Influence of an orifice on liquid–liquid two phase flow

The present study aims an in depth investigation of liquid–liquid horizontal flow through an orifice. Initial studies have been directed to observe the influence of the orifice plate on the phase distribution of the two liquids in the pipe. The flow patterns have been identified using an optical probe along with photographic technique. The probability density function (PDF) analysis of the random signals obtained from the optical probe has been adopted to quantify the observations. The cross‐correlation function between the probe signals upstream and downstream of the orifice has been estimated to check the repeatability of the phenomenon. The inception of dispersion in the downstream section has been observed to occur in the stratified region of the upstream. The use of an orifice as a homogenizer as well as a feasible flow‐metering device for liquid–liquid flow has been encouraged by experimental results.     

Investigating the liquid film characteristics of gas–liquid swirling flow using ultrasound doppler velocimetry

A novel gas–liquid two‐phase flow metering method was proposed. A spiral vane mounted in the inner pipe was used to transform inlet flow patterns into gas–liquid swirling annular flow. The thickness and velocity profile of liquid film were measured by ultrasound Doppler velocimetry. The liquid flow rates were obtained by integrating of velocity profile during the liquid film zone. Experiments were carried out in an air–water two‐phase flow loop and an ultrasonic transducer was installed under the bottom of the test section with the Doppler angle of 70°. The flow patterns included stratified wavy, annular, and slug flows. Compared with non‐swirling flow, the liquid film thickness at the bottom reduces greatly. The measurement accuracy of liquid flow rate was independent of inlet flow patterns, gas and liquid velocities. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 2348–2357, 2017     

Horizontal air–water flow in a square cross‐section channel: Pseudo‐slug flow regime

New experimental data for air–water flow in a horizontal square cross‐section channel (H = 24.25 mm) is presented, including data on liquid hold‐up, gas and liquid velocities, and wave velocities and frequencies. For the majority of gas and liquid flow rates studied, the regime observed was pseudo‐slug. Using visualization studies it was possible to identify wavy‐stratified and pseudo‐slug flows. For the pseudo‐slug regime new correlations were obtained for liquid hold‐up, for gas and liquid velocities as a function of the ratio between gas and liquid mass flow rates, and for the frequency of roll‐waves as a function of gas and liquid mass flow rates.     

Flow pattern transition in gas‐liquid downflow through narrow vertical tubes

The present report studies on the flow pattern transitions during vertical air water downflow through millichannels (0.83 ≤ Eötvös no. ≤ 20.63). Four basic flow patterns namely falling film flow, slug flow, bubbly flow, and annular flow are observed in the range of experimental conditions studied and their range of existence has been noted to vary with tube diameter and phase velocities. Based on experimental observations, phenomenological models are proposed to predict the transition boundaries between adjacent patterns. These have been validated with experimental flow pattern maps from the present experiments. Thus the study formalizes procedure for developing a generalized flow pattern map for gas‐liquid downflow in narrow tubes. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 792–800, 2017     

Effect of tube diameter on two‐phase flow patterns in mini tubes

The effect of tube diameter on two‐phase flow patterns was investigated in circular tubes with inner diameters of 0.6, 1.2, 1.7, 2.6, and 3.4 mm using air and water. The gas and liquid superficial velocity ranges were 0.01–50 and 0.01–3 m/s, respectively. The gas and liquid flow rates were measured and the two‐phase flow pattern images were recorded using high‐speed CMOS camera. The flow patterns observed were dispersed bubbly, bubbly, slug, slug‐annular, wavy‐annular, stratified, and annular flows. These flow patterns were not observed in all the test diameters, but were found to be unique to particular tube diameters, confirming the effect of tube diameter on the flow pattern. The data obtained were compared to existing experimental data and flow regime transition maps which show generally reasonable overall agreement at the larger diameters, but significant differences were observed with the smaller diameter tubes.     

