Experimental investigation on the interfacial characteristics of stratified air-water two-phase flow in a horizontal pipe

Abstract

The interfacial wave characteristics of stratified air-water two-phase flow in a horizontal pipe were experimentally investigated by using the flush-mounted constant electric current method (CECM) sensors. The experiments were conducted in a horizontal two-phase flow loop 9.5 m long (L) consisting of transparent acrylic pipe of 26 mm i.d. (D). To obtain the stratified flow pattern, the superficial gas and liquid velocities were set to 1.02 – 3.77 m/s and 0.016 – 0.92 m/s, respectively. Several interfacial wave patterns as described by several investigators were identified. The common parameters such as liquid hold-up, probability distribution function, wave velocity and wave frequency were investigated as the function of the liquid and gas flow rates. The interfacial curvature was calculated on the basis of the liquid hold-up data from the CECM sensors and the liquid film thickness data from the image processing technique in the previous work. As a result, it was found that the mean liquid hold-up decreases with the increase of the superficial gas velocity. In the same sub flow pattern, the wave velocity increases as the superficial gas velocity increases. On the other hand, in the two-dimensional wave region, the dominant frequency decreases with the increase of the superficial liquid velocity.