Phase Distribution of Gas–Liquid Slug–Annular Flow in Horizontal Parallel Micro-Channels
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Experiments
2.1. Experimental Apparatus and Procedure
2.2. Experimental Conditions and Calculations
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Inlet Flow Pattern
3.2. Varying of Flow Distribution in Parallel Micro-Channels
3.3. Effect of Inlet Conditions on Phase Distribution
3.4. Effect of the Branch Spacing on Phase Distribution
3.5. Distribution Correlation
4. Conclusions
- The phase distribution is highly dependent on the inlet conditions. An increase in the liquid superficial velocity can facilitate the liquid phase to flow into channels at the fore part of the header, while the channels at the rear part of the header are more supplied with liquid as the gas superficial velocity, volume fraction of gas, and volume flow rate increase. In addition, the trend of the gas distribution changing with that of the liquid and the gas phases is always mainly aspirated by the adjacent upstream channel of the one that is highly fed by the liquid phase.
- The distribution of slug–annular flow is the lack of stability and the unstable time regularly changes. With an increase in the inlet liquid superficial velocity, the gas superficial velocity, and the volume flow rate, it takes less time for the distribution to be stable, whereas an increase in the volume fraction of gas can extend the stabilization time.
- As for the effect of the branch spacing, the results show that the channels at the rear part of the header tend to be highly supplied by both the liquid and gas phases with an increase in the branch spacing.
- An empirical correlation relating the liquid and gas taken off the same branch was obtained using two inlet parameters and three non-dimensional numbers. The comparisons between the measured data and the predicted data show relatively good agreement.
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Nomenclature and Subscripts
Γ | Phase take-off ratio | S | Distance between adjacent channels, mm |
μ | Viscosity, cP | t | Time, min |
ρ | Density, kg/m3 | We | Weber number |
σ | Surface tension coefficient of the liquid, mN/m | x | Volume fraction |
Ca | Capillary number | g | Gas phase |
d | Hydraulic diameter of the branch channel, mm | h | Hydraulic |
D | Hydraulic diameter of the header, mm | i | Number of channels |
F | Phase take-off fraction | in | At the inlet |
J | Superficial velocity, m/s | k | l or g |
m | Mass flow rate, kg/s | l | Liquid phase |
Q | Volume flow rate, mL/s | M | Main tube (header) |
Re | Reynolds number of the gas at the inlet | out | Out from the header |
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ρ (kg/m3) | σ (mN/m) | |
---|---|---|
Liquid (0.03 wt% SDS solution) | 997.35 | 29.2 |
Gas (nitrogen) | 1.25 | — |
Series | Case | Jg (m/s) | Jl (m/s) | Q (mL/s) | xg |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
a | 1 | 7.08 | 0.12 | 1.73 | 0.98 |
2 | 0.18 | 1.74 | 0.98 | ||
3 | 0.21 | 1.75 | 0.97 | ||
4 | 0.30 | 1.77 | 0.96 | ||
b | 5 | 5.97 | 0.18 | 1.48 | 0.97 |
2 | 7.08 | 1.74 | 0.98 | ||
6 | 9.03 | 2.21 | 0.98 | ||
7 | 12.08 | 2.94 | 0.99 | ||
c | 2 | 7.08 | 0.18 | 1.74 | 0.98 |
8 | 6.95 | 0.28 | 0.96 | ||
9 | 6.81 | 0.42 | 0.94 | ||
d | 2 | 7.08 | 0.18 | 1.74 | 0.98 |
10 | 9.03 | 0.23 | 2.22 | ||
11 | 12.08 | 0.31 | 2.97 |
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Liu, Y.; Jiang, S.; Wang, S. Phase Distribution of Gas–Liquid Slug–Annular Flow in Horizontal Parallel Micro-Channels. Energies 2024, 17, 2399. https://doi.org/10.3390/en17102399
Liu Y, Jiang S, Wang S. Phase Distribution of Gas–Liquid Slug–Annular Flow in Horizontal Parallel Micro-Channels. Energies. 2024; 17(10):2399. https://doi.org/10.3390/en17102399
Chicago/Turabian StyleLiu, Yanchu, Siqiang Jiang, and Shuangfeng Wang. 2024. "Phase Distribution of Gas–Liquid Slug–Annular Flow in Horizontal Parallel Micro-Channels" Energies 17, no. 10: 2399. https://doi.org/10.3390/en17102399
APA StyleLiu, Y., Jiang, S., & Wang, S. (2024). Phase Distribution of Gas–Liquid Slug–Annular Flow in Horizontal Parallel Micro-Channels. Energies, 17(10), 2399. https://doi.org/10.3390/en17102399