Experimental study on interfacial area transport in vertical upward bubbly two-phase flow in an annulus

In relation to the development of the interfacial area transport equation, axial developments of local void fraction, interfacial area concentration, and interfacial velocity of vertical upward bubbly flows in an annulus with the hydraulic equivalent diameter of 19.1 mm were measured by the double-sensor conductivity probe. A total of 20 data were acquired consisting of five void fractions, about 0.050, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20, and 0.25, and four superficial liquid velocities, 0.272, 0.516, 1.03, and 2.08 m/s. The obtained data will be used for the development of reliable constitutive relations, which reflect the true transfer mechanisms in subcooled boiling flow systems.     

Experimental and numerical study of downward bubbly flow in a pipe

An experimental and numerical study of the local structure of downward gas–liquid flow in a vertical pipe with 20-mm inner diameter is reported. In the experiment, the electrodiffusion technique was used in combination with electrical conductivity measurements. To examine the effect of gas-phase dispersion on flow characteristics, two different gas–liquid mixers were used capable of producing large-diameter (>1 mm) and small-diameter (<1 mm) gas bubbles at identical rate characteristics of the flow. The unified heterogeneous-medium mechanics approach was used to develop, in the Eulerian two-velocity approximation, a calculation model for downward turbulent liquid/air bubble flows. It is shown that, as the volumetric gas flow rate of the mixture at the inlet to the pipe increases, local maxima of continuous phase velocity and bubble concentration emerge in the near-wall zone of the flow, with liquid turbulence suppressed in the wall zone and enhanced in the core of the flow.     

Volumetric interfacial area prediction in upward bubbly two-phase flow

In two-phase flow studies, a volumetric interfacial area balance equation is often used in addition to the multidimensional two-fluid model to describe the geometrical structure of the two-phase flow. In the particular case of bubbly flows, numerous works have been done by different authors on the subject. Our work concerns two main modifications of this balance equation: (1) new time scales are proposed for turbulence induced coalescence and breakup, (2) modeling of the nucleation of new bubbles on the volumetric interfacial area. The 3D module of the CATHARE code is used to evaluate our new model, in comparison to three other models for interfacial area found in the literature, on two different experiments. First, we use the DEBORA experimental data base for the comparison in the case of boiling bubbly flow. The comparison of the different volumetric interfacial area models to the DEBORA experimental data shows that even though the theoretical values of the coefficients are adopted in our modified model, this model has a quite good capability to predict the local two-phase geometrical parameters in the boiling flow conditions. Secondly, we compare the predictions obtained with the same models to the DEDALE experimental data base, for the case of adiabatic bubbly flow. In comparison to the other models tested, our model also gives quite good predictions of the bubble diameter in the case of adiabatic conditions.     

Local flow measurements of vertical upward bubbly flow in an annulus

Local measurements of flow parameters were performed for vertical upward bubbly flows in an annulus. The annulus channel consisted of an inner rod with a diameter of 19.1 mm and an outer round tube with an inner diameter of 38.1 mm, and the hydraulic equivalent diameter was 19.1 mm. Double-sensor conductivity probe was used for measuring void fraction, interfacial area concentration, and interfacial velocity, and laser Doppler anemometer was utilized for measuring liquid velocity and turbulence intensity. A total of 20 data sets for void fraction, interfacial area concentration, and interfacial velocity were acquired consisting of five void fractions, about 0.050, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20, and 0.25, and four superficial liquid velocities, 0.272, 0.516, 1.03, and 2.08 m/s. A total of eight data sets for liquid velocity and turbulence intensity were acquired consisting of two void fractions, about 0.050, and 0.10, and four superficial liquid velocities, 0.272, 0.516, 1.03, and 2.08 m/s. The constitutive equations for distribution parameter and drift velocity in the drift-flux model, and the semi-theoretical correlation for Sauter mean diameter namely interfacial area concentration, which were proposed previously, were validated by local flow parameters obtained in the experiment using the annulus.     

