Upward gas–liquid two-phase flow after a U-bend in a large-diameter serpentine pipe

Aliyu M. Aliyu, Almabrok A. Almabrok, Yahaya D. Baba, Liyun Lao, Hoi Yeung, Kyung Chun Kim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

29 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We present an experimental study on the flow behaviour of gas and liquid in the upward section of a vertical pipe system with an internal diameter of 101.6 mm and a serpentine geometry. The experimental matrix consists of superficial gas and liquid velocities in ranges of 0.15–30 m/s and from 0.07 to 1.5 m/s, respectively, which cover bubbly to annular flow. The effects on the flow behaviours downstream of the 180° return bend are significantly reduced when the flow reaches an axial distance of 47 pipe diameters from the U-bend. Therefore, reasonably developed flow is attained at this development length downstream of the bend. Other published measurements for large-diameter film thickness show similar trends with respect to the superficial gas velocity. However, the trends differ from those of small-diameter pipes, with which the film thickness decreases much faster with increasing gas flow. As a result, only a few of the published correlations for small pipe data agreed with the experimental data for large pipe film thickness. We therefore modified one of the best-performing correlations, which produced a better fit. Qualitative and statistical analyses show that the new correlation provides improved predictions for two-phase flow film thickness in large-diameter pipes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)784-800
Number of pages17
JournalInternational Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer
Volume108
Early online date2 Jan 2017
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 May 2017
Externally publishedYes

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