An Investigation on the Void Fraction for upward Gas-Liquid Slug Flow in Vertical Pipe

In order to investigate the influence of the entrance effect on the spatial distribution of phases, the experiments on gas-liquid two-phase slug flow in a vertical pipe of 0.03m ID were carried out by using optical probes and an EKTAPRO 1000 high speed motion analyzer. It demonstrates that the radial profile of slug flow void fraction is parabolic. Influenced by the falling liquid film, the radial profile curve of liquid slug void fraction in the wake region is also parabolic. Since fully turbulent velocity distribution is built up in the developed region,the void fraction profile in this region is the saddle type. At given superficial liquid velocity, the liquid slug void fraction increases with gas velocity. The radial profiles of liquid slug void fraction at different axial locations are all saddle curves, but void fraction is obviously high around the centerline in the entrance region. The nearer the measuring station is from the entrance, the farther the peak location is away from the wall.

Experimental Investigation of Vibration Response of A Free-Hanging Flexible Riser Induced by Internal Gas-Liquid Slug Flow

The vibration response of a free-hanging flexible riser induced by internal gas-liquid slug flow was studied experimentally in a small-diameter tube model based on Froude number criterion. The flow regime in a curved riser model and the response displacements of the riser were simultaneously recorded by high speed cameras. The gas superficial velocity ranges from 0.1 m/s to 0.6 m/s while the liquid superficial velocity from 0.06 m/s to 0.3 m/s.Severe slugging type 3, unstable oscillation flow and relatively stable slug flow were observed in the considered flow rates. Severe slugging type 3 characterized by premature gas penetration occurs at relatively low flow rates. Both the cycle time and slug length become shorter as the gas flow rate increases. The pressure at the riser base undergoes a longer period and larger amplitude of fluctuation as compared with the other two flow regimes. Additionally, severe slugging leads to the most vigorous in-plane vibration. However, the responses in the vertical and horizontal directions are not synchronized. The vertical vibration is dominated by the second mode while the horizontal vibration is dominated by the first mode. Similar to the vortex-induced vibration, three branches are identified as initial branch, build-up branch and descending branch for the response versus the mixture velocity of gas-liquid flow.

Development of Liquid Slug Length in Gas-Liquid Slug Flow along Horizontal Pipeline: Experiment and Simulation

The liquid slug length distribution is crucial for designing the downstream processing system with mul-tiphase pipeline. Experiments were conducted in a 133m long horizontal test loop. The measurements were per-formed by conductivity probes to determine the liquid slug length distribution. The data covered both the slug and plug flow regimes. From experimental results, the mean liquid slug lengths were relatively insensitive to gas and liquid flow rates in the higher mixture velocity range. But in the lower mixture velocity range, the mean liquid slug length decreased and then increased with mixture velocity. It shows that the development length of slug flow was longer than x/D=1157. A slug tracking model was adapted to study the evolution of liquid slug length distribution in a horizontal pipeline. In the present model, the wake effect of elongated bubble and the pressure drop due to accel-eration are taken into account and random slug lengths are introduced at the entrance. The results of the model are compared with the measured slug length distributions of slug flow regime. It shows that the predicted mean and maximum slug lengths are in agreement with the experimental data at x/D=1157 and the form of the slug length distributions is also predicted well by the model.

Distribution of void fraction for gas-liquid slug flow in aninclined pipe

In order to investigate the effect of inclination angle on the spatial distribution of phases, experiments on gas-liquid two-phase slug flow in an inclined pipe were carried out by using the optical probe and an EKTAPRO 1000 high speed motion analyzer. It has been demonstrated that the inclination angle and the mixture velocity are important parameters to influence the distribution of void fraction for upward slug flow in the inclined pipe. At high mixture velocity, the gas phase profile is axial symmetry in the cross-section of the pipe. This is similar to that for vertical slug flow. In contrast, most of the gas phase is located near the upper pipe wall at low mixture velocity. By measuring the axial variation of void fraction along the liquid slug, it can be concluded that there is a high void fraction wake region with length of 3～4D in the front of liquid slug. In the fully developed zone of liquid slug, the peak value of the void fraction is near the upper wall.

