Numerical study on slug flow characteristics of adiabatic air-oil two-phase flow in a macro-channel

Abstract

This study focuses on the development of a numerical model for adiabatic air-oil slug flow in a horizontal macro-channel. The numerical model is developed based on a circular channel with an inner diameter of 40 mm and a channel length of 6 m. The numerical analysis is conducted by varying the air and oil mass-flow rates within ranges of 24.1~70.4 LPM and 6.51~20.9 LPM, respectively. The slug flow pattern, slug frequency, and pressure drop data are obtained from the numerical model, which accurately captures the experimental data in both magnitude and trend. In addition, the slug flow characteristics are identified using velocity vectors in the bubble tail, bubble head, and liquid slug regions. © 2018 The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers.