An investigation of two-phase flow pressure drop in helical rectangular channel

Numerical simulations have been carried out to evaluate the two-phase frictional pressure drop for air-water two-phase flow in horizontal helical rectangular channels by varying configurations, inlet velocity and inlet sectional liquid holdup. The investigations performed using eight coils, five different inlet velocity and four different inlet sectional liquid holdups. The effects of curvature, torsion, fluid velocity and inlet sectional liquid holdup on two-phase frictional pressure drop have been illustrated. It is found that the two-phase frictional pressure drop relates strongly to the superficial velocities of air or water, and that the curvature and torsion have some effect on the pressure drop for higher Reynolds number flows in large-scale helical rectangular channel; the inlet sectional liquid holdup only increases the magnitude of pressure drop in helical channel and has no effect on the development of pressure drop. The correlation developed predicts the two-phase frictional pressure drop in helical rectangular channel with acceptable statistical accuracy.