Numerical Simulations on Countercurrent Gas-Liquid Flow in a PWR Hot Leg with Air-Water Flow in a 1/15th Scale-Model

To clarify the countercurrent flow in a PWR hot leg under reflux condensation, numerical simulations of countercurrent air-water flow for a 1/15th scale model of the PWR hot leg were conducted using the two-fluid model implemented in CFD software. In this paper, the effect of expansion of the inclined pipe, which is the actual plant geometry, was evaluated. When increasing the air velocity, CCFL characteristics and the mechanism of flow pattern transition had significant differences between the case with and without expansion of the inclined pipe. CCFL characteristics were mitigated in the case with expansion. The effect of computational grid size was also discussed. When the supplied water velocity was small, the predicted flow pattern transition point agreed well with the measured data by increasing the number of cells. On the other hand, when the air velocity was decreasing, there were no significant differences in each case.

CFD Simulation of Film Flow and Gas/Liquid Countercurrent Flow on Structured Packing

A mathematic model of two-phase flow and a physical model of two-dimensional (2D) vertical section for the plate-type structured packing Mellapak 250.Y were set up and verified. The models were used to study the influence of packing’s surface microstructure on the continuity of liquid film and the amount of liquid holdup. Simulation results show that the round corner shape and micro wavy structure are favorable in remaining the continuity of liquid film and increasing the amount of liquid holdup. The appropriate liquid flow rate was determined by investigating different liquid loadings to obtain an unbroken liquid film on the packing surface. The pressure difference between inlet and outlet for gas phase allowed gas and liquid to flow countercurrently in a 2D computational domain. The direction change of gas flow occurred near the phase interface area.

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.

AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THE COHERENT STRUCTURES AND CHAOTIC PHENOMENA IN THE AXISYMMETRIC COUNTERCURRENT SHEAR FLOW

The coherent structures and the chaotic phenomena in the transition of the axisymmetric countercurrent mixing shear flow were investigated experimentally. Two kinds of self-excited oscillation modes could exist in the axisymmetric countercurrent mixing shear flow. One is the shear layer self-excited oscillation mode corresponding to the high Reynolds number regime and the other is the jet column self-excited oscillation mode corresponding to the low Reynolds number regime in the case of the velocity ratio ranging from I to 1.5. Analyzing the auto-power spectrum, self-correlation-function and three dimensional reconstructed phase trajectory, the route to chaos through three Hopf bifurcations intercepted by an intermittence of the dynamical system corresponding to the axisymmetric countercurrent mixing shear flow was discovered when the velocity ratio is equal to 1.32.

CFD and experimental investigations on the micromixing performance of single countercurrent-flow microchannel reactor

Microchannel reactors are widely used in different fields due to their intensive micromixing and, thus, high masstransfer efficiency. In this work, a single countercurrent-flow microchannel reactor(S-CFMCR) at the size of ~1 mm was developed by steel micro-capillary and laser drilling technology. Utilizing the Villermaux/Dushman parallel competing reaction, numerical and experimental studies were carried out to investigate the micromixing performance(expressed as the segregation index XS) of liquids inside S-CFMCR at the low flow velocity regime.The effects of various operating conditions and design parameters of S-CFMCR, e.g., inlet Reynolds number(Re),volumetric flow ratio(R), inlet diameter(d) and outlet length(L), on the quality of micromixing were studied qualitatively. It was found that the micromixing efficiency was enhanced with increasing Re, but weakened with the increase of R. Moreover, d and L also have a significant influence on micromixing. CFD results were in good agreement with experimental data. In addition, the visualization of velocity magnitude, turbulent kinetic energy and concentration distributions of various ions inside S-CFMCR was illustrated as well. Based on the incorporation model, the estimated minimum micromixing time tmof S-CFMCR is ~2 × 10-4s.

