Experimental investigation on liquid film asymmetry in air-water horizontal annular flow

Abstract

The asymmetry of circumferential liquid film thickness distribution in an air-water horizontal annular flow has been experimentally investigated using superficial gas and liquid velocity of 10 – 40 m/s and 0.025 to 0.4 m/s, respectively. In general, the film at the bottom of the pipe will be thicker than that of the side and the top. The asymmetry parameter could be expressed in the ratio of average film thickness to the bottom film thickness or the ratio of the top-to-bottom film thickness. Measurement using compact multiple probe instrument shows that the circumferential film thickness distribution is strongly affected by superficial gas velocity. The higher gas velocity results in the more uniform liquid film circumferential distribution. In comparison to the existing correlations, the asymmetry parameter resulted from the experiment shows a good agreement. It is also shown from the experiment that a less symmetry of film thickness distribution is resulted when the gravity force is dominant. A more symmetry distribution is resulted when the inertial force takes control.