Two-phase flow pattern recognition in a varying section based on void fraction and pressure measurements

Abstract

In a hydroelectric turbine, the air injected during operation has an impact on the yield of the machine leading to important losses of energy. To understand those losses and be able to reduce them, a first step is to understand the pattern of the two-phase flows and describe their characteristics in the turbine. Those two-phase flows can be bubbly, intermittent, or annular, with different types of intermittent flow possible. Two-phase flow patterns are well defined in classical geometries such as cylinders with reliable descriptions available [5]. But, there is a critical lack of knowledge for flow patterns in other geometries. In our present work we take interest into a geometry that is a pipe with periodical changes of the section and realize a flow pattern map. To realize this map, we measure the pressure variations and void fraction fluctuations while changing the flow rates of water and air in our test section. We then use our physical understanding of the phenomena to analyze data and identify different flow patterns, characterize them, and build a new flow pattern map.