Adiabatic Air-Water Two-Phase Flow in Circular Microchannels

Author(s):  
Aritra Sur ◽  
Dong Liu

Gas-liquid two-phase flow in microchannels with hydraulic diameters of 100–500 μm exhibits drastically different flow behaviors from its counterpart in conventional macroscopic channels. Two particular issues are how to determine the two-phase flow patterns and how to predict the two-phase pressure drop at given flow conditions in these microchannels. This paper presents an experimental study of adiabatic two-phase flow of air-water mixture in circular microchannels with inner diameters of 100, 180 and 324 μm, respectively, to investigate the effects of channel size and phase velocity on the two-phase flow pattern and pressure drop. The air and water superficial velocities were in the range of 0.01–120 m/s and 0.005–5 m/s. Two-phase flow patterns were visualized using highspeed photographic technique. Four basic flow patterns, namely, bubbly flow, slug flow, ring flow and annular flow, were observed. The two-phase flow maps were then constructed and the transition boundaries between different flow regimes were identified. It was found that the slug flow is the dominant two-phase flow pattern in microchannels, and the transition boundaries generally shift to regions of higher gas superficial velocities as the channel dimension decreases. The experimental measurements of two-phase pressure drop were compared to the predictions from the available two-phase models in the literature. Results show that the flow pattern-based models provide the best prediction of two-phase pressure drop in microchannels.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faraj Ben Rajeb ◽  
Syed Imtiaz ◽  
Yan Zhang ◽  
Amer Aborig ◽  
Mohamed M. Awad ◽  
...  

Abstract Slug flow is one of the most common flow patterns in non-Newtonian two-phase flow in pipes. It is a very common occurrence in gas-liquid two-phase flow in the pipe. Usually, it is an unfavorable flow pattern due to its unsteady nature, intermittency as well as high pressure drop. The differences between slug flow and elongated bubble flow are not clear because usually these two types of flow combined under one flow category. In general, these two-phase flow regimes are commonly defined as intermittent flow. In the present study, pressure gradient, and wave behavior in slug flow have been investigated depending on experimental work. In addition, void fraction has been estimated regarding available superficial liquid and gas velocities. The experimental records of superficial velocities of gas and liquid for slug flow and other flow patterns is used to create flow regime map for the gas non-Newtonian flow system. The effect of investigated flow regime velocities for non-Newtonian/gas flow on pressure drop and void fraction is reported. Pressure drop has been discovered to be reduced in slug flow more than other flow patterns due to high shear thinning behavior.


1994 ◽  
Vol 116 (1) ◽  
pp. 140-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. W. Wambsganss ◽  
J. A. Jendrzejczyk ◽  
D. M. France

Two-phase pressure drop and fluctuating static pressures were measured in a small horizontal rectangular channel (hydraulic diameter = 5.44 mm). The two-phase fluid was an air/water mixture at atmospheric pressure tested over a mass flux range of 50 to 2000 kg/m2˙s. Two-phase flow patterns were identified and an objective method was found for determining the flow pattern transition from bubble or plug flow to slug flow. The method is based on an RMS static pressure measurement. In particular, it is shown that the transition is accompanied by a clear and abrupt increase in the RMS pressure when plotted as a function of mass quality. Use of the RMS pressure as a two-phase flow pattern transition indicator is shown to have advantages over pressure-versus-time trace evaluations reported in the literature. The transition is substantiated by a clear local change in slope in the curve of two-phase pressure drop plotted as a function of either Martinelli parameter or mass quality. For high mass fluxes, the change in slope is distinguished by a local peak. Some degree of substantiation was found in previous work for both of the results (the RMS static pressure change and the local pressure drop change) at the transition to slug flow.


