An experimental study on developing air-water two-phase flow along a large vertical pipe: effect of air injection method

The flow structure in a developing air-water two-phase flow was investigated experimentally along a large vertical pipe (inner diameter, D_h: 0.48 m, ratio of length of flow path L to D_h: about 4.2). Two air injection methods (porous sinter injection and nozzle injection) were adopted to realize an extremely different flow structure in the developing region. The flow rate condition in the test section was as follows: superficial air velocity: 0.02–0.87 m/s (at atmospheric pressure) and superficial water velocity: 0.01–0.2 0.01–0.2 m/s, which covers the range of bubbly to slug flow in a small-scale pipe (D_h about 0.05 m).

No air slugs occupying the flow path were recognized in this experiment regardless of the air injection methods even under the condition where slug flow is realized in the small-scale pipe. In the lower half of the test section, the axial distribution of sectional differential pressure and the radial distribution of local void fraction showed peculiar distributions depending on the air injection methods. However, in the upper half of the test section, the effects of the air injection methods are small in respect of the shapes of the differential pressure distribution and the phase distribution. The comparison of sectional void fraction near the top of the test section with Kataoka's correlation indicated that the distribution parameter of the drift-flux model should be modeled including the effect of D_h and the bubble size distribution is affected by the air injection methods. The bubble size distribution is considered to be affected also by L/D_h based on comparison of results with Hills' correlation.     

微重力气/液两相泡状流的摩擦压降

针对微重力条件下气／液两相泡状流动特征,建立了其摩擦压降的半理论模型：ｆＴＰ＝ＡＲｅ＾－１ＴＰ,并利用献报道的微重力实验数据,确定了模型参数Ａ的数值。     

Numerical simulation of circulation in gas-liquid column reactors: isothermal, bubbly, laminar flow

The gas-liquid flow inside a circular, isothermal column reactor with a vertical axis has been studied using numerical simulations. The flow is assumed to be in the laminar, bubbly flow regime which is characterized by a suspension of discrete air bubbles in a continuous liquid phase such as glycerol water. The mathematical formulation is based on the conservation of mass and momentum principle for the liquid phase. The gas velocity distribution is calculated via an empirically prescribed relative velocity as a function of void fraction. The interface viscous drag forces are prescribed empirically. For some cases a profile shape is assumed for the void ratio distribution. The influence of various profile shapes is investigated. The results are compared with those where the void ratio distribution is calculated from the conservation of mass equation. The mathematical model has been implemented by modifying a readily available computer code for single-phase newtonian fluid flows. The numerical discretization is based on a finite volume approach. The predictions show a good agreement with measurements. The circulation pattern seems not to be so sensitive to the actual shape of the void fraction profiles, but the inlet distribution of it is important. A significantly different flow pattern results when the void fraction distribution is calculated from the transport equation, as compared to those with a priori prescribed profiles. When the void fraction is uniformly distributed over the whole distributor plate, no circulation is observed. Calculations also show that even the two-phase systems with a few discrete bubbles can be simulated successfully by a continuum model.     

Correlations predicting frictional pressure drop and liquid holdup during horizontal gas-liquid pipe flow with a small liquid holdup

Experimental data and correlations available in the literature for the liquid holdup ε_L and the pressure gradient ΔP_TP/L for gas-liquid pipe flow, generally, do not cover the domain 0 < ε_L < 0.06. Reliable pressure-drop correlations for this holdup range are important for calculating flow rates of natural gas, containing traces of condensate. In the present paper attention is focused on reliable measurements of ε_L and ΔP_TPIL values and on the development of a phenomenological model for the liquid-holdup range 0 < ε_L < 0.06. This model is called the “apparent rough surface” model and is referred to as the ARS model. The experimental results presented in this paper refer to air-water and air-water + ethyleneglycol systems with varying transport properties in horizontal straight smooth glass tubes under steady-state conditions. The holdup and pressure gradient values predicted with the ARS model agree satisfactorily with both our experimental results and data obtained from the literature referring to small liquid-holdup values 0 < ε_L < 0.06. Further, it has been shown that in the domain 38 < < 72 mPa m the interfacial tension of the gas-liquid system has no significant effect on the liquid holdup. The pressure gradient, however, increases slightly with decreasing surface tension values.     