A New Device for Gas-Liquid Flow Measurements Relying on Forced Annular Flow

A new measurement device,consisting of swirling blades and capsule-shaped throttling elements,is proposed in this study to eliminate typical measurement errors caused by complex flow patterns in gas-liquid flow.The swirling blades are used to transform the complex flow pattern into a forced annular flow.Drawing on the research of existing blockage flow meters and also exploiting the single-phase flow measurement theory,a formula is introduced to measure the phase-separated flow of gas and liquid.The formula requires the pressure ratio,Lockhart-Martinelli number(L-M number),and the gas phase Froude number.The unknown parameters appearing in the formula are fitted through numerical simulation using computational fluid dynamics(CFD),which involves a comprehensive analysis of the flow field inside the device from multiple perspectives,and takes into account the influence of pressure fluctuations.Finally,the measurement model is validated through an experimental error analysis.The results demonstrate that the measurement error can be maintained within±8%for various flow patterns,including stratified flow,bubble flow,and wave flow.

Effects of channel wall wettability on gas-liquid dynamics mass transfer under Taylor flow in a serpentine microchannel

The wall wettability of microchannels plays an important role in the gas-liquid mass transfer dynamics under Taylor flow.In this study,we regulated the contact angle of the wall surface through surface chemical grafting polymerization under controlled experimental conditions.The dynamic changes of CO_(2)bubbles flowing along the microchannel were captured by a high-speed video camera mounted on a stereo microscope,whilst a unit cell model was employed to theoretically investigate the gas-liquid mass transfer dynamics.We quantitatively characterized the effects of wall wettability,specifically the contact angle,on the formation mechanism of gas bubbles and mass transfer process experimentally.The results revealed that the gas bubble velocity,the overall volumetric liquid phase mass transfer coefficients(kLa),and the specific interfacial area(a)all increased with the increase of the contact angle.Conversely,gas bubble length and leakage flow decreased.Furthermore,we proposed a new modified model to predict the gas-liquid two-phase mass transfer performance,based on van Baten’s and Yao’s models.Our proposed model was observed to agree reasonably well with experimental observations.

A MODEL FOR LIQUID SLUG LENGTH DISTRIBUTION IN VERTICAL GAS-LIQUID SLUG FLOW

The slug length and the trailing Taylor bubble velocity in an upward vertical slug flow were measured by using the optical probes and the EKTAPRO 1000 high speed motion analyzer. The correlation between the trailing bubble velocity and the length of liquid slug ahead of that bubble is derived from the experimental data. Based on this correlation as well as the bubble overtaking mechanism, a model for the slug length distribution at any designated locations along the pipe is proposed. The predicted results are in agreement with the experimental data.

A Hydrodynamic Modei for Slug Frequency in Horizontal Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow

The prediction of slug frequency has important significance on gas-liquid two-phase flow. A hydrody-namic modei was put forward to evaluate slug frequency for horizontal two-phase flow, based on the dependence of slug frequency on the frequency of unstable interfacial wave. Using air and water, experimental verification of the modei was carried out in a large range of flow parameters. Six electrical probes were installed at different positions of a horizontal plexiglass pipe to detect slug frequency development. The pipe is 30m long and its inner diameter is 24 mm. It is observed experimentally that the interfacial wave frequency at the inlet is about l to 3 times the frequency of stable slug. The slug frequencies predicted by the modei fit well with Tronconi (1990) modei and the experimental data. The combination of the hydrodynamic modei and the experimental data results in a conclusion that the frequency of equilibrium liquid slug is approximately half the miniraum frequency of interfacial wave.

