Effect of Gravity on Flow Characteristics of Developing Vertical Upward Bubbly Flow (1st Report, Measurement of Local Flow Parameter)

In relation to the development of the interfacial area transport equation, axial developments of void fraction profile, bubble number density, interfacial area concentration and Sauter mean diameter of adiabatic nitrogen-water bubbly flows in a 9 mm-diameter pipe were measured by using a stereo image-processing method under normal- and micro-gravity environment. The flow measurements were performed at four axial locations (axial distance from the inlet normalized by the pipe diameter, z/D = 5, 20, 40 and 60) at various flow conditions of superficial gas velocity (0.00823-0.0303 m/s) and superficial liquid velocity (0.147-0.907 m/s). The effect of gravity on radial distribution of bubbles and axial developments of two-phase flow parameter was discussed in detail based on the obtained data and the visual observation.

This study aims at the measurements of the axial developments of flow parameters such as void fraction profile, interfacial area concentration and Sauter mean diameter of adiabatic nitrogen-water bubbly flows in a 9 mm-diameter pipe by using a stereo image-processing method at normal- and micro-gravity conditions. The flow measurements were performed at four axial locations (axial distance from the inlet normalized by the pipe diameter, z/D = 5, 20, 40 and 60) at various flow conditions of superficial gas velocity (0.00840–0.0298 m/s) and superficial liquid velocity (0.138–0.914 m/s). The effect of gravity on radial distribution of bubbles and the axial developments of two-phase flow parameter was discussed in detail based on the obtained data and the visual observation.

In relation to the development of the interfacial area transport equation, axial developments of void fraction profile, bubble number density, interfacial area concentration and Sauter mean diameter of adiabatic nitrogen-water bubbly flows in a 9 mm-diameter pipe were measured by using a Stereo Image-processing Method under normal- and micro-gravity environment. The flow measurements were performed at four axial locations (axial distance from the inlet normalized by the pipe diameter = 5, 20, 40 and 60) under various flow conditions of superficial gas velocity (0.00823–0.0303 m/s) and superficial liquid velocity (0.138–0.915 m/s). The interfacial area transport mechanism under microgravity environment was discussed in detail based on the obtained data and the visual observation. These data can be used for the development of reliable constitutive relations which reflect the rigorous transfer mechanisms in two-phase flow under microgravity environment.

In pursuit of the development of the interfacial area transport equation, the axial development of void fraction profile, bubble number density, interfacial area concentration and Sauter mean diameter of adiabatic nitrogen-water bubbly flows in a 9 mm-diameter pipe were measured in normal and microgravity environments using stereo image-processing. The flow measurements were performed at four axial locations (axial distance from the inlet normalized by the pipe diameter, z/D = 5.0, 20, 40 and 60) at various flow conditions of superficial gas velocity (0.00823–0.0303 m/s) and superficial liquid velocity (0.147–0.907 m/s). The effect of gravity on the radial distribution of bubbles and the axial development of two-phase flow parameters is discussed in detail based on the measured data and the visual observation.

In relation to the development of the interfacial area transport equation, a precise database of the axial development of void fraction profile, interfacial area concentration and Sauter mean bubble diameter in an adiabatic nitrogen-water bubbly flow in a 9 mm-diameter pipe was constructed for normal and microgravity conditions using stereo image-processing. The flow measurements were performed at four axial locations (axial distance from the inlet normalized by the pipe diameter, z/D = 5, 20, 40 and 60) and with various flows: superficial gas velocity of 0.00840–0.0298 m/s, and superficial liquid velocity of 0.138–0.914 m/s. The effect of gravity on radial distribution of bubbles and the axial development of two-phase flow parameters is discussed in detail based on the obtained database and visual observation.

In relation to the development of the interfacial area transport equation, axial developments of one-dimensional void fraction, bubble number density, interfacial area concentration, and Sauter mean diameter of adiabatic nitrogen-water bubbly flows in a 9 mm-diameter pipe were measured by using an image-processing method under microgravity environment. The flow measurements were performed at four axial locations (axial distance from the inlet normalized by the pipe diameter = 7, 30, 45 and 60) under various flow conditions of superficial gas velocity (0.0083 m/s ∼ 0.022 m/s) and superficial liquid velocity (0.073 m/s ∼ 0.22 m/s). The interfacial area transport mechanism under microgravity environment was discussed in detail based on the obtained data and the visual observation. These data can be used for the development of reliable constitutive relations which reflect the true transfer mechanisms in two-phase flow under microgravity environment.