Interpretation of atomization rates of the liquid film in gas-liquid annular flow

For vertical gas-liquid annular flow the fraction of the liquid in the gas is controlled by the rate of atomization of the liquid film flowing along the wall and the rate of deposition of droplets entrained in the gas. Measurements of the rate of atomization are interpreted by a Kelvin-Helmholtz mechanism. Small wavelets on the liquid film are visualized to be entrained when wave-induced variations in the gas pressure cannot be counterbalanced by surface tension effects.     

Bubbly-to-cap bubbly flow transition in a long-26 m vertical large diameter pipe at low liquid flow rate

The concurrent upward two-phase flow of air and water in a long vertical large diameter pipe with an inner diameter (D) of 200 mm and a height (z) of 26 m (z/D = 130) was investigated experimentally at low superficial liquid velocities from 0.05009 to 0.3121 m/s and the superficial gas velocities from 0.01779 to 0.5069 m/s. The resultant void fractions range from 0.03579 to 0.4059. According to the observations using a high speed video camera, the flow regimes of bubbly, developing cap bubbly and fully-developed cap bubbly flows prevailed in the flows. The developing cap bubbly flow appeared as a flow regime transition from bubbly to fully-developed cap bubble flow in the vertical large diameter pipe. The developing cap bubbly flow changes gradually and lasts for a long time period and a wide axial region in the flow direction, in contrast to a sudden transition from bubbly to slug flows in a small diameter pipe. The analysis in this study showed that the flow regime transition depends not only on the void fraction but also on the axial distance in the flow and the pipe diameter. The axial flow development brings about the transition to happen in a lower void fraction flow and the increase of pipe diameter causes the transition to happen in a higher void fraction flow. The measured void fraction showed an N-shaped axial changing manner that the void fraction increases monotonously with axial position in the bubbly flow, decreases non-monotonously with axial position in the developing cap bubbly flow, and increases monotonously again with axial position in the fully-developed cap bubbly flow. The temporary void fraction decrease phenomenon in the transition region from bubbly to cap bubbly flow can be attributed to the formation of medium to large cap bubbles and their gradual growth into the maximum size of cap bubble and/or cluster of large cap bubbles in the developing cap bubbly flow. In order to predict the N-shaped axial void fraction changing behaviors in the flow regime transition from bubbly to cap bubbly flow, the existing 12 drift flux correlation sets for large diameter pipes are reviewed and their predictabilities are studied against the present experimental data. Although some drift flux correlation sets, such as those of Clark and Flemmer (1986) and Hibiki and Ishii (2003), can predict the present experimental data with reasonable average relative deviations, no drift flux correlation set for distribution parameter and drift velocity can give a reliable prediction for the observed N-shaped axial void fraction changing behaviors in the region from bubbly to cap bubbly flow in a vertical large diameter pipe.     

垂直上升气液环状流流动参数的数值计算

提出了一个新的气核-液膜耦合模型来求解垂直上升气液环状流在充分发展段的流动参数.本模型考虑了液膜、气核以及它们之间的相互影响和作用.模型中基本的气核区域和液膜区域的质量和动量方程由Fluent6.3.26进行求解,而液滴方程以及相界面上的夹带和沉积作用通过用户自定义接口函数UDF(User Defined Functi...     

Difference scheme for two-phase flow

A numerical method for two-phase flow with hydrodynamics behavior was considered. The nonconservative hyperbolic governing equations proposed by Saurel and Gallout were adopted. Dissipative effects were neglected but they could be included in the model without major difficulties. Based on the opinion proposed by Abgrall that “a two phase system, uniform in velocity and pressure at t = 0 will be uniform on the same variable during its temporal evolution“, a simple accurate and fully Eulerian numerical method was presented for the simulation of multiphase compressible flows in hydrodynamic regime. The numerical method relies on Godunov-typescheme, with HLLC and Lax-Friedrichs type approximate Riemann solvers for the resolution of conservation equations, and nonconservative equation. Speed relaxation and pressure relaxation processes were introduced to account for the interaction between the phases. Test problem was presented in one space dimension which illustrated that our scheme is accurate, stable and oscillation free.     