Author(s):  
Weilin Qu ◽  
Seok-Mann Yoon ◽  
Issam Mudawar

Knowledge of flow pattern and flow pattern transitions is essential to the development of reliable predictive tools for pressure drop and heat transfer in two-phase micro-channel heat sinks. In the present study, experiments were conducted with adiabatic nitrogen-water two-phase flow in a rectangular micro-channel having a 0.406 × 2.032 mm cross-section. Superficial velocities of nitrogen and water ranged from 0.08 to 81.92 m/s and 0.04 to 10.24 m/s, respectively. Flow patterns were first identified using high-speed video imaging, and still photos were then taken for representative patterns. Results reveal that the dominant flow patterns are slug and annular, with bubbly flow occurring only occasionally; stratified and churn flow were never observed. A flow pattern map was constructed and compared with previous maps and predictions of flow pattern transition models. Annual flow is identified as the dominant flow pattern for conditions relevant to two-phase micro-channel heat sinks, and forms the basis for development of a theoretical model for both pressure drop and heat transfer in micro-channels. Features unique to two-phase micro-channel flow, such as laminar liquid and gas flows, smooth liquid-gas interface, and strong entrainment and deposition effects are incorporated into the model. The model shows good agreement with experimental data for water-cooled heat sinks.


Author(s):  
Yuqing Xue ◽  
Huixiong Li ◽  
Tianyou Sheng ◽  
Changjiang Liao

A large amount of air need be transported into the reservoir in the deep stratum to supply oxygen to some microbes in Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR). Air-water two-phase flows downward along vertical pipeline during the air transportation. Base on the experiment data described in this paper, the characteristics of air-water two phase flow patterns were investigated. The flow pattern map of air-water two phase flows in the pipe with inner diameter of 65 mm was drawn, criterions of flow pattern transition were discussed, and the dynamic signals of the pressure and the differential pressure of the two phase flow were recorded to characterize the three basic flow regimes indirectly. The frictional pressure drop of downward flow in vertical pipe must not be disregarded contrast with upward two phase flow in the vertical pipe because the buoyancy must be overcame when the gas flows downward along pipe, and there would be a maximum value of frictional when the flow pattern translated from slug flow to churn flow.


2004 ◽  
Vol 126 (3) ◽  
pp. 288-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weilin Qu ◽  
Seok-Mann Yoon ◽  
Issam Mudawar

Knowledge of flow pattern and flow pattern transitions is essential to the development of reliable predictive tools for pressure drop and heat transfer in two-phase micro-channel heat sinks. In the present study, experiments were conducted with adiabatic nitrogen-water two-phase flow in a rectangular micro-channel having a 0.406×2.032mm2 cross-section. Superficial velocities of nitrogen and water ranged from 0.08 to 81.92 m/s and 0.04 to 10.24 m/s, respectively. Flow patterns were first identified using high-speed video imaging, and still photos were then taken for representative patterns. Results reveal the dominant flow patterns are slug and annular, with bubbly flow occurring only occasionally; stratified and churn flow were never observed. A flow pattern map was constructed and compared with previous maps and predictions of flow pattern transition models. Features unique to two-phase micro-channel flow were identified and employed to validate key assumptions of an annular flow boiling model that was previously developed to predict pressure drop and heat transfer in two-phase micro-channel heat sinks. This earlier model was modified based on new findings from the adiabatic two-phase flow study. The modified model shows good agreement with experimental data for water-cooled heat sinks.


Author(s):  
Bai Bofeng ◽  
Liu Maolong ◽  
Su Wang ◽  
Zhang Xiaojie

An experimental study was conducted on the air-water two-phase flow patterns in the bed of rectangular cross sections containing spheres of regular distribution. Three kinds of glass spheres with different diameters (3 mm, 6 mm, and 8 mm) were used for the establishment of the test section. By means of visual observations of the two-phase flow through the test section, it was discovered that five different flow patterns occurred within the experimental parameter ranges, namely, bubbly flow, bubbly-slug flow, slug flow, slug-annular flow, and annular flow. A correlation for the bubble and slug diameter in the packed beds was proposed, which was an extended expression of the Tung/Dhir model, Jamialahmadi’s model, and Schmidt’s model. Three correlations were proposed to calculate the void friction of the flow pattern transition in bubble flow, slug flow, and annular flow based on the bubble model in the pore region. The experimental result showed that the modified Tung and Dhir model of the flow pattern transition was in better agreement with the experimental data compared with Tung and Dhir’s model.


