Characteristics of counter-current gas-liquid two-phase flow and its limitations in vertical annuli

Abstract

This paper aims to characterise the complex flow behaviour of counter-current gas-liquid flows in concentric vertical annuli over a wide range of gas and liquid flowrates. The experiments were performed with air and water in two different annulus sizes: (a) a 100 mm hydraulic diameter annulus with a 170 mm diameter outer pipe and a 70 mm diameter inner pipe; and (b) a 19 mm hydraulic diameter annulus between 44 mm and 25 mm pipes, to investigate the effect of flow geometry on flow structure. Flow regimes were identified quantitatively by applying fast Fourier transform (FFT) on the associated pressure fluctuation signals, collected at 10 Hz and 100 Hz frequency. Video images captured at 4,000 fps with a high-speed camera were used in a visual analysis of the flow regimes to verify the FFT results. Furthermore, flow regime transitions and their underlying mechanisms were determined by their associated pressure gradient and void fractions, as well as analysis of temporal pressure signals. The commonly described slug flow regime, consisting of stable Taylor bubbles traversing the length of the channel, was not observed in the larger annulus. However, the FFT of the pressure signals indicate that unstable Taylor bubbles form as a result of bubble coalescence but collapse due to instability at the gas-liquid interface, known as Rayleigh-Taylor instability. Therefore, the apparent slug-churn flow regime was classified as a highly turbulent heterogeneous flow, developing at superficial gas velocities from 0.265 to 3.968 m/s and superficial liquid velocities from 0.004 to 0.147 m/s. Interestingly, annular flow regime did not develop in either of the tested small and large annuli. The onsets of counter-current flow limitations, or flooding, were identified in the 100 mm hydraulic diameter annulus with gas flooding due to very high gas flow rates and liquid flooding due to very high liquid flow rates. The mechanism that initiates gas flooding was observed to be the formation of large waves flowing upward near the water inlet point, with counter-current flow observed below the water inlet point at the onset of gas flooding. Clarity was also provided on the concepts of flooding and zero liquid penetration for the cases of flow in a water filled channel and a falling film, and a new empirical correlation for the onset of flooding was developed.