Study on the Characteristics of Bubble and Liquid Slugs for Gas-Liquid Taylor Flow in a Rectangular Micro-channel

The characteristics of gas-liquid Taylor (Slug) flow in a square micro-channel of 600×600 μm were investigated experimentally in this paper. The test fluids were nitrogen and water. The liquid and gas superficial velocities were 0.01 ~3 m/s and 0.1~3 m/s, respectively. Bubble and liquid slug length, bubble velocity, and frequency were measured by analyzing optical images using a high speed camera. Bubble length decreased with higher liquid flow rate, which increased dramatically with higher gas flow rate. However, slug length did not vary with changes in inlet liquid conditions. Additionally, bubble velocities and frequencies increased with higher liquid and gas flow rates. It was found that measured bubble lengths were in good agreement with the empirical models in the existing literature, but slug lengths were not.