3‐D numerical simulations on flow and mixing behaviors in gas–liquid–solid microchannels

Three‐dimensional (3‐D) gas‐liquid–solid flow and mixing behaviors in microchannels were simulated by coupled volume of fluid and discrete phase method and simulations were validated against observations. The detachment time and length of gas slug are shortened in liquid–solid flow, compared with those in liquid flow due to higher superficial viscosity of liquid–solid mixture, which will move the bubble formation toward the dripping regime. Solid particles mainly distribute in liquid slug and particle flow shows obvious periodicity. With the increase of contact angle of the inner wall, gas slug (0–50°), stratified (77–120°), and liquid drop (160°) flows are observed. The residence time distributions of solid and liquid phases are similar because particles behave as tracers. The backmixing of solid and liquid phases in liquid drop flow is the weakest among the three flow patterns, and the backmixing of gas phase in slug flow is weaker than that in both stratified and liquid drop flows. The results can provide a theoretical basis for the design of microreactors. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 1934–1951, 2013     

Inception and termination of the core‐annular flow pattern for oil‐water downflow through a vertical pipe

Different flow patterns for lube oil–water and for kerosene‐water downflow through a vertical glass tube have been analyzed with the help of flow visualization. Core‐annular flow is the dominant flow regime, with oil forming the core, and water is forming the wall film. When the velocities are increased, transition to slug flow and transition to dispersed flow are found. The waves found during the transition to slug flow depend on oil viscosity: axisymmetric bamboo waves are seen in kerosene‐water downflow and the waves are asymmetric in case of lube oil–water flow where they have a cork‐screw shape. Based on the experimental observations, simple mathematical models have been proposed for predicting the flow pattern transition curves. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2012     

油气水三相段塞流与滚动波流型的转变

Compared with gas-liquid two-phase flow,oil-gas-water three-phase flow is much more complex. There is immiscible oil-water,whose interaction and dispersion greatly affects the flow characteristics. The slug flow pattern of oil-gas-water three-phase and its flow pattern transition were studied in a 95 m long,51 mm i. d. horizontal pipe. The oil-gas-water three-phase slug flow pattern could be classified into five sub-flow patterns. The slug flow was W/O or O/W one during its transition to roll wave,which was three-layer flow pattern without mixed-phase on the interface. An even larger superficial gas velocity was needed for the transition boundary of slug flow and roll wave flow when the superficial liquid velocity is large. Besides,the region of roll wave flow pattern became smaller. The above-mentioned transition only happened when the water cut of liquid was between 30% and 70%. At the same superficial liquid velocity,there appeared a minimum superficial gas velocity corresponding to the transition of flow pattern when the water cut of liquid was between 40% and 50%.     

Preparation of sorbitol from D‐glucose hydrogenation in gas–liquid–solid three‐phase flow airlift loop reactor

A new process for D ‐glucose hydrogenation in 50 wt% aqueous solution, into sorbitol in a 1.5 m³ gas–liquid–solid three‐phase flow airlift loop reactor (ALR) over Raney Nickel catalysts has been developed. Five main factors affecting the reaction time and molar yield to sorbitol, including reaction temperature (T_R), reaction pressure (P_R), pH, hydrogen gas flowrate (Q_g) and content of active hydrogen, were investigated and optimized. The average reaction time and molar yield were 70 min and 98.6% under the optimum operating conditions, respectively. The efficiencies of preparation of sorbitol between the gas–liquid–solid three‐phase flow ALR and stirred tank reactor (STR) under the same operating conditions were compared. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Liquid‐liquid two‐phase flow patterns in a new helical microchannel device

