Two-Phase Flow Modeling in Microchannels and Minichannels

Abstract

In the present paper, three different methods for two-phase flow modeling in microchannels and minichannels are presented. They are effective property models for homogeneous two-phase flows, an asymptotic modeling approach for separated two-phase flow, and bounds on two-phase frictional pressure gradient. In the first method, new definitions for two-phase viscosity are proposed using a one dimensional transport analogy between thermal conductivity of porous media and viscosity in two-phase flow. These new definitions can be used to compute the two-phase frictional pressure gradient using the homogeneous modeling approach. In the second method, a simple semi-theoretical method for calculating two-phase frictional pressure gradient using asymptotic analysis is presented. Two-phase frictional pressure gradient is expressed in terms of the asymptotic single-phase frictional pressure gradients for liquid and gas flowing alone. In the final method, simple rules are developed for obtaining rational bounds for two-phase frictional pressure gradient in minichannels and microchannels. In all cases, the proposed modeling approaches are validated using the published experimental data.