Effect of Inlet Geometry on Adiabatic Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow in a Microchannel

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hideo Ide ◽  
Ryuji Kimura ◽  
Masahiro Kawaji
Keyword(s):  
Void Fraction ◽  
Two Phase Flow ◽  
Optical Measurement ◽  
Flow Characteristics ◽  
Internal Diameter ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Liquid Slug ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Gas Volume ◽  
Compressible Gas

An optical measurement system and video camera were used to investigate gas-liquid two-phase flow characteristics in a circular microchannel of 100 μm diameter. By cross correlating the signals from two pairs of optical fibers and infrared photodiodes, void fraction and the lengths and velocities of gas slugs and liquid slugs were measured. The data were obtained using a T-junction with the same internal diameter as the microchannel but the lengths of the gas and liquid injection lines between the T-junction and flow control valves were quite different. The presence of a large compressible gas volume upstream of the T-junction had a significant effect on the two-phase flow characteristics in the microchannel, typified by the void fraction data. The two-phase flow characteristics in the absence of a compressible gas volume were analysed to obtain the liquid slug length and velocity data. The liquid slug velocity was found to be dependent on the slug length, since longer slugs experienced greater friction effects and moved with much slower velocities than the shorter liquid slugs.

Effect of Wetting on Adiabatic Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow in a Microchannel

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hideo Ide ◽  
Ryuji Kimura ◽  
Kazuki Inoue ◽  
Masahiro Kawaji
Keyword(s):  
Void Fraction ◽  
Two Phase Flow ◽  
Optical Measurement ◽  
Flow Characteristics ◽  
Video Camera ◽  
Internal Diameter ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Friction Pressure Drop ◽  
Sensor Signals

An optical measurement system and video camera were used to investigate gas-liquid two-phase flow characteristics in wetting and poorly wetting circular microchannels of 100 μm diameter. By examining the optical sensor signals from which void fraction and the lengths and velocities of gas slugs and liquid slugs were measured, the effects of wetting on the adiabatic two-phase flow characteristics of nitrogen gas and water were investigated. The data were obtained using a T-junction with the same internal diameter as the microchannel, but the T-junction itself was well wetting in both experiments. Besides the flat nose and tail of gas plugs/slugs at low gas and liquid flow rates, poorly wetting microchannel showed higher void fraction and friction pressure drop compared to the well-wetting microchannel. The poorly wetting microchannel also showed the presence of short and fast moving liquid slugs which were absent in well-wetting microchannel.

Effect of Channel Wetting Properties on Flow Characteristics of Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow in a Microchannel

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hideo Ide ◽  
Ryuji Kimura ◽  
Masahiro Kawaji
Keyword(s):  
Void Fraction ◽  
Two Phase Flow ◽  
Optical Measurement ◽  
Flow Characteristics ◽  
Video Camera ◽  
Internal Diameter ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Wetting Properties ◽  
Friction Pressure Drop

An optical measurement system and video camera were used to investigate gas-liquid two-phase flow characteristics in wetting and poorly wetting circular microchannels of 100 μm diameter. By examining the optical sensor signals from which void fraction and the lengths and velocities of gas slugs and liquid slugs were measured, the effects of wetting on the adiabatic two-phase flow characteristics of nitrogen gas and water were investigated. The data were obtained using a T-junction with the same internal diameter as the microchannel, but the T-junction itself was well wetting in both experiments. Besides the flat nose and tail of gas slugs at low gas and liquid flow rates, poorly wetting microchannel showed higher void fraction and friction pressure drop compared to the well wetting microchannel. The poorly wetting microchannel also showed the presence of short and low moving liquid slugs which were absent in well-wetting microchannel.

Effect of Channel Length on the Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow Phenomena in a Microchannel

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryuji Kimura ◽  
Hideo Ide ◽  
Hiroshi Hashiguchi ◽  
Masahiro Kawaji
Keyword(s):  
Void Fraction ◽  
Test Section ◽  
Two Phase Flow ◽  
Optical Measurement ◽  
Liquid Velocity ◽  
Flow Characteristics ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Liquid Plug ◽  
The Mean

An optical measurement system was used to investigate the effect of microchannel length on adiabatic gas-liquid two-phase flow characteristics. Experiments were conducted with 146 mm and 1,571 mm long, circular microchannels of 100 micron diameter. Two-phase flow patterns, void fraction, gas and liquid plug lengths and their velocities were measured for two inlet configurations and gas-liquid mixing, i.e., (a) reducer and (b) T-junction. The test section length was found to have a significant effect on the two-phase flow characteristics measured at the same axial location in the microchannel test section typified by the void fraction data. The mean void fraction data obtained in the shorter (146 mm) microchannel with the reducer inlet agreed well with the equation by Kawahara and Kawaji which was previously proposed. On the other hand, the mean void fraction obtained at 36 mm from the inlet in the longer (1,571 mm) microchannel corresponded well with the homogeneous flow model and Armand’s equation for both reducer and T-junction inlet configurations. In the present experimental ranges of superficial gas velocity, jG = 0.03 ∼ 14 m/s, and superficial liquid velocity, jL = 0.04∼0.7 m/s, the gas and liquid plugs obtained in the longer microchannel had relatively shorter lengths and higher velocities than those in the shorter channel. Thus, both the microchannel length and inlet geometry were found to affect the two-phase flow characteristics in a microchannel.

