Two Phase Annular Flow Approximation Using 1-D Flow Equations Coupled With a Drift Flux Model for Concurrent Flow in Vertical or Near Vertical Channels

Author(s):  
Ashwin A. Gadgil ◽  
Robert E. Randall

Annular flow is a flow regime of two-phase gas-liquid flow dominated by high gas flowrate moving through the center of the pipe (gas core). In this paper we have developed and studied an innovative phenomenological model which combines the Zuber & Findlay’s Drift Flux Model’s weighted mean value approach [1] with the 1-D flow approximation equations. The flow is described in terms of a distribution parameter and an averaged local velocity difference between the phases across the pipe cross-section. The average void fraction is calculated as a function of the ratio of weighted mean gas velocity to the weighted mean liquid velocity (Slip ratio) and the drift flux velocity. The void fraction thus estimated is then applied to the 1-D continuity, momentum and energy equations. The equations are solved simultaneously to obtain the pressure gradient. Lastly, we obtain the liquid film thickness using the triangular hydrodynamic relationship between the liquid flow rate, pressure gradient and the liquid film thickness. The thickness of layer obtained, is then used to verify the original estimate of the void fraction. An iterative procedure is used to match the original estimate to the final value. The results from this study were validated against PipeSIM© software and two field measurements conducted on a wet-gas field in Brazil. As opposed to conventional drift flux models which are based on four simultaneous equations, this model relies on three, thereby significantly reducing the computational resources necessary and is more accurate as we account for variable velocities and void fractions across the pipe cross-section.

Volume 3 ◽  
2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Rodri´guez ◽  
Timothy A. Shedd

Planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) was applied to horizontal air/water two-phase annular flow in order to clearly image the liquid film and interfacial wave behavior at the top, side and bottom of the tube. The visualization section was fabricated from FEP, which has nearly the same refractive index as water at room temperature. This index-matched test section was used to allow imaging of the water to within approximately 10 microns of the 15.1 mm I.D. tube wall. A small amount of dye was added to the water with a peak excitation wavelength near that of a pulsed Nd:YAG laser (532 nm). The laser system generated an approximately 5 ns pulsed light sheet at 30 Hz. Images of the liquid film were captured using a digital video camera with a macro lens for a resolution of about 8.2 microns/pixel. Cross-sectional data at 68 annular flow conditions were obtained. The observations of the liquid film between waves indicated that the film thickness was relatively insensitive to both gas and liquid flow in the annular regime, confirming film thickness measurements reported elsewhere. In addition, the structure of waves changes significantly from wavy-annular, where peaked or cresting waves dominate, to fully annular, where the waves are much more turbulent and unstructured. The wave height decreases with increased gas flow and is relatively insensitive to increased liquid flow in the annular regime. The entrainment of gas in the liquid by the waves is very apparent from these images. Although the precise entrainment mechanisms are not entirely clear, a viable folding action mechanism is proposed. The visualization results will be discussed in relation to both conceptual and computational annular flow modeling.


Volume 3 ◽  
2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
DuWayne Schubring ◽  
Timothy A. Shedd

In this study, non-intrusive pressure drop, liquid film thickness distribution and wave behavior measurements have been obtained for 140 and 220 two-phase flow conditions in horizontal 8.8 mm I.D and 15.1 mm I.D. tubes, respectively. Horizontal flow regimes ranging from stratified-wavy to annular were studied in long clear test sections. Pressure drop data appeared to show different trends for the wavy, wavy-annular and annular flow regimes, suggesting that a unique model may be required for each. In addition, wave frequency showed clearly different behavior for these regimes, with only minor liquid flow dependence in the wavy and wavy-annular flows and strong liquid flow dependence in annular flow. Interestingly, disturbance wave velocity could be correlated to within 10% by the gas friction velocity in the annular regime and within 20% in the wavy-annular regime, leading to a simple correlation between pressure drop and wave velocity. Base film thickness data (between waves) show that the film is relatively insensitive to gas flow at the side and top of the tube and that the film thickness around the tube becomes nearly independent of liquid flow rate at high gas flows. Empirical correlations of the various data sets are presented with the goal of aiding general horizontal two-phase flow modeling efforts.


