Two-Phase Flow Regime Modeling and Pressure Drop Behavior

Author(s):  
Braden A. McDermott ◽  
Timothy A. Shedd

A unique horizontal two-phase flow facility has been fabricated in an effort to understand the dynamics of two-phase flow in small pipes. The fluid chosen for study is the low pressure refrigerant R-123. In this work, two-phase pressure drop data were obtained for two-phase flow of refrigerant R-123 in a 17.0 mm inner diameter tube over a wide range of quality, from .015–1, and mass fluxes that were varied from 50 kg m−2 s−1 to 550 kg m−2 s−1. These data have been compared, as a whole and by regime, against four frequently-used two-phase frictional pressure drop prediction correlations. Flow regimes were visualized using a quartz tube at the end of the test section over this wide range of conditions, which ranged from stratified to annular flow. Each condition was mapped on the Mandhane, Taitel-Dukler, and Kattan-Favrat-Thome flow regime maps in an attempt to understand the applicability of each. Some discrepancies exist between the current data and the published flow maps, and recommendations are made based on these observations. The pressure drop data appear to be dependent upon the flow regime, suggesting that an entire set of correlations is necessary based upon flow regime for accurate prediction of pressure drop.

Author(s):  
Christian Weinmu¨ller ◽  
Dimos Poulikakos

Microfluidics has experienced a significant increase in research activities in recent years with a wide range of applications emerging, such as micro heat exchangers, energy conversion devices, microreactors, lab-on-chip devices and micro total chemical analysis systems (μTAS). Efforts to enhance or extend the performance of single phase microfluidic devices are met by two-phase flow systems [1, 2]. Essential for the design and control of microfluidic systems is the understanding of the fluid/hydrodynamic behavior, especially pressure drop correlations. These are well established for single phase flow, however, analytical correlations for two-phase flow only reflect experimentally obtained values within an accuracy of ± 50% [3, 4]. The present study illustrates the effect of two-phase flow regimes on the pressure drop. Experimental measurement data is put into relation of calculated values based on established correlations of Lockhart-Martinelli with Chisholm modifications for macroscopic flows [5, 6] and Mishima-Hibiki modifications for microscale flows [7]. Further, the experimental pressure drop data is superimposed onto two-phase flow maps to identify apparent correlations of pressure drop abnormalities and flow regimes. The experiments were conducted in a square microchannel with a width of 200 μm. Optical access is guaranteed by an anodically bonded glass plate on a MEMS fabricated silicon chip. Superficial velocities range from 0.01 m/s to 1 m/s for the gas flow and from 0.0001 m/s to 1 m/s for the liquid flow with water as liquid feed and CO2 as gas. The analysis of the flow regimes was performed by imaging the distinct flow regimes by laser induced fluorescence microscopy, employing Rhodamine B as the photosensitive dye. The pressure drop was synchronically recorded with a 200 mbar, 2.5 bar and 25 bar differential pressure transmitter and the data was exported via a LabView based software environment, see Figure 1. Figure 2 illustrates the experimentally obtained pressure drop in comparison to the calculated values based on the Lockhard-Martinelli correlation with the Chisholm modification and the Mishima-Hibiki modification. For both cases the predications underestimate the two-phase pressure drop by more than 50%. Nevertheless, the regression of the experimental data has an offset of linear nature. Two-phase flow is assigned to flow regime maps of bubbly, wedging, slug or annular flow defined by superficial gas and liquid velocities. In Figure 3 the pressure drop is plotted as a surface over the corresponding flow regime map. Transition lines indicate a change of flow regimes enclosing an area of an anticline in the pressure data. In the direct comparison between the calculated and the measured values, the two surfaces show a distinct deviation. Especially, the anticline of the experimental data is not explained by the analytical correlations. Figure 4 depicts the findings of Figure 3 at a constant superficial velocity of 0.0232 m/s. The dominant influence of the flow regimes on the pressure drop becomes apparent, especially in the wedging flow regime. The evident deviation of two-phase flow correlations for the pressure drop is based on omitting the influence of the flow regimes. In conclusion, the study reveals a strong divergence of pressure drop measurements in microscale two-phase flow from established correlations of Lockhart-Martinelli and recognized modifications. In reference to [8, 9], an analytical model incorporating the flow regimes and, hence, predicting the precise pressure drop would be of great benefit for hydrodynamic considerations in microfluidics.


