Kensuke Usui

Vertically downward two phase flow. I: Void distribution and average void fraction

Fully developed vertically downward two-phase flow of air-water mixture was investigated on void distribution and average void fraction among the three basic flow regimes; bubbly, slug and annular flows. The annular flow further was divided into two regimes of falling film flow and annular drop flow. Test channel is in form of inverted U-tube and tests were carried out at 100 tube diameters downstream from the curved part. Distributions of local void fraction were measured by means of a conductance needle probe method and the average void fraction was obtained from numerical integration of the measured local void fraction According to the results, profiles of local void fraction in bubby and slug flows showed characteristic natures with a peak in the middle region between the center and the wall of tube The average void fraction in downward flow depended greatly on the flow regimes. Accordingly correlation for each flow regime was developed to predict the average void fraction, based on flow mechanisms an...

Flow Behavior and Pressure Drop of Two-Phase Flow through C-Shaped Bend in Vertical Plane, (II): Downward Flow

Experimental results are presented on the flow behavior, average void fraction and pressure drop in air-water two-phase flow mixture flowing upward through a C-shaped bend curved in vertical plane. The curved test section of transparent acrylic resin tubing was varied in four versions of (a) 90 mm, (b) 132.5 mm and (c) 180 mm radii of curvature with 16 mm inside diameter tube, and (d) 135 radius with 24 mm diameter tube. The combined action of gravity and centrifugal force acting on the two-phase flow is expressed in terms of a modified Froude number representing the balance of radial forces between those acting on the liquid and the gaseous phases of the flow passing through the reclined vertical U- bend. The average void fraction in the curved test section was determined, and empirically correlated to the pressure drop, by means of a series of nondimensional numbers.

Vertically Downward Two-Phase Flow, (II): Flow Regime Transition Criteria

Following Part (I) of the present paper, which presented the experimental results obtained on the void distribution and average void fraction shown by nearly fully-developed, vertically downward two-phase flow of air-water mixture, this Part (?) covers the flow regime transition criteria among the three basic flow regimes : bubbly, slug and annular flows. The annular flow further was divided into two subregions of falling film flow and annular drop flow. The general situation of the transition criteria is as follows : (1) bubbly-to-slug flow transition occurs when the local void fraction in the central region of the tube is 0.3; (2) slug-to-annular drop flow transition criterion is given as a case which equations giving average void fraction for the slug flow and the annular flow are simultaneously satisfied; (3) slug-to-falling film flow transition occurs when the pressure difference between the crest of large wave and the bottom overcomes the surface tension; (4) the occurrence of liquid droplets from w...

The Coalescence Mechanism of Multiple Slug Bubbles

The authors have been investigating geysering, which may appear during start-up of a natural circulation boiling reactor. From the results, it became clear that a large slug bubble covering the entire channel and its condensation in the upper plenum were indispensable for geysering to occur. In this work, an image processing unit has been developed in order to measure the coalescence process of multiple slug bubbles. The proposed system was used to measure the coalescence process of multiple slug bubbles flow in vertical circular channel on air-water system. It was shown that a following slug bubble was influenced by the preceding slug bubble as the distance between the slug bubbles became 5 times inner channel diameter. The rise velocity of the following slug bubble increased due to the pressure drop induced by the wake behind the preceding slug bubble. The bubbles coalesced together in a fraction of a second.