was performed in a graphite-moderated reactor at slightly subcriticai state to measure the conditional polarity-correlation function. A novel contrivance was adopted in the experiment to eliminate the dead-time effect created during the busy time of the multi-channel time analyzer. The dependence on the preset level—i.e. flash-start condition—exhibited by the conditional polarity—correlation function showed good agreement with that expected from the mathematical expression. The prompt mode neutron decay constants were determined from the experimental data within statistical error of 3～4 %.