Experimental Investigation of Flow Characteristic of Air-Water Two-Phase Flow under High Gravity

Abstract

Experiments on air-water two-phase flows under high-G (high-gravity) conditions were conducted on a rotating platform. Data on air-water flows in a 10-mm diameter pipe were obtained for different void fractions, flow rates and test pipeline positions at 0 G to 2.5 G. The two-phase flow characteristics under high-G conditions were obtained by analyzing the effects of acceleration on flow rate, velocity, void fraction, pressures, and flow resistance. The results show that acceleration dramatically impacts air-water two-phase flow in pipes, especially flow rate, pressure, and pressure drop. The interaction between air and water under high-G conditions becomes severe as do the disturbance and instability between phases. Therefore, the changes in flow parameters are more severe in air-water two-phase pipe flow under high-G conditions.