Flow pattern changes influenced by variation of viscosities of a heterogeneous gas-liquid mixture flow in a vertical channel

In the steady-state flow of a heterogeneous mixture such as an air-liquid mixture, the velocity and void fraction are space- and time-dependent parameters. These parameters are the most fundamental in the analysis and description of a multiphase flow. The determination of flow patterns in an objective way is extremely critical, since this is directly related to sudden changes in spatial and temporal changes of the random like characteristic of concentration. Flow patterns can be described by concentration signals in time, amplitude, and frequency domains. Despite the vital importance and countless attempts to solve or incorporate the flow pattern phenomena into multiphase models, it has still been a very challenging topic in the scientific community since the 1940's and has not yet reached a satisfactory solution. This paper reports the experimental results of the impact of fluid viscosity on flow patterns for two-phase flow. Two-phase flow was created in laboratory equipment using air and liquid as phase medium. The liquid properties were changed by using variable concentrations of glycerol in water mixture which generated a wide-range of dynamic viscosities ranging from 1 to 1060 MPa s. The in situ spatial concentration vs. liquid viscosity and airflow velocity of two-phase flow in a vertical ID = 50.8 mm pipe were measured using two concomitant computer-aided measurement systems. After acquiring data, the in situ special concentration signals were analyzed in time (spatial concentration and RMS of spatial concentration vs. time), amplitude (PDF and CPDF), and frequency (PSD and CPSD) domains that documented broad flow pattern changes caused by the fluid viscosity and air velocity changes. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.