Flow patterns of liquid‐liquid two‐phase fluids in a new helical microchannel device were presented in this paper. Three conventional systems were considered: kerosene‐water, n‐butyl acetate‐water, and butanol‐water. Six different flow patterns, slug flow, continuous parallel flow, discontinuous deformation parallel flow, discontinuous deformation parallel‐droplet flow, droplet‐slug flow, and filiform‐droplet flow, were observed. The influence of interfacial tension, microchannel structure, and rotation rate on two‐phase flow patterns were studied, and a universal flow pattern map was presented and discussed. The systems without mass transfer (0.1 g/g (10 %) tri‐n‐butyl phosphate (TBP)‐water, 0.2 g/g (20 %) TBP‐water, and 0.8 g/g (80 %) TBP‐water) and the system with mass transfer (0.8 g/g (80 %) TBP‐0.62 g/g (62 %) H₃PO₄) were used to verify the validity of the proposed universal flow pattern map in predicting flow patterns. The results showed that the former compared with the latter can be predicted more accurately by the universal flow pattern map.     

注气孔位置对文丘里管式微气泡发生器成泡特性的影响分析

尽管文丘里管式微气泡发生器的注气口位置会对气泡在文丘里流道内的碎化特征产生直接影响,但迄今缺乏针对性的深入研究。通过可视化实验方法,对比分析了注气口分别位于喉管处（结构1型）和进水管处（结构2型）时的气液流型、气泡破碎特征以及成泡特性。实验表明,气、液相流量对结构1型微气泡发生器内的气液流型影响显著,初始成泡区域随液相流量增加,环状流或泡状流向弹状流转变,而随气相流量增加则由泡状流或弹状流向环状流转变;结构2型微气泡发生器则在此过程中始终为泡状流,其对操作工况的适应范围大于结构1型。在相同工况下,结构1型微气泡发生器的成泡Sauter平均粒径小于结构2型,但随着液相Reynolds数的增大,二者间的成泡平均粒径差值随之减小。分析原因是由于弹状流流型下,延伸至扩张段区域的弹型泡的表面积更大,能量转化率更高,气泡界面失稳碎化的程度更显著。随着液相Reynolds数的增大,初始成泡体积减小,湍流破碎机理作用占据主导,掩盖了由于界面失稳引起的气泡破碎。结构1型微气泡发生器的成泡能耗高于结构2型,并且随液相Reynolds数的增大,两者之间的差值随之增大。综合来看,结构2型微气泡发生器能够在低能耗下实现高效成泡,面向工程应用将更具优势。     

垂直上升管内有水平柱体时气液两相局部流型转变的研究

1 INTRODUCTION Gas-liquid two-phase cross flow and heat transfer exists in oil production and chemical facilities. With the rapid development of the technology of modern industry, the gas-liquid two-phase flow across a rod and heat transfer characteristics are studied more ex- tensively, and its thorough understanding is of great importance to the design and operation of processing equipment. Flow pattern and its transition are important in the study of multiphase flow. Because of the com…     

Experimental investigation of liquid–liquid flow in an inclined pipe using dimensionless numbers

Two-phase flow is a common phenomenon in the energy industry, where flow patterns significantly affect heat transfer and pressure drop in different systems. However, there is no unique or comparable flow map because of its dependency on dimensional parameters. Therefore, an analysis using dimensionless numbers makes the results comprehensive. To do so, a series of liquid–liquid flow experiments (1296 experiments) were conducted in a transparent pipe at the different velocities of the phases. The flow patterns were captured using a high-speed camera. The experiments were performed at eight different inclinations within the range of −20 to +20 degrees. Six flow patterns are observed at different inclinations; stratified flow with mixing at the interface (STMI), dispersion of water in oil (Dw/o), dispersion of oil in water (Do/w), dual continuous (DC), slug, and wavy stratified (WST), where the first five flow patterns are presented in the upward flow and the two last flow patterns disappear in some of the downward flow. The pattern of boundaries for each flow pattern in the upward flow shows dependency on inclination, while in the downward flow condition, a rather general format can be applied to most of the patterns. The analysis illustrates that gravity and buoyancy forces are the dominating forces in the system compared to other forces, such as viscous, inertia, and interfacial tension, which are due to the inclination of the pipe.     

