Investigation of the inner structure of gas–liquid flow in airlift pumps by laser‐high speed visualization technology

Abstract

AbstractExperiments were conducted to investigate the inner structure of gas–liquid flow in airlift pumps by a laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV) system and a laser‐high speed photography. The measured central plane of the riser pipe was illustrated by a laser device, and the corresponding gas–liquid flow in this plane was recorded by a high speed camera. The results showed it was the wispy annular flow, rather than the annular flow, dominated the pump performance under a high gas flow rate. This wispy annular had a thick film with a maximal value 0.2 times of pipe diameter, and it kept pump working with a high output liquid flow rate at large gas flow rates. Moreover, new flow regime maps were presented with a function of accurately estimating the flow regime transition and presenting the airlift pump performance.