Flow regime transition criteria for two-phase flow in a vertical annulus

In this work, a new flow regime transition model is proposed for two-phase flows in a vertical annulus. Following previous works, the flow regimes considered are bubbly (B), slug (S) or cap-slug (CS), churn (C) and annular (A). The B to CS transition is modeled using the maximum bubble package criteria of small bubbles. The S to C transition takes place for small annulus perimeter flow channels and it is assumed to occur when the mean void fraction over the entire region exceeds that over the slug–bubble section. If the annulus perimeter is larger that the distorted bubble limit the cap-slug flow regime will be considered since in these conditions it is not possible to distinguish between cap and partial-slug bubbles. The CS to C transition is modeled using the maximum bubble package criteria. However, this transition considers the coalescence of cap and spherical bubbles in order to take into account the flow channel geometry. Finally, the C to A transition is modeled assuming two different mechanisms, (a) flow reversal in the liquid film section along large bubbles; (b) destruction on liquid slugs or large waves by entrainment or deformation. In the S to C and C to A flow regime transitions the annulus flow channel is considered as a rectangular flow channel with no side walls. In all the modeled transitions the drift-flux model is used to obtain the final correlations. The final equations for every flow regime transition are easy to be implemented in computational codes and not experimental input is needed. The prediction accuracy of the newly developed model has been checked against air–water as well as boiling flow regime maps. In all the cases, the new developed model shows better predicting capabilities than the existing correlations most used in literature.     

Skin friction reduction by large air bubbles in a horizontal channel flow

Microbubble and air film methods are believed to be applicable to skin friction reduction in ships. Small bubbles are dispersed into the turbulent boundary layer in the former case, and wide air layers cover the wall surface in the latter case. Previous studies did not specifically address the intermediate case between the microbubble and air film conditions. This study is concerned with the possibility and mechanism of drag reduction using relatively large air bubbles compared to the boundary layer thickness in a horizontal turbulent channel flow. The relationship between local skin friction and the bubble’s interfacial structure is investigated by synchronizing the measurement of wall-shear stress with the image acquisition of bubbles. The bubble sizes range from 2 to 90 mm approximately. As a result, a negative correlation between the local skin friction and the local void fraction is confirmed by the time-resolved measurement. A new observation is the fact that the local skin friction decreases drastically in the rear part of individual large bubbles, and rapidly increases after the bubble’s rear interface passes. This characteristic underlies the bubble-size dependency of the average skin friction in the intermediate bubble size condition.     

Hydrodynamic and mass transfer characteristics of slug flow in a vertical pipe with and without dispersed small bubbles

In this work, we present a numerical study to investigate the hydrodynamic characteristics of slug flow and the mechanism of slug flow induced CO₂ corrosion with and without dispersed small bubbles. The simulations are performed using the coupled model put forward by the authors in previous paper, which can deal with the multiphase flow with the gas–liquid interfaces of different length scales. A quasi slug flow, where two hypotheses are imposed, is built to approximate real slug flow. In the region ahead of the Taylor bubble and the liquid film region, the presence of dispersed small bubbles has less impacts on velocity field, because there are no non-regular intensive disturbance forces or centrifugal forces breaking the balance of the liquid and the dispersed small bubbles. In the liquid slug region, the strong centrifugal forces generated by the recirculation below the Taylor bubble lead to the effect of heterogeneity, which makes the profile of the radial liquid velocity component sharper with higher volume fraction of dispersed small bubbles. The volume fraction has a maximum value in the range of r/R = 0.5–0.6. Meanwhile, it is usually higher than 0.35, which means that larger dispersed bubbles can be formed by coalescences in this region. These calculated results are in good agreement with experimental results. The wall shear stress and the mass transfer coefficient with dispersed small bubbles are higher than those without dispersed small bubbles due to enhanced fluctuations. For short Taylor bubble length, the average mass transfer coefficient is increased when the gas or liquid superficial velocity is increased. However, there may be an inflection point at low mixture superficial velocities. For the slug with dispersed small bubbles, the product scales still cannot be damaged directly despite higher wall shear stress. In fact, the alternate wall shear stress and the pressure fluctuations perpendicular to the pipe wall with high frequency are the main cause for breaking the product scales.     