The Effects of Inlet Geometry and Gas-Liquid Mixing on Two-Phase Flow in Microchannels

2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Kawaji ◽  
K. Mori ◽  
D. Bolintineanu
Keyword(s):  
Void Fraction ◽  
Two Phase Flow ◽  
Flow Characteristics ◽  
Flow Patterns ◽  
Intermittent Flow ◽  
Internal Diameter ◽  
Inlet Section ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Inlet Geometry

The effects of gas-liquid inlet geometry and mixing method on adiabatic gas-liquid two-phase flow in a microchannel of 100 μm diameter have been investigated using a T-junction inlet with the same internal diameter as the microchannel. Two-phase flow patterns, void fraction, and friction pressure drop data obtained with the T-junction inlet were found to be significantly different from those obtained previously with a reducer inlet. For the T-junction inlet, the two-phase flow patterns in the microchannel were predominantly intermittent flows with short gas and liquid plugs/slugs flowing with nearly equal velocities. The void fraction data then conformed nearly to that of a homogeneous flow model, and the two-phase friction multiplier data could be described by the Lockhart–Martinelli correlation applicable to larger channels. However, when a reducer inlet was used previously and the diameter of the inlet section was much larger than that of the microchannel, an intermittent flow of long gas slugs separated by long liquid slugs became prevalent and the void fraction decreased to values far below the homogeneous void fraction. The differences in the two-phase flow characteristics between a T-junction inlet and reducer inlet were attributed to the differences in the gas bubble/slug generation mechanisms.

Flow Characteristics of Adiabatic Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow in a Horizontal Flat Rectangular Microchannel

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hideo Ide ◽  
Kentaro Satonaka ◽  
Tohru Fukano
Keyword(s):  
Void Fraction ◽  
Slug Flow ◽  
Annular Flow ◽  
Two Phase Flow ◽  
Flow Characteristics ◽  
Flow Patterns ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Similar Data ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
The Mean

Experiments were performed to obtain, analyze and clarify the mean void fraction, the mean liquid holdup, and the liquid slug velocity and the air-water two-phase flow patterns in horizontal rectangular microchannels, with the dimensions equal to 1.0 mm width × 0.1 mm depth, and 1.0 mm width × 0.2 mm depth, respectively. The flow patterns such as bubble flow, slug flow and annular flow were observed. The microchannel data showed similar data patterns compared to those in minichannels with the width of 1∼10mm and the depth of 1mm which we had previously reported on. However, in a 1.0 × 0.1 mm microchannel, the mean holdup and the base film thickness in annular flow showed larger values because the effects of liquid viscosity and surface tension on the holdup and void fraction dominate. The remarkable flow characteristics of rivulet flow and the flow with a partial dry out of the channel inner wall were observed in slug flow and annular flow patterns in the microchannel of 0.1 mm depth.

Two-Phase Flow Through Square and Circular Microchannels—Effects of Channel Geometry

2004 ◽  
Vol 126 (4) ◽  
pp. 546-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter M.-Y. Chung ◽  
Masahiro Kawaji ◽  
Akimaro Kawahara ◽  
Yuichi Shibata
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Drop ◽  
Void Fraction ◽  
Two Phase Flow ◽  
Flow Characteristics ◽  
Separated Flow ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Channel Geometry ◽  
Frictional Pressure Drop ◽  
Channel Shape

An adiabatic experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of channel geometry on gas-liquid two-phase flow characteristics in horizontal microchannels. A water-nitrogen gas mixture was pumped through a 96 μm square microchannel and the resulting flow pattern, void fraction and frictional pressure drop data were compared with those previously reported by the authors for a 100 μm circular microchannel. The pressure drop data were best estimated using a separated-flow model and the void fraction increased non-linearly with volumetric quality, regardless of the channel shape. However, the flow maps exhibited transition boundaries that were shifted depending on the channel shape.

Visualization Study of Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow in a Hydrophobic Pipe

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takayoshi Kikuchi ◽  
Tatsuya Hazuku ◽  
Yutaka Fukuhara ◽  
Tomoji Takamasa ◽  
Takashi Hibiki
Keyword(s):  
Flow Regime ◽  
Void Fraction ◽  
Gas Flow ◽  
Two Phase Flow ◽  
Flow Characteristics ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Churn Flow ◽  
Effect Of Surface

To evaluate the effect of pipe wall surface wettability on flow characteristics in a vertical upward gas-liquid two-phase flow, a visualization study was performed using an acrylic pipe and a hydrophobic pipe. Such basic flow characteristics as flow patterns, pressure drop and void fraction were investigated in these pipes. In the hydrophobic pipe, an inverted-churn flow regime was observed in a region where the churn flow regime was observed in the acrylic pipe, while a droplet flow regime was observed in the region where an annular flow regime was observed in the acrylic pipe. At a high gas flow rate, the average void fraction in the hydrophobic pipe was higher than in the acrylic pipe. The effect of surface wall wettability on frictional pressure loss was confirmed to be insignificant under the present experimental conditions.

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