Structure of air-water bubbly flow in a vertical annulus

Abstract

Local measurements of flow parameters were performed for vertical upward bubbly flows in an annulus. The annulus channel consisted of an inner rod with a diameter of 19.1 mm and an outer round tube with an inner diameter of 38.1 mm, and the hydraulic equivalent diameter was 19.1 mm. Double-sensor conductivity probe was used for measuring void fraction, interfacial area concentration, and interfacial velocity, and Laser Doppler anemometer was utilized for measuring liquid velocity and turbulence intensity. The mechanisms to form the radial profiles of local flow parameters were discussed in detail. The constitutive equations for distribution parameter and drift velocity in the drift-flux model, and the semi-theoretical correlation for Sauter mean diameter namely interfacial area concentration, which were proposed previously, were validated by local flow parameters obtained in the experiment using the annulus.