Interfacial friction factor in vertical upward gas-liquid annular two-phase flow

This paper presents new data on the gas-liquid interfacial friction factor in annular two-phase upward co-current now in a vertical circular pipe. Different from most previous work, the present studies have been performed at relatively high film thickness, taking into consideration the effect of the entrained droplets which occur from the breakup of the disturbance waves. The test section has an inner diameter of 29 mm and the length of 3 m. The porous wail injector is used to introduce the liquid into the test section. The two phase pressure drop is measured by two static pressure tubes connected with a manometer. The film thickness is measured by calibrated stainless ring electrodes mounted flush in the tube wall. The electrode operates on the principle of the variation of electrical resistance with changes in the liquid film thickness between two parallel electrode rings. The entrained liquid now rate is measured by using a sampling probe connected with a cyclone separator. The entrainment flow rate in the gas core is calculated from an assumption that the sampling is carried out in an isokinetic manner. The results from the experiments are compared with those calculated from correlations reported in the literature. A new empirical correlation for predicting the interfacial friction factors for practical applications is proposed. (C) 2001. Elsevier Science Ltd.