Two-phase flow pattern identification in CAES systems with dimensional analysis coupled with support vector machine

Abstract

Two-phase bubbly flow can lead to challenges during the charging period for hydraulically-compensated Compressed Air Energy Storage systems. In this study, upward two-phase flow systems have been investigated in large diameter vertical pipes to better understand when the transitions to problematic flow regimes occur. A comprehensive dimensional analysis was conducted, considering vertical pipe geometry and fluid thermophysical properties. Nine dimensionless parameters and three two-phase flow maps were created. The plot of liquid Reynolds number, ReL, over the Two-phase Reynolds number, Retp,made classification between the Bubbly, Slug, and Churn flow difficult for large diameter pipes. The plot of the two-phase Capillary number,Catp, over the liquid Reynolds number, ReL, showed large overlap of the data sets extracted from the literature. This may have been due to the weakness of the capillary number in defining the larger pipe flow behaviours. The last flow map based on the Slippage number, Sltp, versus the two-phase Froude number, Frtp, showed an exponential decay relationship between the Froude and Slippage parameter. When this was converted to the semi-log scale it provided a valuable classification map of two-phase flow. Finally, a Support Vector Machine (SVM) technique applied to the 2D plot of (Sltp- Frtp), gave a useful transition boundary to separate regimes in air-water upward flows in large diameter pipes.