Comparison of Mass Transfer Characteristics between Countercurrent-Flow and Crosscurrent-Flow Rotating Packed Bed

The rotating packed bed(RPB), mainly including the countercurrent-flow RPB(Counter-RPB) and the crosscurrentflow RPB(Cross-RPB) that are classified from the perspective of gas-liquid contact style, is a novel process intensification device. A significant measurement standard for evaluating the performance of RPB is the mass transfer effect. In order to compare the mass transfer characteristics of Counter-RPB and Cross-RPB with the same size, the liquid volumetric mass transfer coefficient(k_La_e) and effective interfacial area(a_e) were measured under identical operating conditions. Meanwhile, the comparison of comprehensive mass transfer performance was conducted using the ratio of ΔP(pressure drop) to kLae as the standard. Experimental results indicated that kLae and ae increased with the increase in liquid spray density q, gas velocity u, and high gravity factor β. Furthermore, compared with the Cross-RPB, the Counter-RPB has higher liquid volumetric mass transfer coefficient and slightly larger effective interfacial area. The experimental results of comprehensive mass transfer performance showed that the Counter-RPB had higher ΔP/k_La_e than the Cross-RPB with changes in liquid spray density and high gravity factor, and there exists a turning point at 0.71 m/s accompanied by a variation with gas velocity. Moreover, the relative error of experimental value to calculated value, which was computed by the correlative expressions of kLae, was less than 5 %. In conclusion, the mass transfer characteristics of RPB are deeply impacted by the manner in which the flows are established and the Cross-RPB would have a great potential for industrial scale-up applications.

Analysis of the flow pattern and periodicity of gas–liquid–liquid three-phase flow in a countercurrent mixer-settler

In contrast to the concurrent mixer-settler,the interaction between the mixing and settling chambers have to be taken into account in the simulation of the countercurrent mixer-settler,and no work has been reported for this equipment.In this work,a three-phase flow model based on the Eulerian multiphase model,coupled with a sliding mesh model is proposed for a countercurrent mixer-settler.Based on this,the dispersed phase distribution,flow pattern,and pressure distribution are investigated,which can help to fill the gap in the operation mechanism.In addition,the velocity vector distribution at the phase port shows an intriguing phenomenon that two types of vectors with opposite directions are distributed on the left and right sides of the same plane,which indicates that the material exchange in the mixing and settling chambers is simultaneous.Analysis of this variation at this location by a fast Fourier transform(FFT)method reveals that it is mainly influenced by the mixing chamber and is consistent with the main period of the outlet flow fluctuations.Therefore,by monitoring the fluctuation of the outlet flow and then analyzing it by the FFT method,the state of the whole tank can be determined,which makes it promising for the design of control systems for countercurrent mixer-settlers.

Numerical Simulation of Countercurrent Flow in a PWR Hot Leg by Using Two-Fluid Model

In order to evaluate CCFL （countercurrent flow limitation） characteristics in a PWR （pressurized water reactor） hot leg under reflux condensation, numerical simulations have been conducted using a 2F （two-fluid） model and a VOF （volume of fluid） method implemented in the CFD （computational fluid dynamics） software, FLUENT6.3.26. The 2F model gave good agreement with CCFL data in low pressure conditions but did not give good results for high pressure steam-water conditions. In the previous study, the computational grid and schemes were improved in the VOF method to improve calculations in circular tubes, and the calculated CCFL characteristics agreed well with the UPTF （Upper Plenum Test Facility） data at 1.5 MPa. In this study, therefore, using the 2F model and the computational grid previously improved for the VOF calculations, numerical simulations were conducted for steam-water flows at 1.5 MPa under PWR full-scale conditions. In the range of medium gas volumetric fluxes, the calculated CCFL characteristics agreed well with the values calculated by the VOF method and the UPTF data at 1.5 MPa. This indicated that the reference set of the interfacial drag correlations employed in this study could be applied not only to low pressures but also to high pressures.

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.

Design and Experimental Analyses of Small-flow High-head Centrifugal-vortex Pump for Gas-Liquid Two-phase Mixture

The design method of small-flow high-head centrifugal-vortex pump was presented. This pump, configured with inducer, complex-centrifugal impeller and open-vortex impeller, was put forward to deliver gas-liquid two-phase mixture. An HTB-5/60 type sample pump was developed and tested on a closed-loop test rig. Experimental studies on performance and cavitation tests for gas-liquid two-phase mixture were carried out compared with pure-water experimental results. Also the effect of gas phase on pump was analyzed and discussed. The experimental results show that performance and cavitation characteristics of the sample purnp deteriorates progressively with increasing volume fraction of gas. When the total capacity Qm is between 4.5 m^3·h^-1 and 6 m^3·h^-1 and the gas flow rate qg below 0.66 m^3·h^-1, or qg/Qm is lower than 15%, the characteristic curves are approximately parallel to those in pure water test, but the performance deteriorates sharply until an abrupt flow-cutting at a critical volume fraction of gas. This pump is found suitable for transporting gas-liquid two-phase mixture when working around rated capacity of 5 m^3·h^-1 with qglQm below 15%.

