Measurements of interfacial areas in cocurrent gas—liquid downward flow

Abstract

AbstractGas‐liquid interfacial areas were measured for cocurrent downward flow of the two‐phase mixtures in a 2.54 cm ID open tube. The liquid phase was a dilute solution of aqueous sodium hydroxide and the gas phase was a mixture of air and carbon dioxide. Interfacial areas were determined by sampling the liquid phase and applying the technique of absorption with fast chemical reaction. Data were obtained in the froth flow regime and in the falling bubbly film regime which does not occur in horizontal or vertical upflow. Measured interfacial areas ranged from 0.7 to 2.5 cm−1. These values are lower than those for downflow in a 10‐mm tube(10) by a factor of about two, suggesting a dependence on the tube diameter. A correlation in terms of Jepsen's frictional energy dissipation parameter \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ \left( {\frac{{\Delta P}} {{\Delta L}}} \right)(V_L ^ \circ + V_G ^ \circ ) $\end{document} is presented for the interfacial area.