2004 ◽  
Vol 126 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. Pawloski ◽  
C. Y. Ching ◽  
M. Shoukri

The void fractions, flow regimes, and pressure drop of air-oil two-phase flow in a half-inch diameter pipe over a wide range of test conditions have been investigated. The flow regimes were identified with the aid of a 1000 frames per second high-speed camera. A capacitance sensor for instantaneous void fraction measurements was developed. The mean and probability density function of the instantaneous void fraction signal can be used to effectively identify the different flow regimes. The current flow regime data show significant differences in the transitional boundaries of the existing flow regime maps. Property correction factors for the flow regime maps are recommended. The pressure drop measurements were compared to the predictions from four existing two-phase flow pressure drop models. Though some of the models performed better for certain flow regimes, none of the models were found to give accurate results over the entire range of flow regimes.


1995 ◽  
Vol 117 (4) ◽  
pp. 720-726 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Awwad ◽  
R. C. Xin ◽  
Z. F. Dong ◽  
M. A. Ebadian ◽  
H. M. Soliman

An experimental investigation is conducted for air/water two-phase flow in horizontal helicoidal pipes. The helicoidal pipes are constructed of 25.4 mm I.D. Tygon tubing wrapped around cylindrical concrete forms with outside diameters of 62 cm and 124 cm. The helix angles of the helicoidal pipes vary from 1 to 20 deg. The experiments are performed for superficial water velocity in a range of UL = 0.008 ~ 2.2 m/s and for superficial air velocity in a range of UG = 0.2 ~ 50 m/s. The flow patterns are discerned and recorded photographically. The pressure drop of the air/water two-phase flow in the coils is measured and the Lockhart-Martinelli approach is used to analyze the data. The results are presented in the form of frictional pressure drop multipliers versus the Lockhart-Martinelli parameter. It was found that the flow patterns differ greatly from those of the straight pipe, and that the frictional pressure drop multipliers depend on both the Lockhart-Martinelli parameter and the flow rates. The correlation of the frictional pressure drop has been provided based on the current data. Furthermore, it was also found that the helix angle of the helicoidal pipe had almost no effect on the air/water two-phase flow pressure drop in the present experimental ranges.


Author(s):  
J. Pawloski ◽  
C. Ching ◽  
M. Shoukri

The flow regimes and pressure drop of air-oil two-phase flow in a half-inch diameter pipe over a wide range of test conditions have been investigated. The flow regimes were identified with the aid of a 1000 frames per second high-speed camera. The current flow regime data show significant differences in the transitional boundaries from the flow regime maps of Mandhane et al. (1974), Taitel and Dukler (1974) and Spedding and Nguyen (1980). The pressure drop measurements were compared to the predictions from four existing pressure drop models: Homogeneous, Martinelli (1948), Chisolm (1973) and Olujic (1985). The Chisolm and Martinelli models were found to be the most accurate, with an average error of about 35 percent. A capacitance sensor for instantaneous void fraction measurement was developed. Results indicate the data from the sensor could be used to identify the different flow regimes.


Author(s):  
Licheng Sun ◽  
Kaichiro Mishima

2092 data of two-phase flow pressure drop were collected from 18 published papers of which the working fluids include R123, R134a, R22, R236ea, R245fa, R404a, R407C, R410a, R507, CO2, water and air. The hydraulic diameter ranges from 0.506 to 12mm; Relo from 10 to 37000, and Rego from 3 to 4×105. 11 correlations and models for calculating the two-phase frictional pressure drop were evaluated based upon these data. The results show that the accuracy of the Lockhart-Martinelli method, Mishima and Hibiki correlation, Zhang and Mishima correlation and Lee and Mudawar correalion in the laminar region is very close to each other, while the Muller-Steinhagen and Heck correlation is the best among the evaluated correlations in the turbulent region. A modified Chisholm correlation was proposed, which is better than all of the evaluated correlations in the turbulent region and its mean relative error is about 29%. For refrigerants only, the new correlation and Muller-Steinhagen and Heck correlation are very close to each other and give better agreement than the other evaluated correlations.


2004 ◽  
Vol 126 (4) ◽  
pp. 546-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter M.-Y. Chung ◽  
Masahiro Kawaji ◽  
Akimaro Kawahara ◽  
Yuichi Shibata

An adiabatic experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of channel geometry on gas-liquid two-phase flow characteristics in horizontal microchannels. A water-nitrogen gas mixture was pumped through a 96 μm square microchannel and the resulting flow pattern, void fraction and frictional pressure drop data were compared with those previously reported by the authors for a 100 μm circular microchannel. The pressure drop data were best estimated using a separated-flow model and the void fraction increased non-linearly with volumetric quality, regardless of the channel shape. However, the flow maps exhibited transition boundaries that were shifted depending on the channel shape.


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