Author(s):  
Hiroyasu Ohtake ◽  
Hideyasu Ohtaki ◽  
Yasuo Koizumi

The frictional pressure drops and two-phase flow patterns of gas-liquid two-phase flow in mini-micro pipes and at vena contract and expansion were investigated experimentally. Test liquid was water; test gas was argon. The diameter of the test mini-pipe was 0.5, 0.25 and 0.12 mm, respectively. The pressure drop data and the flow pattern were collected over 2.1 < Ug < 92.5 m/s for the superficial gas velocity and 0.03 < Ul < 10 m/s for the superficial liquid velocity. The experimental results show that the flow patterns were slug, churn, ring and annular flows; pure bubbly flow pattern was not observed in a range of the present experimental conditions. The two-phase friction multiplier data for D > 0.5 mm showed to be in good agreement with the conventional correlations. On the other hand, the two-phase friction multiplier data for D < 0.25 mm differed from the calculated values by the conventional correlations. Then, thickness of liquid film around a gas plug and size of gas core were estimated and the effect of frictional pressure drop on channel size was discussed through Knudsen Number of gas and instability on liquid-gas interface. The coefficients of sudden enlargement and sudden contraction in mini-pipes for the gas-water two-phase flow were modified from the present experimental results.


Author(s):  
Sung Chan Cho ◽  
Yun Wang

Two-phase flow behavior in a mini channel is studied by both experimental and numerical methods. Various surface conditions are considered to capture the fundamental characteristics of water droplet behavior in a PEMFC gas channel. In the considered rectangular channel with 1 mm height, critical velocity for annular flow type is measured as 1∼2 m/s of superficial air velocity. Two-phase flow pattern shows some uncertainty near transition zone with aluminum surface. With carbon paper GDL, two-phase flow pattern is stabilized. Measured two-phase pressure drop data explains the relation between two-phase flow pattern and two-phase pressure drop. Numerical simulation using VOF technique successfully mimicked the development of water droplet and corner flow as well as formation of a slug. It also explains the possibility of random slug formation with aluminum surface and stabilized two-phase flow pattern with carbon paper GDLs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 321 ◽  
pp. 02008
Author(s):  
Hubert Grzybowski ◽  
Iwona Zaborowska ◽  
Romuald Mosdorf

In the paper, numerical methods of data analysis recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) and self-organizing map (SOM) have been used to analyse pressure drop oscillations during the flow boiling in minichannel. The performed analysis allows us to identify flow patterns based on the character of the pressure drop oscillations. The following two-phase flow patterns have been identified: liquid flow, liquid flow with small vapour bubble, slug flow, long slug flow and confined bubble flow. In the experiment, the open-loop boiling system in a circular horizontal minichannel with an inner diameter of 1 mm was investigated. The two-phase flow patterns at the outlet of the heated section were observed through the glass tube (with an inner diameter of 1 mm) and recorded by a high-speed camera Phantom v1610.


Author(s):  
Jin-Yuan Qian ◽  
Zan Wu ◽  
Zhen Cao ◽  
Bengt Sunden

Due to the high surface area to volume ratios leading to intensified heat and mass transfer rates, microreactors have been subject of interest for some time. Liquid-liquid two-phase flow is a very common phenomenon in microchannels. During the scale-up using a numbering-up approach, rectangular and square microchannels are preferred to circular microchannels in terms of easier integration of the former with a less volume. Therefore, liquid-liquid two-phase flow in non-circular microchannels has been investigated recently. However, there are still gaps in the fundamental understanding of liquid-liquid two-phase flow, such as the effect of inlet junctions or arrangements on flow patterns in non-circular microchannels. The present work aims to study the effect of inlet arrangements on liquid-liquid two-phase flow dynamics and flow patterns of square glass microchannels. In this paper, oil is used as the dispersed phase and de-ionized water is used as the continuous phase. The special inlet arrangement in the cross-junction is compared to these common inlet arrangements of T-junction and cross-junction square microchannels. The effect of the inlet continuous phase velocity on the slug length is studied. Then, the slug lengths with the same inlet velocities of the three inlets and equal velocities of the two phases are carried out, respectively. Meanwhile, typical liquid-liquid flow pattern transitions are achieved at specific conditions. Finally, a special phenomenon without the droplet flow pattern is introduced, due to introduction of the novel inlet arrangement.


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