Interfacial area concentration in annular two-phase flow

Accurate prediction of the interfacial area concentration is essential to successful development of the interfacial transfer terms in the two-fluid model. The interfacial area concentration in annular flow and annular-mist flow is especially relevant to the transition process to the liquid film dryout, which might lead to fatal problem in the safety and efficient operation of boiling heat transfer system. However, very few experimental and theoretical studies focusing on the interfacial area concentration in annular flow region have been conducted. From this point of view, measurements of annular flow parameters such as one-dimensional interfacial area concentration of liquid film and local interfacial area concentration profile of liquid film were performed by a laser focus displacement meter at 21 axial locations in vertical upward annular two-phase flow using a 3-m-long and 11-mm-diameter pipe. The axial distances from the inlet (z) normalized by the pipe diameter (D) varied over z/D = 50–250. Data were collected for preset gas and liquid flow conditions and for Reynolds numbers ranging from 31,800 to 98,300 for the gas phase and 1050 to 9430 for the liquid phase. Axial development of the one-dimensional interfacial area concentration and the non-dimensional local interfacial area concentration profile of liquid film were examined with the data obtained in the experiment. Total interfacial area concentration including liquid film and droplets was also discussed with help of the existing drift-flux model, entrainment correlation, and droplet size correlation.