Surfactant‐free microdispersion process of gas in organic solvents in microfluidic devices

The scaling of bubble/slug formation in organic solvents at microscale without surfactant was initially investigated by using T‐junction and symmetrically cross‐shaped microfluidic devices. Four unique organic solvents and three dispersion methods were used, forming different flow patterns and dispersion size. The flow pattern of uniform slug flow was investigated. Both the gas–liquid flow and dispersion size, which ranged from 400 to 1400 μm in length and 270 to 430 μm in diameter, depended on several factors including dispersion method, two‐phase flow rates, physical properties of the liquid phase, and structure of microchannels. A general equation L/w = k(Q_G/Q_L)^αCa^β was used to characterize the dispersion size with modification of Q_G/Q_L for different dispersion methods, considering the influences of breakup rate and transformation of the interface shape on the dispersion process. Three models were developed to predict the dispersion size for different dispersion methods, and calculated data were in good agreement with the experimental results. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2011     

Flow distribution and mass transfer in a parallel microchannel contactor integrated with constructal distributors

Flow distribution and mass transfer characteristics during CO₂‐water flow through a parallel microchannel contactor integrated with two constructal distributors have been investigated numerically and experimentally. Each distributor comprises a dichotomic tree structure that feeds 16 microchannels with hydraulic diameters of 667 μm. It was found that constructal distributors could ensure a nearly uniform gas–liquid distribution at high gas flow rates where the ideal flow pattern was slug‐annular flow. Nevertheless, at small gas flow rates where the ideal flow pattern was slug flow, a significant flow maldistribution occurred primarily due to the lack of large pressure barrier inside each distributor, indicating that dynamic pressure fluctuation in parallel microchannels greatly disturbed an otherwise good flow distribution therein. It was further shown that the present parallel microchannel contactor could realize the desired mass transfer performance previously achieved in one single microchannel under relatively wide operational ranges due to the integration of constructal distributors. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2010     

Oil–water two‐phase flow in microchannels: Flow patterns and pressure drop measurements

This paper investigates oil–water two‐phase flows in microchannels of 793 and 667 µm hydraulic diameters made of quartz and glass, respectively. By injecting one fluid at a constant flow rate and the second at variable flow rate, different flow patterns were identified and mapped and the corresponding two‐phase pressure drops were measured. Measurements of the pressure drops were interpreted using the homogeneous and Lockhart–Martinelli models developed for two‐phase flows in pipes. The results show similarity to both liquid–liquid flow in pipes and to gas–liquid flow in microchannels. We find a strong dependence of pressure drop on flow rates, microchannel material, and the first fluid injected into the microchannel.     

Interrogating the effect of 90° bends on air–silicone oil flows using advanced instrumentation

When gas/liquid mixtures flow around a bend they are subjected to forces additional to those encountered in a straight pipe. The behaviour of the flows at the inlet and outlet of the bend depends on the orientation of the pipes. Air/silicone oil flows around a 90° bend have been investigated using advanced instrumentation: Electrical Capacitance Tomography (ECT), Wire Mesh Sensor Tomography (WMS) and high-speed video. The first two provide time and cross-sectionally resolved data on void fraction. ECT probes were mounted 10 diameters upstream of the bend whilst WMS was positioned either immediately upstream or immediately downstream of the bend. The downstream pipe was maintained horizontal whilst the upstream pipe was mounted either vertically or horizontally. The bend (R/D=2.3) was made of transparent acrylic resin. From an analysis of the output from the tomography equipment, flow patterns were identified using both the reconstructed images as well as the characteristic signatures of Probability Density Function (PDF) plots of the time series of cross-sectionally averaged void fraction as suggested by Costigan and Whalley (1996). The superficial velocities of the air ranged from 0.05 to 4.73 m/s and for the silicone oil from 0.05 to 0.38 m/s. Bubble/spherical cap, slug, unstable slug and churn flows were observed before the bend for the vertical pipe and plug, slug, stratified wavy and annular flows when the pipe was horizontal. Bubble, stratified wavy, slug, semi-annular and annular flows are seen after the bend for the vertical 90° bend whilst for the horizontal 90° bend, the flow patterns remained the same as before the bend. Flow patterns for the vertical and horizontal 90° bends are shown on the diagram of the gas superficial velocity versus liquid superficial velocity. These results are confirmed by the high-speed videos taken around the bend. A previously proposed criterion, to determine stratification after the bend, based on a modified Froude number have been shown to be valid for a liquid different from that tested in the original paper.     

