The French experience of twenty-five years of co-operative research programs in the field of two-phase flows

Abstract

Gas-liquid or liquid-vapour two-phase flows are encountered in many industrial systems and processes, such as nuclear reactors, cryogenic engines for space rockets, chemical engineering contactors, oil wells, pipelines and conventional components in use in the thermal industry (e.g. evaporators or condensers). Research and Development projects undertaken by French laboratories are reviewed and illustrated in this paper. Co-operative research programs on two-phase flows have been carried out in France for more than twenty-five years and have led to a network of French laboratories which are now internationally recognised. They have also made possible the transfer of technology resources from basic research to industrial applications.