Robust design and numerical simulation on drag reduction by a mixture film for liquid turbulence in a channel

An important way of increasing the speed and lowering the fuel consumption of ships is by decreasing the frictional drag. One of the most promising techniques for reducing drag is the use of air bubbles. The goal of this investigation is to establish a set of optimum robust parametric levels for drag reduction by a mixture (air–water) film in turbulent channel flow. Based on the conditions laid out by the Taguchi orthogonal array method, turbulent flows, with air bubbles injected into a channel, are simulated using commercial computational fluid dynamics software. The local shear stress on the upper wall is computed to evaluate the efficiency of drag reduction. Many factors can affect drag reduction. The factors investigated in this study are the rate of air injection, bubble size, area of air injection, flow speed, and measured position of the shear stress. These factors have been investigated through the analysis of variance, which has revealed that the rate of air injection and water flow speed dominate the efficiency of drag reduction by a mixture film. According to the results, the drag can be reduced by an average of 83.4%; and when the configuration of the parametric levels is optimum the maximum drag reduction of 88.5% is achieved. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An investigation on near wall transport characteristics in an adiabatic upward gas–liquid two-phase slug flow

The near-wall transport characteristics, inclusive of mass transfer coefficient and wall shear stress, which have a great effect on gas–liquid two-phase flow induced internal corrosion of low alloy pipelines in vertical upward oil and gas mixing transport, have been both mechanistically and experimentally investigated in this paper. Based on the analyses on the hydrodynamic characteristics of an upward slug unit, the mass transfer in the near wall can be divided into four zones, Taylor bubble nose zone, falling liquid film zone, Taylor bubble wake zone and the remaining liquid slug zone; the wall shear stress can be divided into two zones, the positive wall shear stress zone associated with the falling liquid film and the negative wall shear stress zone associated with the liquid slug. Based on the conventional mass transfer and wall shear stress characteristics formulas of single phase liquid full-pipe turbulent flow, corrected normalized mass transfer coefficient formula and wall shear stress formula are proposed. The calculated results are in good agreement with the experimental data. The shear stress and the mass transfer coefficient in the near wall zone are increased with the increase of superficial gas velocity and decreased with the increase of superficial liquid velocity. The mass transfer coefficients in the falling liquid film zone and the wake zone of leading Taylor bubble are lager than those in the Taylor bubble nose zone and the remaining liquid slug zone, and the wall shear stress associated falling liquid film is larger than that associated the liquid slug. The mass transfer coefficient is within 10⁻³ m/s, and the wall shear stress below 10³ Pa. It can be concluded that the alternate wall shear stress due to upward gas–liquid slug flow is considered to be the major cause of the corrosion production film fatigue cracking.     

Air–water flow in a vertical pipe: experimental study of air bubbles in the vicinity of the wall

This study deals with the influence of bubbles on a vertical air–water pipe flow, for gas-lift applications. The effect of changing the bubble size is of particular interest as it has been shown to affect the pressure drop over the pipe. Local measurements on the bubbles characteristics in the wall region were performed, using standard techniques, such as high-speed video recording and optical fibre probe, and more specific techniques, such as two-phase hot film anemometry for the wall shear stress and conductivity measurement for the thickness of the liquid film at the wall. The injection of macroscopic air bubbles in a pipe flow was shown to increase the wall shear stress. Bubbles travelling close to the wall create a periodic perturbation. The injection of small bubbles amplifies this effect, because they tend to move in the wall region; hence, more bubbles are travelling close to the wall. A simple analysis based on a two-fluid set of equations emphasised the importance of the local gas fraction fluctuations on the wall shear stress.     