Author(s):  
Hiroshi Kanno ◽  
Youngbae Han ◽  
Yusuke Saito ◽  
Naoki Shikazono

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.


Author(s):  
Ahmet Selim Dalkilic ◽  
Suriyan Laohalertdecha ◽  
Somchai Wongwises

Void fractions are determined in vertical downward annular two-phase flow of R134a inside 8.1 mm i.d. smooth tube. The experiments are done at average saturated condensing temperatures of 40 and 50°C. The average qualities are between 0.84–0.94. The mass fluxes are around 515 kg m−2s−1. The experimental setup is explained elaborately. Comparisons between the void fraction determined from 35 void fraction correlations are done. According to the use of various horizontal and vertical annular flow void fraction models together with the present experimental condensation heat transfer data, similar void fraction results were obtained mostly for the smooth tube. The experimental friction factors obtained from void fraction correlations are compared with the friction factors determined from graphical information provided by Bergelin et. al. Effect of void fraction alteration on the momentum pressure drop is also presented.


Author(s):  
Hideo Ide ◽  
Kentaro Satonaka ◽  
Tohru Fukano

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.


Author(s):  
Quanyao Ren ◽  
Liangming Pan ◽  
Wenxiong Zhou ◽  
Tingpu Ye ◽  
Hang Liu ◽  
...  

In order to simulate the transfer of mass, momentum and energy in the gas-liquid two-phase flow system, tremendous work focused on the phenomenon, mechanisms and models for two-phase flow in different channels, such as circular pipe, rectangular channel, rod bundle and annulus. Drift-flux model is one of the widely used models for its simplicity and good accuracy, especially for the reactor safety analysis codes (RELAP5 and TRAC et al.) and sub-channel analysis code (COBRA, SILFEED and NASCA et al.). Most of the adopted drift-flux models in these codes were developed based on the void fraction measured in pipe and annulus, which were different with the actual nuclear reactor. Although some drift-flux models were developed for rod bundles, they were based on the void fraction on the whole cross-section not in subchannel in rod bundles due to the lack of effective measuring methods. A novel sub-channel impedance void meter (SCIVM) has been developed to measure the void fraction in sub-channel of 5 × 5 rod bundles, which is adopted to evaluate these existing drift-flux models for rod bundles. By comparison, the values of drift-flux parameters have large differences among different correlations, which are suggested to be reconsidered. Based on the experimental data and physical laws, Lellouche-Zolotar and Chexal-Lellouche correlations show a better performance for drift velocity. If the predicting error of void fraction is the only concerned parameter, Chen-Liu, Ishizuka-Inoue and Chexal-Lellouche correlations are recommended for averaged relative error less than 30%. More experiments are suggested to focus on the distribution parameter and drift velocity through their definition.


Author(s):  
Ekhwaiter Abobaker ◽  
Abadelhalim Elsanoose ◽  
John Shirokoff ◽  
Mohammad Azizur Rahman

Abstract Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation is presented to investigate the annular flow behavior in the vertical pipe by using ANSYS Fluent platform 17.2. The study was analyzed complex behavior of annular flow in two cases (upward and downward flow) for different air superficial velocities and range of Reynolds number for water, in order to obtain the effect of orientation flow and increasing superficial gas and liquid velocities on the base film, mean disturbance wave thickness, the average longitudinal size of disturbance wave as well as pressure gradient. For multiphase flow model, the volume of fluid method (VOF) for two-phase flow modelling was used and coupled with RNG k-ε turbulence model to predict fully annular flow structures in the upward and downward flow direction. From CFD simulation results, it is clear to see how increases in air velocity result in reductions in film thickness and increase in pressure gradient. Additionally, the results showed monotonic enhancement of film thickness occurring in tandem with increases in the liquid flow rate. However, due to the effect of gravitational force and interfacial friction, the film thickness and pressure gradient are slightly larger for the upward flow than for the downward flow. The results agree with the recent experimental data that studied the annular flow behavior and pressure drop in the upward and downward flow direction. This study will be very helpful in understanding multiphase flow behavior in natural gas wells.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Pinilla ◽  
E. Guerrero ◽  
D. H. Henao ◽  
D. V. Reyes ◽  
E. Pereyra ◽  
...  

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