Classification of flow regimes in gas-liquid horizontal Couette-Taylor flow using dimensionless criteria

In this paper, the flow patterns observed in horizontal Couette-Taylor flow (CTF) were correlated using dimensionless numbers. The analysis of the results showed that the structure of the flow was an outcome of interaction between fluid inertia related to axial and rotational flows and gravitation. Therefore, the flow structures were correlated using axial and angular Reynolds numbers, and Archimedes number for the given value of gas-to-liquid flow ratio. Finally, the correlation for the prediction of the transition to the flow regime observed at high rotational speeds was proposed. The comparison with experiments carried out in the vertical CTF from the literature showed that this correlation can also be useful in the case of vertical flow.