Characteristics of interfacial profiles in upward and downward gas-liquid two-phase plug flow

Gas-liquid interfacial profiles in plug flow for both upward and downward flows were obtained using semi-supermultiple point-electrode probes, comprising 67 sensing tips arranged on a tube diameter. Typical interfacial profiles are demonstrated for both flows. Close inspection of the profiles reveals that four zones exist in a pair of gas and liquid slugs for upward plug flow and a high slip velocity region in downward plug flow. The lengths of the swelling liquid front zone and the wake zone were determined. The length of the wake zone strongly depends on the relative velocity between the liquid film around the gas slug and the liquid phase in the liquid slug. Characteristic distributions of bubbles within liquid slugs were found, i.e., three types of radial distributions of void fraction, namely saddle-shaped, trapezoidal and bullet-shaped distributions, exist for upward flow. The two types for downward flow exclude the saddle-shaped distribution. © 1997 Scripta Technica, Inc. Heat Trans Jpn Res, 25 (8): 568–579, 1996     

Interfacial area transport of vertical upward bubbly two-phase flow in an annulus

In relation to the development of the interfacial area transport equation in a subcooled boiling flow, the one-dimensional interfacial area transport equation was evaluated by the data taken in the hydrodynamic separate effect tests without phase change, or an adiabatic air-water bubbly flow in a vertical annulus. The annulus channel consisted of an inner rod with a diameter of 19.1 mm and an outer round tube with an inner diameter of 38.1 mm, and the hydraulic equivalent diameter was 19.1 mm. Twenty data sets consisting of five void fractions, about 0.050, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20, and 0.25, and four superficial liquid velocities, 0.272, 0.516, 1.03, and 2.08 m/s were used for the evaluation of the one-dimensional interfacial area transport equation. The one-dimensional interfacial area transport equation agreed with the data with an average relative deviation of ±8.96%. Sensitivity analysis was also performed to investigate the effect of the initial bubble size on the interfacial area transport. It was shown that the dominant mechanism of the interfacial area transport was strongly dependent on the initial bubble size.     

Instantaneous and objective flow regime identification method for the vertical upward and downward co-current two-phase flow

An instantaneous and objective flow regime identification method for the two-phase flow is represented in the paper. The previous methods have been evolved to be an objective by replacing the heuristic determination using the sensor signals in terms of the statistical indexes. However, the flow pattern in the rapid transient or the inherently unstable flow such as the flow in the microgravity cannot be identified because of the observation time for the statistical meaning. The design of the neural network fed by the preprocessed impedance signals of the cross-sectional void fraction is proposed here to satisfy the requirement of both objective and an instantaneous identification. For the preprocessing, the both feed forward neural network and the self-organized neural network as an objective reasoning engine were tested using the experimental data for both upward and downward two-phase flow in the pipes with the inner diameter of 25.4 mm and 50.8 mm. It was found that the proposed flow regime identifier could successfully identify the flow regime using the short term observation data within 1 s. Furthermore, the obtained flow regimes were in a good agreement with the Mishima–Ishii criteria for the upward two-phase flow. However, for the downward flow, it was found that the current flow regimes are in reasonable agreement with the Usui criteria for the slug flow region, only. Other flow regimes have strong dependency on the pipe diameter and some phenomena related to the kinematic wave propagation which was not considered reasonably in the previous criteria. Therefore, theoretical studies to build up the transition criteria for the co-current downward two-phase flow are recommended.     

Experimental investigation of in-line tube bundle heat transfer process to vertical downward foam flow

Usage of two phase flow as a coolant allows to reach more intensive heat transfer process. This paper presents the results of the investigation of the heat transfer between the in-line tube bundle and statically stable aqueous foam flow. The flow of the foam was generated at the top of the experimental channel and crossed down the tubes of the bundle (the diameter of the tubes was 0.02 m; horizontal and vertical distances between the centers of the tubes – 0.03 m). This investigation allowed determining the dependence of the heat transfer intensity of the tubes to foam flow on the volumetric flow rate and volumetric void fraction of the foam. The influence of tube position in the bundle on the intensity of heat transfer was found in this experimental study: the intensity of the heat transfer between the middle tube and the downward foam flow was determined to be higher comparing to the intensity between the tubes in both sideways of the bundle and the downward foam flow. The results of investigation showed that an average heat transfer intensity of the tubes of in-line bundle to downward without any turning foam flow was higher than that in the case of the downward after 180° turning foam flow. The results of this experimental study were generalized using the empirical equation between heat transfer coefficient from one side and the volumetric flow rate and volumetric void fraction of the foam from the other side.     

