Counter-current gas–liquid flow in a vertical narrow channel—Liquid film characteristics and flooding phenomena

Results are reported of an experimental investigation of gas–liquid counter-current flow in a vertical rectangular channel with 10 mm gap, at rather short distances from liquid entry. Flooding experiments are carried out using air and various liquids (i.e., water, 1.5% and 2.5% aqueous butanol solutions) at liquid Reynolds numbers Re_L < 350. Visual observations and fast recordings suggest that the onset of flooding at low Re_L (<250) is associated with liquid entrainment from isolated waves, whereas “local bridging” is dominant at the higher Re_L examined in this study. Significant reduction of flooding velocities is observed with decreasing interfacial tension, as expected. Instantaneous film thickness measurements show that under conditions approaching flooding, a sharp increase of the mean film thickness, of mean wave amplitude and of the corresponding RMS values takes place. Film thickness power spectra provide evidence that by increasing gas flow the wave structure is significantly affected; e.g., the dominant wave frequency is drastically reduced. These data are complemented by similar statistical information from instantaneous wall shear stress measurements made with an electrochemical technique. Power spectra of film thickness and of shear stress display similarities indicative of the strong effect of waves on wall stress; additional evidence of the drastic changes in the liquid flow field near the wall due to the imposed gas flow, even at conditions below flooding, is provided by the RMS values of the wall stress. A simple model is presented for predicting the mean film thickness and mean wall shear stress under counter-current gas–liquid flow, below critical flooding velocities.