Online parameters measurement of Taylor flow in small channels using optical technique

In this work, an online optical system for the parameters measurement of the gas-liquid Taylor flow in a 4.0mm-inner-diameter small channel was developed. The presented method was able to measure the bubble velocity, bubble frequency, bubble and slug lengths, and determine the void fraction of the gas-liquid Taylor flow in small channels. A homogeneous flow model was introduced to simplify the analysis and parameter calculation of the gas-liquid Taylor flow. Experimental results showed that the presented optical method was effective and well applied to the online measurement or monitoring the parameters of Taylor flow in small channels. The relative error of the measured bubble velocity and void fraction were less than ±5% and ±10%, respectively.

[1]  David F. Fletcher,et al.  Taylor Flow in Microchannels: A Review of Experimental and Computational Work: , 2010 .

[2]  Asterios Gavriilidis,et al.  Mass transfer during Taylor flow in microchannels with and without chemical reaction , 2010 .

[3]  Freek Kapteijn,et al.  Multiphase monolith reactors: Chemical reaction engineering of segmented flow in microchannels , 2005 .

[4]  Volker Hessel,et al.  Gas hold-up and liquid film thickness in Taylor flow in rectangular microchannels , 2008 .

[5]  Adeniyi Lawal,et al.  Numerical study on gas and liquid slugs for Taylor flow in a T-junction microchannel , 2006 .

[6]  John R. Thome,et al.  Characterization of diabatic two-phase flows in microchannels: Flow parameter results for R-134a in a 0.5 mm channel , 2006 .

[7]  Mamoru Ishii,et al.  Sensitivity study on double-sensor conductivity probe for the measurement of interfacial area concentration in bubbly flow , 1999 .

[8]  Juan G. Santiago,et al.  Two-phase hydrodynamics in a miniature direct methanol fuel cell , 2009 .

[9]  Brian S. Haynes,et al.  Heat transfer in well-characterised Taylor flow , 2010 .

[10]  Martin A. Abraham,et al.  Bubble-train flow in capillaries of circular and square cross section , 1995 .

[11]  Hideki Fujioka,et al.  Effects of gravity, inertia, and surfactant on steady plug propagation in a two-dimensional channel , 2007 .

[12]  F. Bretherton.  The motion of long bubbles in tubes , 1961, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[13]  P Angeli,et al.  Hydrodynamics of Taylor flow in small channels: A Review , 2008 .

[14]  David F. Fletcher,et al.  On the CFD modelling of Taylor flow in microchannels , 2009 .

[15]  Z. Bao,et al.  Estimation of void fraction and pressure drop for two-phase flow in fine passages , 1994 .

[16]  Robert F. Mudde,et al.  Bubble Velocity and Size Measurement with a Four‐Point Optical Fiber Probe , 2003 .