Bubble formation in co-fed gas–liquid flows in a rotor-stator spinning disc reactor

The gas–liquid flow in a rotor-stator spinning disc reactor, with co-feeding of gas and liquid, is studied for high gas volumetric throughflow rates and high gas/liquid volumetric flow ratios. High speed imaging and spectral analysis of pressure drop signals are employed to analyse the flow. Two mechanisms of bubble formation are observed, one due to gas overpressure leading to large irregular bubbles, and one due to liquid turbulent vortices leading to small, well-defined bubbles. The two mechanisms lead to three distinct gas dispersion regimes, distinguished by their characteristic oscillations in pressure drop. At low rotational Reynolds numbers (Re_ω < 0.4 · 10⁶), in the gas spillover regime, the gas is dispersed as large bubbles only. Above this critical Re_ω, small bubbles are sheared off as well, thus forming a heterogeneous dispersion. At sufficiently high Re_ω, depending on the gas flow rate, the gas is homogeneously dispersed as small bubbles. The maximum gas flow that can be dispersed as small bubbles is linearly proportional to the local energy dissipation rate. The understanding of the bubble formation mechanisms and pressure signature allows prediction and detection of the prevailing hydrodynamic regime in scaled up spinning disc reactors and for different reaction fluids.     

T型微通道反应器内气液两相流动机制及影响因素

基于液滴或气泡的多相微流控是近年来微流控技术中快速发展的重要分支之一.本文利用高速显微摄影技术和数字图像处理技术对T型微通道反应器内气液两相流动机制及影响因素进行实验研究.实验采用添加表面活性剂的海藻酸钠水溶液作为液相,空气作为气相.研究T型微通道反应器内气液两相流型的转变过程,并根据微通道内气泡的生成频率和生成气泡的长径比对气泡流进行分类.研究发现当前的进料方式下,可以观测到气泡流和分层流2种流型,且依据气泡生成频率和微通道内气泡的长径比可将气泡流划分为分散气泡流、短弹状气泡流和长弹状气泡流3种类型,并基于受力分析确定3种气泡流的形成机制分别为剪切机制、剪切-挤压机制和挤压机制.考察不同液相黏度和表面张力系数对不同类型气泡流范围的影响规律.结果表明:液相黏度相较于表面张力系数而言,对气泡流生成范围影响更大.给出不同类型气泡流流型转变条件的无量纲关系式,实现微通道生成微气泡过程的可控操作.      

Local characteristics of upward gas-liquid flows

The results of two-phase flow structure measurements in an upward gas-liquid flow in a 86.4 mm i.d. tube by the electrochemical and conductivity techniques are presented. Measurements were made in bubble and slug flow regimes at liquid flow rates ranging from 0.2 to 2 m/s.The flow instability and ambiguity in a bubble regime at low velocities is shown to exist. Great discrepancy between measured wall shear stress values and those predicted by the Lockhart-Martinelli model are due to the nonuniform distribution of gas over the tube cross section. Measurements of intensity of wall shear stress and liquid velocity fluctuations in a two-phase flow are presented.     

二维水平通道内流动沸腾换热的格子Boltzmann模拟

利用格子Boltzmann方法模拟二维水平通道内水的流动沸腾过程,获得不同壁面过热度下流型特点和不同因素对换热过程的影响规律。结果表明,随着壁面过热度升高,流道内流型依次经历从泡状流、弹状流到反环流的转变,平均热流密度和平均换热系数先增大后减小。入口流速降低会使流道内出现受限气泡流,核态沸腾受到抑制。提高入口流速能够有效促进气泡脱离,壁面平均换热系数随入口流速增大而增大,但增长速率有所减小。减小通道宽度有利于汽化现象发生,核态沸腾得到强化,壁面平均换热系数有所提高。     