A closed-form solution for laminar film condensation from downward pure vapour flow in vertical tubes

An analytical solution is derived for the film thickness for simplified steady-state governing equations of laminar film condensation from laminar pure vapours flowing downward in vertical tubes. This approach yields an accurate, approximate closed-form non-marching solution for the condensate film thickness. All other relevant quantities such as the heat transfer coefficient, the vapour and liquid velocity profiles, the vapour and liquid mass flow rates, the interfacial shear stress, and the pressure gradient can be easily computed in closed-form from this solution directly at any given axial location. The present solution compares very well to other analytical works that require more complicated iterative techniques with a marching solution approach.     

Flow pattern transition for vertical downward two-phase flow in capillary tubes. Inlet mixing effects

Experimental results of flow pattern for vertical downward two-phase flow in capillary tubes are reported and flow pattern regime maps are presented. In addition theoretically based transition criteria for the flow pattern are presented. The experimental results and theory seem to match each other fairly well. When results given in this paper are compared with empirical ones presented in literature stratified flow has not been reported in this study. Additional experiments were undertaken and inlet mixing effects have been found to be extremely important for the existence of fully developed flow.     

The Behavior and Characteristics of the InterfacialWaves in Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Separated FlowThrough Downward Inclined Rectangular Channel

INTaoDUCTIONInhorizontalandslightlyinclinedgas-liquidtwo-phaseflow,thestratifiedflowmnyoccurinthecaseofthelowgasandliquidflowratecombinations.Inthiskindofflowwhenthegasvelocityisincreasedwithintheregimeofthestratifledfiow,wavesappearonthegasandliquldinterfacel1'2].Forthesestrati-fiedwavyflowpatterns,thestructureanddynamicsoftheinterfacegreatlyinfiuencetheratesofmasslmo~umandheattransferaswellasthestabilityofthesysteml3'4l,thereforeanaccurateknowledgeofint~ialwavformationandwavparameterssuc…     

Axial developments of interfacial area and void concentration profiles in subcooled boiling flow of water

Axial developments of the local void fraction, interfacial area concentration and bubble Sauter mean diameter were measured in subcooled boiling flow of water in a vertical internally heated annulus using the double-sensor conductivity probe technique. Measurements were performed under varying conditions of heat flux, inlet liquid velocity and inlet liquid temperature. A total of 10 data sets were acquired. Based on these measurements with the previous data obtained in the present test loop, the influence of flow condition on the profiles of local two-phase flow parameters was discussed. The measured average void fraction and interfacial area concentration were compared with the predictions by existing correlations for drift-flux parameters and interfacial area concentration. Also, the recently proposed bubble layer thickness model in subcooled boiling was evaluated for the measurement data.     

Drift-flux model for downward two-phase flow

In view of the practical importance of the drift-flux model for two-phase flow analysis in general and in the analysis of nuclear-reactor transients and accidents in particular, the distribution parameter and the drift velocity have been studied for downward two-phase flows. The constitutive equation that specifies the distribution parameter in the downward flow has been derived by taking into account the effect of the downward mixture volumetric flux on the phase distribution. It was assumed that the constitutive equation for the drift velocity developed by Ishii for a vertical upward churn-turbulent flow determined the drift velocity for the downward flow over all of flow regimes. To evaluate the drift-flux model with newly developed constitutive equations, area-averaged void fraction measurement has been extensively performed by employing an impedance void meter for an adiabatic vertical co-current downward air-water two-phase flow in 25.4-mm and 50.8-mm inner diameter round tubes. The newly developed drift-flux model has been validated by 462 data sets obtained in the present study and literatures under various experimental conditions. These data sets cover extensive experimental conditions such as flow system (air-water and steam-water), channel diameter (16-102.3 mm), pressure (0.1-1.5 MPa), and mixture volumetric flux (−0.45 to −24.6 m/s). An excellent agreement has been obtained between the newly developed drift-flux model and the data within an average relative deviation of ±15.4%.     

