Interfacial characteristic measurements in horizontal bubbly two- phase flow

Technical Report · Mon Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1990

OSTI ID:5951511

Wang, Z; Kocamustafaogullari, G

Advances in the study of two-phase flow increasingly require detailed internal structure information upon which theoretical models can be formulated. The void fraction and interfacial area are two fundamental parameters characterizing the internal structure of two-phase flow. However, little information is currently available on these parameters, and its mostly limited to vertical flow configurations. Particularly, there is virtually no data base for the local interfacial area concentration in spite of its necessary in multi-dimensional two-fluid model analysis. In view of the above, the internal phase distribution of cocurrent, air-water bubbly flow in a 50.3 mm diameter transparent pipeline has been experimentally investigated by using a double-sensor resistivity probe. Liquid and gas volumetric superficial velocities ranged from 3.74 to 5.60 m/s and 0.25 to 1.59 m/s, respectively, and average void fractions ranged from 2.12 to 22.5%. The local local values of void fractions, interfacial area concentration, mean bubble diameter, bubble interface velocity, bubble chord-length and bubble frequency distributions were measured. The experimental results indicate that the void fraction, interfacial area concentration and bubble frequency have local maxima near the upper pipe well, and the profiles tend to flatten with increasing void fraction. The observed peak void fraction can reach 0.65, the peak interfacial area can to up to 1000 m{sup 2}/m{sup 3}, and the bubble frequency can reach a value of 2200/s. These ranges of values have never been reported for vertical bubbly flow. It is found that either decreasing the liquid flow rate or increasing the gas flow would increase the local void fraction, the interfacial area concentration and the bubble frequency.

• Research Organization: Wisconsin Univ., Milwaukee, WI (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: FG02-87ER13764
• OSTI ID: 5951511
• Report Number(s): DOE/ER/13764-4; ON: DE92005355
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
420400* -- Engineering-- Heat Transfer & Fluid Flow
BUBBLES
FLUID FLOW
FLUID MECHANICS
HYDRODYNAMICS
INTERFACES
MECHANICS
PIPES
SURFACE AREA
SURFACE PROPERTIES
TWO-PHASE FLOW
VOID FRACTION
WALLS