Studies of gas-liquid two-phase flows in horizontal mini tubes using 3D reconstruction and numerical methods

Abstract

In order to study the characteristics of 3D gas-liquid interfaces, flow pattern transitions, and void fraction in mini tubes, virtual multi-vision experiments and numerical simulations are conducted in a 5.16 mm horizontal tube with air as the dispersed phase and water as the continuous phase. Air and water flow velocities range from 0.024 to 12.330 m/s and from 0.039 to 0.942 m/s, respectively. A simple setup is adopted to capture images synchronously from two orthogonal views with a prism. 3D gas-liquid interfaces of bubbly, slug, and annular flows in horizontal mini tubes are reconstructed in Matlab based on the captured images. Flow pattern transitions and void fractions with 3D interfaces are comprehensively investigated both experimentally and numerically. The numerical results fit well with experimental data in terms of 3D interfaces, cross-sectional and volumetric void fractions. The results show that three flow patterns (bubbly, slug, and annular) are observed experimentally and numerically. The increases in both bubble size and interfacial fluctuation are the main reasons for flow pattern transitions. Two peaks are observed in the Probability Density Functions figures for intermittent flows, while only one peak is obtained for annular flow. The volumetric void fraction fits well with the homogenous model when the gas quality is lower than 0.8, while the slip ratio is around 1. The velocity difference between the two phases increases dramatically at a higher gas quality, leading to a lower void fraction than the predicted value by the homogenous model. The results agree well with empirical correlations with a mean average deviation about 10%, which validates the experimental and numerical methods in the present work.