Gas–liquid two-phase flow in narrow horizontal annuli

Abstract

Experimental data associated with the two-phase flow regimes, void fraction and pressure drop in horizontal, narrow, concentric annuli are presented. Two transparent test sections, one with inner and outer diameters of 6.6 and 8.6 mm, and an overall length of 46.0 cm; the other with 33.2 and 35.2 mm diameters and 43.0 cm length, respectively, were used. Near-atmospheric air and water constituted the gas and liquid phases, respectively. The gas and liquid superficial velocities were varied in the 0.02–57 and 0.1–6.1 m s −1 ranges, respectively. The major two-phase flow patterns observed included bubbly, slug/plug, churn, stratified, and annular. Transitional regimes, where the characteristics of two distinct flow regimes could be observed in the test sections, included bubbly-plug, stratified-slug and annular-slug. The obtained flow regime maps were different than flow regime maps typical of large horizontal channels and microchannels with circular cross-sections. They were also different from the flow regimes in rectangular thin channels. The measured average void fractions for the two test sections were compared with predictions of several empirical correlations. Overall, a correlation proposed by Butterworth [Butterworth, D., 1975. A comparison of some void fraction relationships for co-current gas–liquid flow. Int. J. Multiphase Flow 1, 845–850] based on the results of Lockhart and Martinelli (1949) provided the most accurate prediction of the measured void fractions. The measured pressure drops were compared with predictions of several empirical correlations. The correlation of Friedel [Friedel, L., 1979. Improved friction pressure drop correlations for horizontal and vertical two-phase pipe flow. 3R Int. 18, 485–492] was found to provide the best overall agreement with the data.