Flow Regime Identification of Gas-liquid Two-phase Flow Based on HHT

A new method to identify flow regime in two-phase flow was presented, based on signal processing of differential pressure using Hilbert Huang transform （HHT）. Signals obtained from a Venturi meter were decomposed into different intrinsic mode functions （IMFs） with HHT, then the energy fraction of each intrinsic mode and the mean value of residual function were calculated, from which the rules of flow regime identification were summarized. Experiments were carried out on two-phase flow in the horizontal tubes with 50mm and 40mm inner diameter, while water flowrate was in the range of 1.3m^3.h^-1 to 10.5m^3.h^-1, oil flowrate was from 4.2m^3.h^-1 to 7.0m^3.h^-1 and gas flowrate from 0 to 15m^3.h^-1. The results show that the proposed rules have high precision for single phase, bubbly, and slug, plug flow regirne identification, which are independent of not only properties of two-phase fluid. In addition, the method can meet the need of industrial application because of its simple calculation.

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.

Measurement of Liquid Concentration Fields Near Interface with Cocurrent Gas-Liquid Flow Absorption Using Holographic Interferometry

Real-time laser holographic interferometry was applied to measure liquid concentrations of CO2 in the vicinity of gas-liquid free interface under the conditions of cocurrent gas-liquid flow for absorption of CO2 by ethanol. The influences of the Reynolds number on the measurable interface concentration and on the film thickness were discussed. The results show that CO2 concentration decreases exponentially along the mass transfer direction,and the concentration gradient increases as Reynolds number of either liquid or gas increases. CO2 concentrations fluctuate slightly along the direction of flow; on the whole, there is an increase in CO2 concentration. The investigation also demonstrated that film thickness decreases with the increase of Reynolds number of either of the two phases. Sherwood number representing the mass transfer coefficient was finally correlated as a function of the hydrodynamic parameters and the physical properties.

Identification Method of Gas-Liquid Two-phase Flow Regime Based on Image Multi-feature Fusion and Support Vector Machine

The knowledge of flow regime is very important for quantifying the pressure drop, the stability and safety of two-phase flow systems. Based on image multi-feature fusion and support vector machine, a new method to identify flow regime in two-phase flow was presented. Firstly, gas-liquid two-phase flow images including bub- bly flow, plug flow, slug flow, stratified flow, wavy flow, annular flow and mist flow were captured by digital high speed video systems in the horizontal tube. The image moment invariants and gray level co-occurrence matrix texture features were extracted using image processing techniques. To improve the performance of a multiple classifier system, the rough sets theory was used for reducing the inessential factors. Furthermore, the support vector machine was trained by using these eigenvectors to reduce the dimension as flow regime samples, and the flow regime intelligent identification was realized. The test results showed that image features which were reduced with the rough sets theory could excellently reflect the difference between seven typical flow regimes, and successful training the support vector machine could quickly and accurately identify seven typical flow regimes of gas-liquid two-phase flow in the horizontal tube. Image multi-feature fusion method provided a new way to identify the gas-liquid two-phase flow, and achieved higher identification ability than that of single characteristic. The overall identification accuracy was 100%, and an estimate of the image processing time was 8 ms for online flow regime identification.

Local Flow Regime Transition Criteria of Gas-Liquid Two-phase Flow in Vertical Upward Tube with a Horizontal Rod

The upward multiphase cross flow and heat transfer in the vertical tube may occur in oil production and chemical facilities. In this study, the local flow patterns of an upward gas-water two phase cross flow in a vertical tube with a horizontal rod have been investigated with an optical probe and the digital high speed video system. The local flow patterns are defined as the bubble, slug, churn and annular flow patterns. Optical probe signals are ana- lyzed in terms of probability density function, and it is proved that the local flow patterns can be recognized by this method. The transition mechanisms between the different flow patterns have been analyzed and the corresponding transitional models are proposed. Finally, local flow pattern maps of the upward gas-water two-phase flow in the vertical tube with a horizontal rod are constructed.