Modeling of liquid film thickness around Taylor bubbles rising in vertical stagnant and co-current slug flowing liquids

The hydrodynamic study of the liquid film around Taylor bubbles in slug flow has great significance for understanding parallel flow and interaction between Taylor bubbles.The prediction models for liquid film thickness mainly focus on stagnant flow,and some of them remain inaccurate performance.However,in the industrial process,the slug flow essentially is co-current flow.Therefore,in this paper,the liquid film thickness is studied by theoretical analysis and experimental methods under two conditions of stagnant and co-current flow.Firstly,under the condition of stagnant flow,the present work is based on Batchelor's theory,and modifies Batchelor's liquid film thickness model,which effectively improves its prediction accuracy.Under the condition of co-current flow,the prediction model of average liquid film thickness in slug flow is established by force and motion analysis.Taylor bubble length is introduced into the model as an important parameter.Dynamic experiments were carried out in the pipe with an inner diameter of 20 mm.The liquid film thickness,Taylor bubble velocity and length were measured by distributed ultrasonic sensor and intrusive cross-correlation conductivity sensor.Comparing the predicted value of the model with the measured results,the relative error is controlled within 10%.

Characterizations of gas-liquid interface distribution and slug evolution in a vertical pipe

Large vertical pipes are key structures connecting subsea wells to offshore platforms.However,existing studies mainly focus on small vertical pipes.In a vertical acrylic pipe with 80 mm inner diameter and 11 m height,a high-speed camera was used to visually research the influences of pipe diameters,liquid properties and inlet effect on air-water co-flow characteristic.Different flow regime maps of vertical pipes(diameters are in the range of 50e189 mm)were compared and the critical gas velocity of the transition boundary from bubble to slug flow tended to increase with the increase of diameters at D≥80 mm.Drift-flux models were established in different flow regimes and liquid properties have a significant effect on drift coefficients of bubble flow and slug flow(void fraction a≤0.4).The influence of inlet turbulent effect on the gas-liquid interface distribution gradually weakened and disappeared from the pipe base to 85D,where the flow was fully developed.Slug frequency has a trend of increase first and then decrease with the gas Weber numbers increasing at low liquid superficial velocities(J_(L)≤0.31 m/s).And on the basis of this law,a new slug frequency correlation was proposed.It was found that there was an exponential relationship between the ratio of lengths of Taylor bubble to slug and the void fraction.

Gas-liquid-liquid slug flow and mass transfer in hydrophilic and hydrophobic microreactors

Gas-liquid-liquid three-phase slug flow was generated in both hydrophilic and hydrophobic microreactors with double T-junctions.The bubble-droplet relative movement and the local mass transfer within the continuous slug and the dispersed droplet were investigated.It was found that bubbles moved faster than droplets under low capillary number(Ca),while droplets moved faster upon the increase of Ca due to the increased inertia.For the first time,we observed that the increased viscosity of droplets fastened the droplet movement.The mass transfer in the continuous slug was dominated by convection,leading to nearly constant global mass transfer coefficient(k_(L)a);while that in the dispersed droplet was dominated by diffusion,resulting in k_(L) decreasing along the channel.Such features are analogical to the corresponding gas-liquid or liquid-liquid two-phase slug flow,but the formation of bubble-droplet clusters caused by relative movement lowered the absolute mass transfer coefficient.These results provide insights for the precise manipulation of gas-liquid-liquid slug flow in microreactors towards process optimization.

A PHYSICAL MODEL FOR PREDICTING THE PRESSURE DROP OF GAS-LIQUID SLUG FLOW IN HORIZONTAL PIPES

A comprehensive treatment of all sources of pressure drop within intermittent gas-liquid flow is presented. A slug unit is divided into three parts and the pressure gradient of each part is calculated separately. In the mixing zone the momentum theory is employed and the mixing process between the film and slug is simulated by a two-dimensional wall jet entering a large reservoir to calculate the mixing length. The boundary layer theory is utilized to calculate the pressure drop for the slug body and the momentum equation of the film zone is integrated to calculate the pressure drop for the film zone. The pressure drop predicted in present model is in good agreement with all the measurements.