Interfacial area transport of bubbly flow under microgravity environment

Characteristics of developing vertical bubbly flow under normal and microgravity conditions

Local flow measurements were performed for vertical upward bubbly flows in a 9 mm-diameter pipe at normal- and micro-gravity conditions. A stereo image-processing method was used for measuring void fraction profile, interfacial area concentration and Sauter mean diameter. The flow measurements were performed at four axial locations (axial distance from the inlet normalized by the pipe diameter, z/D=5, 20, 40 and 60) at various flow conditions of superficial gas velocity (0.00840-0.0298 m/s) and superficial liquid velocity (0.138-0.914 m/s). By taking into account the normalized parameters on void peak fraction and void peak intensity in pipe cross-section, the phase distribution pattern was quantitatively-classified into three patterns : a wall peak, a core peak and an intermediate peak. The phase distribution pattern maps were newly presented for vertical upward bubbly flows at normal-and micro-gravity conditions.

The axial development of the void fraction, interfacial area concentration and Sauter mean bubble diameter profiles of adiabatic air-water bubbly flows in 5.0 and 3.0 mm-diameter pipes were measured using a stereo image processing method under two gravity conditions, vertical upward (normal gravity) and microgravity. The flow measurements were performed at four axial locations. The axial distances from the pipe inlet (z) normalized by the pipe diameter (D) were z/D = 5.5, 34, 72 and 110 for 5.0 mm-diameter pipe and z/D = 15, 62, 120 and 188 for 3.0 mm-diameter pipe. Data were collected for superficial gas and liquid velocities respectively in the ranges of 0.00434–0.0500 m/s and 0.205–0.754 m/s. The effect of gravity on the radial distribution of bubbles and the axial development of two-phase flow parameters is discussed in detail, based on the obtained database. The phase distributions in pipe cross-sections were classified into 3 basic patterns: core peak, intermediate peak and wall peak distributions, based on two normalized parameters: a normalized void peak position and a normalized void peak intensity. Phase distribution pattern maps under normal and microgravity conditions were generated for bubbly flows in 5.0 and 3.0 mm-diameter pipes. The data obtained in the current experiment are expected to contribute to the benchmarking of CFD simulation of void fraction and interfacial area concentration distribution patterns in forced convective pipe flow under microgravity conditions.

In relation to the development of the interfacial area transport equation, a precise database of the axial development of void fraction profile, interfacial area concentration and Sauter mean bubble diameter in an adiabatic nitrogen-water bubbly flow in a 5 mm-diameter mini pipe was constructed for normal and microgravity conditions using stereo image-processing. The flow measurements were performed at four axial locations (axial distance from the inlet normalized by the pipe diameter, z/D = 5.5, 34, 72 and 110) and with various flows: superficial gas velocity of 0.00434–0.0420 m/s, and superficial liquid velocity of 0.239–0.949 m/s. The effect of gravity on radial distribution of bubbles and the axial development of two-phase flow parameters is discussed in detail based on the obtained database and visual observation.

Effect of inlet gas and liquid velocity profiles on one-group interfacial area transport equation in a vertical large rectangular channel

Radial distributions of solid-water flows in a 9 mm-diameter pipe were measured by a stereo image-processing method and a hough transform method at normal- and micro-gravity conditions. The flow measurements were performed at an axial locations (axial distance from the inlet normalized by the pipe diameter=40) under various flow conditions of superficial liquid velocity (0.355-1.59 m/s). The effect of gravity on phase distribution patterns was discussed based on the obtained experimental data.

Development of one-group interfacial area transport equation in bubbly flow systems

Accurate prediction of the interfacial area concentration is essential to successful development of the interfacial transfer terms in the two-fluid model. Mechanistic modeling of the interfacial area concentration entirely relies on accurate local flow measurements over extensive flow conditions and channel geometries. From this point of view, accurate measurements of flow parameters such as void fraction, interfacial area concentration, gas velocity, bubble Sauter mean diameter, and bubble number density were performed by the image processing method at five axial locations in vertical upward bubbly flows using a 1.02 mm-diameter pipe. The frictional pressure loss was also measured by a differential pressure cell. In the experiment, the superficial liquid velocity and the void fraction ranged from 1.02 m/s to 4.89 m/s and from 0.980% to 24.6%, respectively. The obtained data give near complete information on the time-averaged local hydrodynamic parameters of two-phase flow. These data can be used for the development of reliable constitutive relations which reflect the true transfer mechanisms in two-phase flow. As the first step to understand the flow characteristics in mini-channels, the applicability of the existing drift-flux model, interfacial area correlation, and frictional pressure correlation was examined by the data obtained in the mini-channel.