A multiphase, micro-scale PIV measurement technique for liquid film velocity measurements in annular two-phase flow

Heat transfer in micro scale two-phase flow attracts large attention since it can achieve large heat transfer area per density. At high quality, annular flow becomes one of the major flow regimes in micro two-phase flow. Heat is transferred by evaporation or condensation of the liquid film, which are the dominant mechanisms of micro scale heat transfer. Therefore, liquid film thickness is one of the most important parameters in modeling the phenomena. In macro tubes, large numbers of researches have been conducted to investigate the liquid film thickness. However, in micro tubes, quantitative information for the annular liquid film thickness is still limited. In the present study, annular liquid film thickness is measured using a confocal method, which is used in the previous study [1, 2]. Glass tubes with inner diameters of 0.3, 0.5 and 1.0 mm are used. Degassed water and FC40 are used as working fluids, and the total mass flux is varied from G = 100 to 500 kg/m2s. Liquid film thickness is measured by laser confocal displacement meter (LCDM), and the liquid-gas interface profile is observed by a high-speed camera. Mean liquid film thickness is then plotted against quality for different flow rates and tube diameters. Mean thickness data is compared with the smooth annular film model of Revellin et al. [3]. Annular film model predictions overestimated the experimental values especially at low quality. It is considered that this overestimation is attributed to the disturbances caused by the interface ripples.

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An Experimental Study on Liquid Film Dynamics and Interfacial Wave of Air-Water Two-Phase Flow in a Horizontal Channel

Volume 4: Thermal Hydraulics ◽

10.1115/icone21-15952 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Youjia Zhang ◽

Weimin Ma ◽

Shengjie Gong

Keyword(s):

Liquid Film ◽

Two Phase Flow ◽

Rectangular Channel ◽

Research Work ◽

Water Film ◽

Test Facility ◽

Phase Flow ◽

Interfacial Wave ◽

Film Rupture ◽

Two Phase

This study is concerned with liquid film dynamics and stability of annular flow, which plays an important role in understanding film rupture and dryout in boiling heat transfer. The research work starts from designing and making a test facility which enables the visualization and measurement of liquid film dynamics. A confocal optical sensor is applied to track the evolution of film thickness. A horizontal rectangular channel made of glass is used as the test section. Deionized water and air are supplied into that channel in such a way that an initial stratified flow forms, with the liquid film on the bottom wall. The present study is focused on characterization of liquid film profile and dynamics in term of interfacial wave and shear force induced film rupture under adiabatic condition. Based on the experimental data and analysis, it is found that given a constant water flowrate, the average thickness of water film decreases with increasing air flowrate, while the interfacial wave of the two-phase flow is intensified. As the air flowrate reaches a critical value, a localized rupture of the water film occurs.

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