Interfacial area concentration in gas–liquid bubbly to churn-turbulent flow regime

There are very few established correlations to predict the interfacial area concentration beyond the bubbly flow regime in cap-slug and churn-turbulent flow regimes. Present study shows a systematic approach to estimate the interfacial area concentration in bubbly, cap-slug and churn-turbulent flow regimes. Ishii and Mishima’s (1980) formulation and the two group approach for categorizing bubbles (Group-1: spherical or distorted bubble, Group-2: cap bubble) are used to estimate the interfacial area concentration. The key parameters in this framework are the estimation of Group-1 bubble size and the amount of void in the liquid slug, which is a function of Group-1 void fraction. Hibiki and Ishii’s (2002) correlation is utilized to predict the size of the Group-1 bubbles. A correlation is developed to estimate the Group-1 void fraction. The developed model for the estimation of interfacial area concentration is compared with the three existing datasets. These are data for air–water flow taken in annular geometry and round tube and also for air–NaOH solution taken in round tube. The estimation accuracies for these data sets are ±36.4%, ±26.5% and ±37.4%, respectively. These datasets cover a wide range of flow regimes and different physical properties.

► A systematic approach to predict the interfacial area concentration is presented.
► Two group approach for categorizing bubbles is used.
► Prediction of Group-1 bubble size and void fraction are key elements of this work.
► The proposed approach compares well with selected databases.