Interfacial area transport across a 90° vertical-upward elbow in air–water bubbly two-phase flow

Abstract

This study develops a one-group interfacial area transport equation (IATE) for vertical-upward-to-horizontal air–water bubbly two-phase flows through a 90° elbow with a non-dimensional centerline radius of curvature of three. In order to develop the model, an extensive database is established by acquiring local two-phase flow parameters using a four-sensor conductivity probe upstream and downstream of the elbow. The data show there exist three characteristic regions in void distribution, including a bimodal-to-bimodal region, a bimodal-to-single-peaked region, and a developed horizontal flow region with void accumulated at the top of the pipe cross-section. Using the database, the preliminary dissipation length model developed by Yadav et al. (2014b) is improved by including the transition region near the exit of the elbow in addition to the dissipation region. To close the IATE model, the bubble velocity advection term and bubble interaction terms in the IATE are correlated with the parameter characterizing the “elbow-strength”. The two-phase pressure drop across the elbow is modeled using the modified Lockhart–Martinelli correlation which takes into account the minor loss effect. The closed IATE model is implemented to predict interfacial area transport in vertical-upward-to-horizontal two-phase flow. It is found that the developed model is capable of predicting interfacial area concentration with an average percent difference of less than ±6%.