Characteristics of Gas-Liquid Slug Flow in Microchannel by Instantaneous Liquid Film Thickness Measurement

This paper seeks to decipher the exact relationship between the liquid film thickness and the hydrodynamics of gas-liquid slug flows. An instantaneous measurement system is developed by integrating the laser focus displacement meter(LFDM) and high-speed camera to characterize the temporal evolution of the liquid film and the dynamic characteristics of continuous slug flows. A glass tube with internal diameter of 0.75 mm is used and the tested ranges of superficial gas and liquid velocities are 0.01–1.2 m/s and 0.01–0.09 m/s respectively. The non-zero signals of LFDM representing the bubble slug flows changed from regular periodic intervals to chaotic fluctuations when slug-annular flow pattern appears. The dominant frequencies of the periodic intermittent slug flows increased from about 0.5–2 Hz to nearly 10–20 Hz as the superficial gas velocity rised from 0.025 to 0.78 m/s. The bubble and liquid slug lengths calculated by the time interval of liquid film thickness and bubble velocity correlated well with the empirical model. Meantime, the average value of void fraction derived from the calculation of transient liquid film thickness shows a linear growth with the gas holdup ratio.

Evaluation of frictional pressure drop correlations for air-water and air-oil two-phase flow in pipeline-riser system

Accurate prediction of the frictional pressure drop is important for the design and operation of subsea oil and gas transporting system considering the length of the pipeline. The applicability of the correlations to pipeline-riser flow needs evaluation since the flow condition in pipeline-riser is quite different from the original data where they were derived from. In the present study, a comprehensive evaluation of 24prevailing correlation in predicting frictional pressure drop is carried out based on experimentally measured data of air-water and air-oil two-phase flows in pipeline-riser. Experiments are performed in a system having different configuration of pipeline-riser with the inclination of the downcomer varied from-2°to-5°to investigated the effect of the elbow on the frictional pressure drop in the riser. The inlet gas velocity ranges from 0.03 to 6.2 m/s, and liquid velocity varies from 0.02 to 1.3 m/s. A total of885 experimental data points including 782 on air-water flows and 103 on air-oil flows are obtained and used to access the prediction ability of the correlations. Comparison of the predicted results with the measured data indicate that a majority of the investigated correlations under-predict the pressure drop on severe slugging. The result of this study highlights the requirement of new method considering the effect of pipe layout on the frictional pressure drop.

A Novel Method for Determining the Void Fraction in Gas-Liquid Multi-Phase Systems Using a Dynamic Conductivity Probe

Conventional conductivity methods for measuring the void fraction in gas-liquid multiphase systems are typically affected by accuracy problems due to the presence of fluid flow and salinity.This study presents a novel approach for determining the void fraction based on a reciprocating dynamic conductivity probe used to measure the liquid film thickness under forced annular-flow conditions.The measurement system comprises a cyclone,a conductivity probe,a probe reciprocating device,and a data acquisition and processing system.This method ensures that the flow pattern is adjusted to a forced annular flow,thereby minimizing the influence of complex and variable gas-liquid flow patterns on the measurement results;Moreover,it determines the liquid film thickness solely according to circuit connectivity rather than specific conductivity values,thereby mitigating the impact of salinity.The reliability of the measurement system is demonstrated through laboratory experiments.The experimental results indicate that,in a range of gas phase superficial velocities 5–20 m/s and liquid phase superficial velocities 0.079–0.48 m/s,the maximum measurement deviation for the void fraction is 4.23%.