Compressible flow of a two-phase fluid between finite vessels—I: Ideal carrier gas

The transfer of a multiphase fluid from a high-pressure vessel to one initially at lower pressure is investigated. The fluid is composed of two phases which do not undergo any change. The phases consist of an ideal gas, and solid particles (or liquid droplets) having constant density. The mixture is assumed to be stagnant and always perfectly mixed as well as at thermal equilibrium in each constant volume vessel. The fluid also remains homogeneous and at equilibrium while flowing between vessels. The transport properties of the mixture are taken to be zero. One important finding is that the expanding mixture or pseudo-fluid behaves similarly to a polytropic Abel-Noble gas. The mixture thermodynamic properties, the end state in each vessel at pressure equilibrium, the critical parameters and time-dependent results are given for the adiabatic and isothermal limiting cases. The results include both initially sonic and initially subsonic transfers. No mathematical restriction is placed on the particle concentration, although some limiting results are given for small particle volume fraction. The mass transferred at adiabatic pressure equilibrium can be significantly less than that when thermal equilibrium is also reached. Furthermore, the adiabatic pressure equilibrium level may not be the same as that obtained at thermal equilibrium, even when all initial temperatures are the same. Finally, it is shown that the transfer times can be very slow compared to those of a pure gas due to the large reduction possible in the mixture sound speed.     

空间模式下可压缩气固两相混合层流动特性研究

采用Euler-Lagrange颗粒-轨道双向耦合模型对空间模式下含有固粒的二维可压缩混合层流场进行了研究。气相流场采用具有空间三阶精度的WNND格式进行数值模拟,固相方程采用单边三点差分离散。在考虑流场对固粒作用的同时,也计及了固粒对流场的反作用。在对流马赫数为0.5时,研究了颗粒相对密度、颗粒尺寸、Stokes数等因素对粒子运动和流场结构的影响。研究结果表明:在可压缩空间模式混合层中,固粒的Stokes数仍然是主要影响参数之一;相同Stokes数下不同密度的固粒对流场的干扰不同,轻固粒对流场的干扰明显要小。     

Critical flow in a chemically reacting two-phase multicomponent mixture

A model that describes the critical flow of chemically reacting, two-phase, multicomponent mixtures in channels of constant cross section is discussed. As a consequence of an assumed interphase thermal and mechanical equilibrium the applicability of the model is restricted to situations where one phase is intimately mixed with the other, such that choking is determined by the sound speed in the homogeneous mixture. It is shown that under certain conditions the highly non-linear temperature dependency of the reaction rate promotes the possibility of a multiplicity of steady state solutions to the problem.     

A New Approach in Modeling Phase Distribution in Fully Developed Bubbly Pipe Flow

Turbulent two-phase flow equations are derived and solved for fully developed pipe flow using a composite eddy-viscosity model and a new void-fraction equation. The void fraction profile is first specified from experiments and the velocity field is calculated to validate the eddy-viscosity model. Consequently, a new equation is presented for calculation of the void fraction. This void-fraction equation incorporates the gradient of turbulent normal stresses in the radial direction, the conventional lift force, and a contribution from the unsteady drag force. The implications of this new equation, for the bubbly flow regime, are investigated by calculating the void-fraction distribution for a given velocity field. Inclusion of the normal turbulent stresses in the radial direction is shown to simulate correctly the experimentally observed trends of the phase distribution, both for upward and downward bubbly flow, without the need for a fictitious term such as the so called ``lubrication force'. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Experimental investigation of a developing two-phase bubbly flow in horizontal pipe

Experimental results for various water and air superficial velocities in developing adiabatic horizontal two-phase pipe flow are presented. Flow pattern maps derived from videos exhibit a new boundary line in intermittent regime. This transition from water dominant to water–gas coordinated regimes corresponds to a new transition criterion C_T = 2, derived from a generalized representation with the dimensionless coordinates of Taitel and Dukler.Velocity, turbulent kinetic energy and dissipation rate, void fraction and bubble size radial profiles measured at 40 pipe diameters for J_L = 4.42 m/s by hot film velocimetry and optical probes confirm this transition: the gas influence is not continuous but strongly increases beyond J_G = 0.06 m/s. The maximum dissipation rate, derived from spectra, is increased in two-phase flow by a factor 5 with respect to the single phase case.The axial evolution of the bubble intercept length histograms also reveal the flow organization in horizontal layers, driven by buoyancy effects. Bubble coalescence is attested by a maximum bubble intercept evolving from 2.5 to 4.5 mm along the pipe. Turbulence generated by the bubbles is also manifest by the 4-fold increase of the maximum turbulent dissipation rate along the pipe.     