Study on transport phenomena for flow film condensation in vertical mini-tube with interfacial waves

The Kelvin-Helmholtz instability of phase-change interface during flow film condensation in vertical mini-diameter tube was studied here by means of energy analysis. According to the interfacial boundary conditions, the film thinning effect and the phase-change area enlarging effect by interfacial waves on heat transfer enhancement were analyzed for flow condensation in tubes with different diameter. It is indicated that, in mini-diameter tube, more obvious heat transfer enhancement due to interfacial waves can be expected than that in normal-sized tube, and the interfacial waves enhance the heat transfer mainly by film thinning effect.     

Two-phase friction factor in vertical downward flow in high mass flux region of refrigerant HFC-134a during condensation

The two-phase pressure drop of the pure refrigerant HFC-134a during condensation inside a vertical tube-in-tube heat exchanger was investigated. The double tube test section was 0.5 m long with refrigerant flowing in the inner tube and cooling water flowing in the annulus. The inner tube was constructed from smooth copper tubing of 8.1 mm inner diameter and 9.52 mm outer diameter. The test runs were performed at average condensing temperatures of 40–50 °C. The mass fluxes were between 260 and 515 kg m^− 2 s^− 1 and the heat fluxes between 11.3 and 55.3 kW m^− 2. The quality of the refrigerant in the test section was calculated using the temperature and pressure obtained from the experiment. The pressure drop across the test section was directly measured by a differential pressure transducer. A new correlation for the two-phase friction factor of R134a flow is proposed by means of the equivalent Reynolds number model. The effects of heat flux, mass flux and condensation temperature on the pressure drop are also discussed.     

Numerical simulation of bubbly two-phase flow in a narrow channel

An advanced numerical simulation method on fluid dynamics - lattice-Boltzmann (LB) method is employed to simulate the movement of Taylor bubbles in a narrow channel, and to investigate the flow regimes of two-phase flow in narrow channels under adiabatic conditions. The calculated average thickness of the fluid film between the Taylor bubble and the channel wall agree well with the classical analytical correlation developed by Bretherton. The numerical simulation of the behavior of the flow regime transition in a narrow channel shows that the body force has significant effect on the movement of bubbles with different sizes. Smaller body force always leads to the later coalescence of the bubbles, and decreases the flow regime transition time. The calculations show that the surface tension of the fluid has little effect on the flow regime transition behavior within the assumed range of the surface tension. The bubbly flow with different bubble sizes will gradually change into the slug flow regime. However, the bubbly flow regime with the same bubble size may be maintained if no perturbations on the bubble movement occur. The slug flow regime will not change if no phase change occurs at the two-phase interface.     

Experimental investigation of convective heat transfer coefficient during downward laminar flow condensation of R134a in a vertical smooth tube

This paper presents an experimental investigation of laminar film condensation of R134a in a vertical smooth tube having an inner diameter of 7–8.1 mm and a length of 500 mm. Condensation experiments were performed at mass fluxes of 29 and 263 kg m^?2 s^?1. The pressures were between 0.77 and 0.1 MPa. The heat transfer coefficient, film thickness and condensation rate during downward condensing film were determined. The results show that an interfacial shear effect is significant for the laminar condensation heat transfer of R134a under the given conditions. A new correlation for the condensation heat transfer coefficient is proposed for practical applications.     

Distribution parameter and drift velocity of drift-flux model in bubbly flow

In view of the practical importance of the drift-flux model for two-phase flow analysis in general and in the analysis of nuclear-reactor transients and accidents in particular, the distribution parameter and the drift velocity have been studied for bubbly flow regime. The constitutive equation that specifies the distribution parameter in the bubbly flow has been derived by taking into account the effect of the bubble size on the phase distribution, since the bubble size would govern the distribution of the void fraction. A comparison of the newly developed model with various fully developed bubbly flow data over a wide range of flow parameters shows a satisfactory agreement. The constitutive equation for the drift velocity developed by Ishii has been reevaluated by the drift velocity calculated by local flow parameters such as void fraction, gas velocity and liquid velocity measured under steady fully developed bubbly flow conditions. It has been confirmed that the newly developed model of the distribution parameter and the drift velocity correlation developed by Ishii can also be applicable to developing bubbly flows.