The development of the structure of water – air bubble grid turbulence

The development of the turbulent flow field generated due to the interaction of grid turbulence with a swarm of bubbles is investigated experimentally, in a vertical channel of rectangular cross section. Void fraction and streamwise mean and rms velocity distributions have been measured at several distances from the grid, with an optical probe and Laser Doppler Velocimetry, in relation to the air flow rate ratio. The obtained results indicate that close to the grid the void fraction and velocity distributions are dictated by the bubble injectors’ location on the grid. Downstream the void fraction distribution changes to a double peak pattern. The velocity distribution is characterized by a shear layer between the wall area and the central area of the channel. The extend of this shear layer is increasing as the distance from the grid and the gas flow rate ratio are increasing, and is associated with a corresponding increase of the turbulence fluctuations. Autocorrelation and spectra measurements at the centre of the channel show a reduction of the flow scales for low void fraction. Consistently, power spectra distributions indicate that bubbles cause a redistribution of energy manifested by the relative enhancement of the intermediate scales’ energy content and a consequent reduction in the larger scales. These trends are gradually alleviated and reversed at large distances from the grid, as the air flow rate is increased.     

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.     

Particle imaging velocimetry of a wet aqueous foam with an underlying liquid film

 We investigate the utility of particle imaging velocimetry (PIV) for performing kinematic measurements in wet aqueous foam with a liquid film beneath it. The flow velocities are measured near the walls of a square cross-section horizontal duct. The flow velocities are useful for validating the rheological models. We show that there is a discrepancy between the velocity profiles in the wet foam and the Bingham plastic model of flow. The velocity measurements reveal a more complex flow pattern, which may be analysed following three different regimes: a plug flow, a shear flow in a vertical plane and a three-dimensional shear flow. The transition between the plug flow and the shear flows may be explained by a shear-induced migration of bubbles. Received: 25 April 2000 / Accepted: 26 February 2001     

Effect of a liquid dispersed phase on the wall flow structure in static mixer

The effect of a liquid dispersed on the wall flow structure in static mixer is analyzed by using an electrochemical method. Both laminar and turbulent flows have been investigated. The axial wall velocity gradient and turbulent intensity have been studied along the static mixer in both flow regimes and for different dispersed phase concentrations. The spectral analysis of the wall velocity gradient fluctuations was analyzed in the turbulent regime. For volume fraction higher than 5%, the effect of the dispersed liquid phase is very important for all the studied parameters. The turbulence associated to the dispersed phase leads to an increase of the energy dissipation in the static mixer and also to a modification of energy dissipation mechanism.     

Turbulent shear stress profiles in a bubbly channel flow assessed by particle tracking velocimetry

Particle tracking velocimetry (PTV) is applied to a bubbly two-phase turbulent flow in a horizontal channel at Re = 2 × 10⁴ to investigate the turbulent shear stress profile which had been altered by the presence of bubbles. Streamwise and vertical velocity components of liquid phase are obtained using a shallow focus imaging method under backlight photography. The size of bubbles injected through a porous plate in the channel ranged from 0.3 to 1.5 mm diameter, and the bubbles show a significant backward slip velocity relative to liquid flow. After bubbles and tracer particles are identified by binarizing the image, velocity of each phase and void fraction are profiled in a downstream region. The turbulent shear stress, which consists of three components in the bubbly two-phase flow, is computed by analysis of PTV data. The result shows that the fluctuation correlation between local void fraction and vertical liquid velocity provides a negative shear stress component which promotes frictional drag reduction in the bubbly two-phase layer. The paper also deals with the source of the negative shear stress considering bubble’s relative motion to liquid.     