Dispersed oil–water–gas flow through a horizontal pipe

An experimental study of three‐phase dispersed flow in a horizontal pipe has been carried out. The pressure drop over the pipe strongly increases with increasing bubble and drop volume fraction. Because of the presence of drops the transition from dispersed bubble flow to elongated bubble flow occurs at a lower gas volume fraction. The gas bubbles have no significant influence on the phase inversion process. However, phase inversion has a strong effect on the gas bubbles. Just before inversion large bubbles are present and the flow pattern is elongated bubble flow. During the inversion process the bubbles break‐up quickly and as the dispersed drop volume fraction after inversion is much lower than before inversion, a dispersed bubble flow is present after inversion. (When inversion is postponed to high dispersed phase fractions, the volume fraction of the dispersed phase can be as high as 0.9 before inversion and as low as 0.1 after inversion.) © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2009     

Influence of slug flow on flow fields in a gas–liquid cylindrical cyclone separator:A simulation study

A simulation method for slug flow based on the VOF multiphase flow model was implemented in ANSYS? Fluent via a user-defined function(UDF) and applied to the dissipation of liquid slugs in the inlet pipe of a gas–liquid cylindrical cyclone(GLCC) separator while varying the expanding diameter ratio and angle of inclination. The dissipation of liquid slug in inlet pipe is analyzed under different expanding diameter ratios and inclination angles.In the inlet pipe, it is found that increasing expanding diameter ratio and inclination angle can reduce the liquid slug stability and enhancing the effect of gravity, which is beneficial to slug flow dissipation. In the cylinder, increasing the expanding diameter ratio can significantly reduce the liquid carrying depth of the gas phase but result in a slightly increase of the gas content in the liquid phase space. Moreover, increasing the inclination angle results in a decrease in the carrying depth of liquid in the vapor phase, but enhances gas–liquid mixing and increases the gas-carrying depth in the liquid phase. Taking into consideration the dual effects of slug dissipation in the inlet pipe and carrying capacity of gas/liquid spaces in the cylinder, the optimal expanding diameter ratio and inclination angle values can be determined.     

Realization and control of multiple temperature zones in liquid‐containing gas–solid fluidized bed reactor

Fluidized bed reactors (FBRs) have been developed to establish multiple temperature zones for various industrial processes. To overcome the common weakness, this work proposed to spray liquid into bottom and upper zones, respectively, to realize multiple temperature zones FBR (MTZFBR). Temperature, pressure, and acoustic emission techniques were applied to fully characterize liquid interaction and hydrodynamics. Compared with the bottom liquid‐spraying approach, the upper liquid‐spraying approach showed higher temperature difference (ΔT) and better fluidization stability, thus was selected for further control studies. Effects of liquid flow rate, static bed height, and inlet gas temperature on MTZFBR were studied systematically. The results showed that increasing liquid evaporation behavior or decreasing liquid bridge behavior enhance ΔT and fluidization stability and vice versa. G–L–S fluidization pattern depended mostly on the liquid behaviors and fluidization stability, and thus the stabilized MTZFBR could be regarded as a coexisted mode of two distinctive G–L–S fluidization patterns. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 1454–1466, 2016