A novel complex network-based deep learning method for characterizing gas-liquid two-phase flow

Gas-liquid two-phase flow widely exits in production and transportation of petroleum industry.Characterizing gas-liquid flow and measuring flow parameters represent challenges of great importance,which contribute to the recognition of flow regime and the optimal design of industrial equipment.In this paper,we propose a novel complex network-based deep learning method for characterizing gas-liquid flow.Firstly,we map the multichannel measurements to multiple limited penetrable visibility graphs(LPVGs)and obtain their degree sequences as the graph representation.Based on the degree distribution,we analyze the complicated flow behavior under different flow structures.Then,we design a dual-input convolutional neural network to fuse the raw signals and the graph representation of LPVGs for the classification of flow structures and measurement of gas void fraction.We implement the model with two parallel branches with the same structure,each corresponding to one input.Each branch consists of a channel-projection convolutional part,a spatial-temporal convolutional part,a dense block and an attention module.The outputs of the two branches are concatenated and fed into several full connected layers for the classification and measurement.At last,our method achieves an accuracy of 95.3%for the classification of flow structures,and a mean squared error of 0.0038 and a mean absolute percent error of 6.3%for the measurement of gas void fraction.Our method provides a promising solution for characterizing gas-liquid flow and measuring flow parameters.

Experimental Research on Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Spiral Flow in Horizontal Pipe

In view of the importance of gas-liquid two-phase spiral flow and the few research reports at home and abroad,the gas-liquid two-phase spiral flow patterns have been researched in a horizontal pipe with different parameters investigated by means of observation and a high-speed camera.Since the appearance of spiral flow makes the distribution of twophase flow more complicated,the flow patterns appearing in the experiments were divided into the Spiral Wavy Stratified Flow(SWS),the Spiral Bubble Flow(SB),the Spiral Slug Flow(SS),the Spiral Linear Flow(SL),the Spiral Axial Flow(SA),and the Spiral Dispersed Flow(SD) by the observations and with reference to the predecessors' research achievements.A flow pattern map has been drawn up.The influence of velocity,vane angle and vane area on flow pattern conversion boundary and pressure drop has been studied,with a solid foundation laid for the future research work.

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.

Numerical Simulation and Experimental Analysis of the Influence of Asymmetric Pressure Conditions on the Splitting of a Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow at a T-Junction

Dedicated experiments and numerical simulations have been conducted to investigate the splitting characteristics of a gas-liquid two phase flow at a T junction.The experiments were carried out for different gas-liquid velocities.The flow rates in the two branches were measured accurately to determine how the two considered phases distribute in the two outlets.The experimental results have shown that when the two outlet pressures are asymmetric,the two-phase flow always tends to flow into the outlet which has a lower pressure.As the inlet liquid velocity increases,however,the two-phase flow gradually tends to split evenly.Compared with the experiment results,the pressure difference between the two outlets can be determined more accurately by means of numerical simulation.The trends of experimental results and simulations are in very good agreement.

Effect of the Inclination Angle on Slippage Loss in Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow

The lifting efficiency and stability of gas lift well are affected by the socalled slippage-loss effect in gas-liquid two-phase flow.The existing studies on this subject have generally been based on vertical and horizontal wells.Only a few of them have considered inclined pipes.In the present work a new focused study is presented along these lines.More specifically,we use the non-slip pressure drop model with Flanigan’s fluctuation correction coefficient formula(together with the parameters of slippage density,slippage pressure drop and slippage ratio)to analyze the influence of the inclination angle on slippage loss for different conditions(different gas-liquid superficial velocity and pipe diameters).Moreover,the“standard regression coefficient method”is used for multi-factor sensitivity analysis.The experimental results indicate that slippage loss is affected by multiple factors,and the influence of the inclination angle on slippage loss is less significant than other factors.The change of the slippage pressure drop with the superficial velocity of gas-liquid is similar to that of the total pressure drop.The inclination angles of 45°and 60°have the greatest influence on slippage loss.The correlation between slippage density and slippage ratio is not obvious.Using the so-called slippage ratio seems to be a more accurate option to evaluate the degree of slippage loss.