A Numerical Study on the Effect of the Backflow Hole Position on the Performances of a Self-Priming Pump

A self-priming pump is a centrifugal pump that has the ability to prime itself. Typically, its performance dependson the configuration of its reflux hole. In this study, the ANSYS FLUENT software is used to investigate the effectsof three different radial positions of the reflux hole on gas-liquid two-phase distribution, pressure pulsation, andimp during self-priming. The research results indicate that: (1) The effective channel size for the reflux liquid toenter the volute varies depending on the location of the reflux hole. The effect of the impeller rotation on thereflux liquid becomes more obvious as the setting distance of the reflux aperture decreases. (2) The position ofthe reflux hole significantly affects the gas phase mass fraction inside the impeller, resulting in a significant reductionin the time it takes for the mass fraction to exceed 80%. (3) The position of the reflux hole significantly affectsthe average pressure on each monitoring surface. (4) Placing the reflux hole at a excessively distant radial distancecan result in an excessive vertical component. (5) The self-priming performance of the pump can be improved tosome extent by placing the return hole at a small radial distance.

Measurment of gas-liquid two-phase slug flow with a Venturi meter based on blind source separation

We propose a novel flow measurement method for gas–liquid two-phase slug flow by using the blind source separation technique. The flow measurement model is established based on the fluctuation characteristics of differential pressure(DP) signals measured from a Venturi meter. It is demonstrated that DP signals of two-phase flow are a linear mixture of DP signals of single phase fluids. The measurement model is a combination of throttle relationship and blind source separation model. In addition, we estimate the mixture matrix using the independent component analysis(ICA) technique. The mixture matrix could be described using the variances of two DP signals acquired from two Venturi meters. The validity of the proposed model was tested in the gas–liquid twophase flow loop facility. Experimental results showed that for most slug flow the relative error is within 10%.We also find that the mixture matrix is beneficial to investigate the flow mechanism of gas–liquid two-phase flow.

Experimental Investigation of Slug Development on Horizontal Two-phase Flow

Slug initiation and subsequem evolution along a 5.0 cm ID, 16m long horizomal pipe are experimentally studied. The transient characteristics of interfacial structures are described by using simultaneous measuremeres of the liquid height at multiple locations along the pipe. Various effects of superficial gas and liquid velocities and pressure oscillation on the slug initiation and evolution along the pipe are illustrated. It is found that the slug is initiated by a deterministic orocess with reolenishmem and deoletion of liquid near the inlet for the superficial gas velocity USG〈3.0m·s^-1 and by a stochastic process with wave coalescence along the pipe for USG〉3.0m·s^-1.The evolution of the slugs is strongly attected by superhclal gas and liquid veloclties for USG〈3.0m·s^-1 but weakly affected by the superficial gas velocity for USG〉3.0 m·s . The suppression of pressure oscillation at the pipe inlet significantly delays the onset of slugging, with slugs forming postponed further downstream. The slug frequency at the outlet is, however, not affected by the variation in the pressure oscillation.

A Model on the Void Fraction in Liquid Slugs for Vertical Slug Flow

Aim To develop a hydrodynamic model on the void fraction in liquid slugs for gas liquid slug flow in vertical tubes. Methods Developing the model by considering the gas exchange between the Taylor bubble and the following liquid slug. Results Some experimental data are obtained to check the model. In comparison with previous published results, the predictions from this model are better and in good agreement with the experimental data. The error is within ±20%. Conclusion The proposed model can correctly predict the void fraction in liquid slugs for gas liquid two phase slug flow in vertical tubes.

Numerical Simulation of Gas-Liquid Flow in a Stirred Tank with a Rushton Impeller

The gas-liquid flow field in a stirred tank with a Rushton diskturbine, including the impeller region, was numerically simulatedusing the improved inner-outer iterative procedure. Thecharacteristic features of the stirred tank, such as gas cavity andaccumulation of gas at the two sides of wall baffles, can be capturedby the simulation. The simulated results agree well with availableexperimental data. Since the improved inner-outer iterative algorithmdemands on empirical formula and experimental data for the impellerregion, and the approach seems generally applicable for simulatinggas-liquid stirred tanks.