On perfectly stress field at a mixed-mode crack tip under plane and anti-plane strain

In [1], under the condition that all the perfectly plastic stress components at a crack tip are functions of ϕ only, making use of equilibrium equations, stress-strain rate relations, compatibility equations and yield condition. Lin derived the general analytical expressions of the perfectly plastic stress field at a mixed-mode crack tip under plane and anti-plane strain. But in [1] there were several restrictions on the proportionality factor γ in the stress-strain rate relations, such as supposing that γ is independent of ϕ and supposing that γ=c or cr⁻¹. In this paper, we abolish these restrictions. The cases in [1], γ=cr^d (n=0 or-1) are the special cases of this paper.     

Numerical calculations for two-phase jet flow of a mixture of pulverized-coal and gas

In this paper, Euler-Lagrange type equations are used to describe the jet flow of a mixture of pulverized-coal and gas, which is an unsteady axisymmetric two-phase flow. By means of the finite-difference method, the coal particle's distribution, velocity and trajectory in the flow field are obtained. The coal particles are represented by a finite number of computational particles. Each particle's diameter is randomly assigned according to a given distribution. The states of the computational particles are different from each other. Turbulence is accounted for in a stochastic model. Explicit time-splitting scheme is used to calculate the strongly coupling interphase term. The numerical results are reasonable. The comparison between the numerical results and the experiment data for the case of the oil droplet injection shows good agreement. This numerical technique can be extended to the calculation of other two-phase flows of dilute particles or a droplet system. Mr. Mei Renwei also participated in the work of this paper.     

气液混输悬链线立管系统两相流特性实验

严重段塞流是海洋工程气液混输管线--立管系统中常见的一种特殊有害流动现象, 采用水平--下倾--悬链线立管气液混输组合管道系统, 通过系列实验在悬链线立管中获得了严重段塞流、间歇流和震荡流等流型, 阐述了这些流动现象的形成机理, 提出了能够产生严重段塞流的判定准则. 结果表明, 悬链线立管严重段塞流具有明显周期性, 在一个周期内的流动特征可分为液塞形成、液体出流、液气喷发及液体回流等4个阶段, 进而给出了各阶段中相关流动参数的变化规律. 在实验中同时还对悬链线与垂直立管中严重段塞流形成机理进行了比较分析, 发现两者在液塞形成阶段有显著差别. 其中, 在悬链线立管中液塞形成之前首先需要经历一个气液混合液塞形成过程, 而垂直立管则没有这个过程.      

基于高阶和高效格式的悬停旋翼可压缩无粘绕流的计算

发展了一种基于高精度和高效格式计算悬停旋翼复杂绕流的隐式有限体积方法。控制方程为Euler方程,其中对流项通量的左右状态量采用五阶加权基本无振荡(WENO)格式重构,时间推进应用隐式LU-SGS算法,为进一步加速收敛,采用三层V循环多重网格松弛方法。考虑到多重网格方法的思想以及五阶WENO格式涉及6个网格单元,建议仅在最细网格上使用WENO格式。计算结果表明本文方法能有效捕捉激波,对尾迹也有较高分辨率,基于隐式LU-SGS算法的多重网格方法能有效提高计算效率。     

Effect of liquid viscosity on the stratified-slug transition in horizontal pipe flow

The effect of liquid viscosity on the initiation of slug flow was studied in horizontal 2.52 and 9.53 cm pipelines. The results show the stabilizing effect of viscosity predicted by Lin & Hanratty, and are at variance with analyses which use a long-wavelength inviscid approximation. For very viscous liquids a stability analysis which recognizes that slugs originate from a train of small-wavelength sinusoidal waves seems consistent with the measurements.     

可压缩流体流动多尺度混合有限元数值方法研究

可压缩流体是天然油藏中广泛存在的一种流体,研究其在多孔介质中的渗流规律对于油藏开发具有重要意义。本文采用多尺度混合有限元方法,对可压缩流体渗流问题进行了研究。考虑流体的可压缩性以及介质形变,推导得到了可压缩流体渗流问题的多尺度计算格式。数值计算结果表明,多尺度混合有限元适于求解非均质性和可压缩流问题,具有节省计算量、计算精度高等优势,对于实际大规模油藏模拟具有重要意义。     

Experimental determination of the flow transport coefficients in the coupled equations of two-phase flow in porous media

The transport coefficients in the coupled equations of two-phase flow are defined if the pressure gradient in one of the two flowing fluids is equal to zero. This definition has been used in experiments with oil and water in a sandpack and the four transport coefficients have been measured over wide water saturation ranges. The values of the cross coefficients were found to be significant as they ranged from 10 to 35% of the value of the effective permeability to water and from 5 to 15% of the effective permeability to oil, respectively.