Air-Water Annular Two-Phase Flow in Horizontal and Near Horizontal Tubes

Abstract

Experimental investigation was conducted into horizontal and near horizontal air-water annular two-phase flows. Following the previous papers, attention was paid in the present paper to the structure of the disturbance wave flow and the amount of liquid transported by disturbance waves. The effect of the angle of inclination of the test tube was also examined. The results are summarized as follows: (1) The angle of inclination is irrelevant to the passing frequency, distance and scale of disturbance waves when it is within 15 degrees of the horizontal. (2) Wave velocity, passing frequency and wave scale are correlated to within ±30% independent of the pipe inclination. (3) The amount of liquid climbed along the tube wall by the disturbance waves is not significantly affected by the tube inclination angle. It was also found that the increase in the rate at which liquid climbed along the tube wall, corresponding to an increase in superficial water velocity, is less than the increase in the amount of liquid transported by the disturbance waves.