Measurement of Two-phase Flow using Multi-wave Ultrasound (Measurement of Bubble Rising Velocity using Correlation Method)

In a lead-bismuth alloy (45%Pb-55%Bi) cooled direct contact boiling water fast reactor (PBWFR), steam can be produced by direct contact of feed water with primary Pb-Bi coolant in the upper core plenum, and Pb-Bi coolant can be circulated by buoyancy forces of steam bubbles. As a basic study to investigate the two-phase flow characteristics in the chimneys of PBWFR, a two-dimensional two-phase flow was simulated by injecting argon gas into Pb-Bi pool in a rectangular vessel (400mm in length, 1500mm in height, 50mm in width), and bubble behaviors were investigated experimentally. Bubble sizes, bubble rising velocities and void fractions were measured using void probes. Argon gas was injected through five nozzles of 4mm in diameter into Pb-Bi at two locations. The experimental conditions are the pressure of atmospheric pressure, Pb-Bi temperatures of 443K, and the flow rate of injection Ar gas is 10, 20, and 30 NL/min. The measured bubble rising velocities were distributed in the range from 1 to 3 m/s. The average velocity was about 0.6 m/s. The measured bubble chord lengths were distributed from 1mm up to 30mm. The average chord length was about 7mm. An analysis was performed by two-dimensional and two-fluid model. The experimental results were compared with the analytical results to evaluate the validity of the analytical model. Although large diameter bubbles were observed in the experiment, the drag force model for spherical bubbles performed better for simulation of the experimental result because of high surface tension force of Pb-Bi.

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Numerical Study of Bubble Rising and Coalescence Characteristics under Flow Pulsation Based on Particle Method

Science and Technology of Nuclear Installations ◽

10.1155/2019/2045751 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2019 ◽

pp. 1-13

Author(s):

Ronghua Chen ◽

Minghao Zhang ◽

Kailun Guo ◽

Dawei Zhao ◽

Wenxi Tian ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Flow Rate ◽

Two Phase Flow ◽

Flow Instability ◽

Numerical Study ◽

Phase Flow ◽

Flow Pulsation ◽

Two Phase ◽

Inlet Flow ◽

Inlet Flow Rate ◽

Bubble Rising

Two-phase flow instability may occur in nuclear reactor systems, which is often accompanied by periodic fluctuation in fluid flow rate. In this study, bubble rising and coalescence characteristics under inlet flow pulsation condition are analyzed based on the MPS-MAFL method. To begin with, the single bubble rising behavior under flow pulsation condition was simulated. The simulation results show that the bubble shape and rising velocity fluctuate periodically as same as the inlet flow rate. Additionally, the bubble pairs’ coalescence behavior under flow pulsation condition was simulated and compared with static condition results. It is found that the coalescence time of bubble pairs slightly increased under the pulsation condition, and then the bubbles will continue to pulsate with almost the same period as the inlet flow rate after coalescence. In view of these facts, this study could offer theory support and method basis to a better understanding of the two-phase flow configuration under flow pulsation condition.

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Velocity Profile Measurements of Two-Phase Flow in Rectangular Channel Using Ultrasonic Time-Domain Correlation Method

Volume 1: Symposia, Parts A and B ◽

10.1115/fedsm2007-37072 ◽

2007 ◽

Author(s):

Takuya Hayashida ◽

Hideki Murakawa ◽

Hiroshige Kikura ◽

Masanori Aritomi ◽

Michitsugu Mori

Keyword(s):

Flow Measurement ◽

Two Phase Flow ◽

Rectangular Channel ◽

Correlation Method ◽

Phase Flow ◽

Number Density ◽

Two Phase ◽

Bubble Number ◽

Bubble Number Density ◽

Time Domain Correlation

Velocity measurement using ultrasound has attracted much attention in engineering fields and medical science field. Especially, Ultrasonic velocity profile monitor (UVP) has been in the spotlight in engineering fields, because of its many diagnostic advantages. The major advantage is that UVP can obtain instantaneous velocity distributions on beam line by measuring Doppler shift frequencies of echo signals. And UVP is applicable to existing pipes, because it is non-contact measurement technique. In recent years, various studies about UVP have been done, and UVP has already been put to practical use in engineering plants. The authors especially focused on two-phase flow measurement using ultrasound. Previously, we developed a way to measure bubbly flow using UVP. By this method, we are able to separate liquid information from bubbles information to some degrees. However, when the bubble number density is low, a problem occurs. Because the effect of liquid information is strong under that condition. From this fact, we applied the ultrasound time domain correlation method (UTDC) to two-phase flow measurement. This method is our original technique to measure the velocity distribution. It is based on the cross-correlation between two consecutive echoes of ultrasonic pulses. With this method, we can separate liquid information from bubble information even when the bubble number density is low, because reflected signals depend on the size of reflectors and frequency of ultrasound. In this study, the authors applied the UTDC to two-phase flow measurements in rectangular channel using a multi-wave ultrasonic transducer (TDX). The multi-wave TDX has two kinds of basic frequencies. One is 2MHz for the velocity of rising bubbles and the other is 8MHz for the liquid velocity. So it enables us to measure the velocity of the liquid and that of bubbles at the same point and time. The 2MHz ultrasonic element of TDX has 10mm diameter and the 8MHz ultrasonic element has 3mm diameter.

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