Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THERMAL SCIENCES
Volume 53, Issue -, Pages 18-34Publisher
ELSEVIER FRANCE-EDITIONS SCIENTIFIQUES MEDICALES ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2011.09.021
Keywords
Microchannel; Two-phase flow; Pressure drop; Flow regime map
Categories
Funding
- University of Houston
- National Science Foundation [0927340]
- Div Of Civil, Mechanical, & Manufact Inn
- Directorate For Engineering [0927340] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Gas-liquid two-phase flow in microchannels with hydraulic diameters of 100-500 mu m exhibits drastically different flow behaviors from its counterpart in conventional macroscopic channels. Of particular interests are the two-phase flow patterns and the two-phase frictional pressure drop for given flow conditions in these microchannels. This paper presents an experimental study of the effects of channel size and superficial phasic velocity on the two-phase flow pattern and pressure drop of air-water mixture in circular microchannels with inner diameters of 100, 180 and 324 mu m. Two-phase flow patterns were visualized using high-speed photographic technique. Four basic flow patterns, namely, bubbly flow, slug flow, ring flow and annular flow, were observed. The two-phase flow regime maps were constructed and the transition boundaries between different flow regimes identified. In an effort to unify the flow transition boundary in microchannels of different sizes, a new flow map was developed using the modified Weber numbers as the coordinates. The two-phase frictional pressure gradient in the microchannels was measured and the data were compared with predictions from the separated flow model, the homogeneous flow model and the flow pattern-based phenomenological models. Results show that the flow pattern-based models provide the best prediction of the two-phase pressure drop in the microchannels. (C) 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
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