Experimental Investigation of Falling Liquid Film in Vertical Downward Two-Phase Pipe Flow

In this research the hydrodynamics of falling liquid film in a vertical downward two-phase flow (liquid-gas) is experimentally studied.The 4 inch clear PVC test section is 6.1 meters long, with a length to diameter ratio (L/D) of 64. The fluids utilized are compressed air, water, Conosol mineral oil (light oil) and Drake mineral oil (heavy oil). The superficial liquid velocities tested range from 12 to 72 cm/s while the superficial gas velocities range from 0.2 to 29 cm/s. The vertical facility is equipped with the state-of-the-art instrumentation for two-phase flow measurements, the capacitance Wire-Mesh Sensor (WMS), allowing two-phase flow measurements with conducting and non conducting fluids.Experimental results show that the liquid film thickness has a quasi-linear relationship with the superficial liquid velocity for the air-water case. For the air-oil cases, at superficial liquid velocities higher than 50 cm/s, the liquid film thickness trend is affected by the liquid droplet entrainment. Furthermore, it was found that the liquid droplet entrainment increases as the superficial liquid velocity increases or the surface tension decreases. Details of the liquid droplets traveling in the gas core, wave formation, wave breakup and film thickness evolution are observed in the WMS phase reconstruction.© 2012 ASME