A film-based wall shear stress sensor for wall-bounded turbulent flows

In wall-bounded turbulent flows, determination of wall shear stress is an important task. The main objective of the present work is to develop a sensor which is capable of measuring surface shear stress over an extended region applicable to wall-bounded turbulent flows. This sensor, as a direct method for measuring wall shear stress, consists of mounting a thin flexible film on the solid surface. The sensor is made of a homogeneous, isotropic, and incompressible material. The geometry and mechanical properties of the film are measured, and particles with the nominal size of 11 μm in diameter are embedded on the film’s surface to act as markers. An optical technique is used to measure the film deformation caused by the flow. The film has typically deflection of less than 2% of the material thickness under maximum loading. The sensor sensitivity can be adjusted by changing the thickness of the layer or the shear modulus of the film’s material. The paper reports the sensor fabrication, static and dynamic calibration procedure, and its application to a fully developed turbulent channel flow at Reynolds numbers in the range of 90,000–130,000 based on the bulk velocity and channel full height. The results are compared to alternative wall shear stress measurement methods.     

气泡夹带对壁面油膜流动特性的影响

油-气润滑系统工作过程中,润滑油膜受微油滴冲击和压缩空气扰动影响易形成气泡夹带现象,气泡夹带行为将对壁面润滑油膜层的形成及流动过程产生重要影响。基于VOF数值模拟方法,对含气泡油膜沿倾斜壁面的流动行为进行研究,考察了气泡的存在对油膜形态和流动速度的影响规律,以及气泡破裂阶段空腔邻域内流体压力变化特性。研究表明,油膜夹带气泡的形变和迁移诱发气泡周围微流场的速度扰动现象,导致气液界面处产生非均匀速度梯度分布,进而引发油膜表面的形态波动。气泡发生破裂时,油膜空穴部位发生明显的正负压力波动现象,气泡附近壁面将承受一定的交变载荷作用。     

Measurement of liquid film thickness in micro square channel

In micro channels, slug flow becomes one of the main flow regimes due to strong surface tension. In micro channel slug flow, elongated bubble flows with the thin liquid film confined between the bubble and the channel wall. Liquid film thickness is an important parameter in many applications, e.g., micro heat exchanger, micro reactor, coating process etc. In the present study, liquid film thickness in micro square channels is measured locally and instantaneously with the confocal method. Square channels with hydraulic diameter of D_h = 0.3, 0.5 and 1.0 mm are used. In order to investigate the effect of inertial force on the liquid film thickness, three working fluids, ethanol, water and FC-40 are used. At small capillary numbers, liquid film at the channel center becomes very thin and the bubble interface is not axisymmetric. However, as capillary number increases, bubble interface becomes axisymmetric. Transition from non-axisymmetric to axisymmetric flow pattern starts from lower capillary number as Reynolds number increases. An empirical correlation for predicting axisymmetric bubble radius based on capillary number and Weber number is proposed from the present experimental data.     

PIV experiments in rough-wall, laminar-to-turbulent, oscillatory boundary-layer flows

Exploratory measurements of oscillatory boundary layers were conducted over a smooth and two different rough beds spanning the laminar, transitional and turbulent flow regimes using a multi-camera 2D-PIV system in a small oscillatory-flow tunnel (Admiraal et al. in J Hydraul Res 44(4):437–450, 2006). Results show how the phase lag between bed shear stress and free-stream velocity is better defined when the integral of the momentum equation is used to estimate the bed shear stress. Observed differences in bed shear stress and phase lag between bed shear stress and free-stream velocity are highly sensitive to the definition of the bed position (y = b). The underestimation of turbulent stresses close to the wall is found to explain such differences when using the addition of Reynolds and viscous stresses to define both the bed shear stress and the phase lag. Regardless of the flow regime, in all experiments, boundary-layer thickness reached its maximum value at a phase near the flow reversal at the wall. Friction factors in smooth walls are better estimated using a theoretical equation first proposed by Batchelor (An introduction to fluid dynamics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1967) while the more recent empirical predictor of Pedocchi and Garcia (J Hydraul Res 47(4):438–444, 2009a) was found to be appropriate for estimating friction coefficients in the laminar-to-turbulent transition regime.