International Journal of Multiphase Flow 37 (2011) 12771281

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International Journal of Multiphase Flow

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijmulow

Brief communication

Effect of liquid viscosity on ow patterns of gasliquid two-phase ow in a horizontal pipe

Hiroaki Matsubara, Kiyoshi Naito
Process Technology Center, Mitsui Chemicals, Inc., 580-32 Nagaura, Sodegaura, Chiba 299-0265, Japan

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history: Received 14 January 2011 Received in revised form 2 August 2011 Accepted 4 August 2011 Available online 16 August 2011 Keywords: Gasliquid pipe ow Liquid viscosity Flow pattern

2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Gasliquid two-phase horizontal ow often occurs in chemical, petroleum, nuclear and other industries. As shown in Fig. 1, the ow pattern of gasliquid two-phase horizontal ow can be classied depending on the spatial distribution of each phases or gas liquid interfacial congurations (Shoham, 2005). Because the design parameters, such as the pressure drop and the heat transfer, strongly depend on the ow pattern, the knowledge of the ow pattern is very important for a reliable design of gasliquid systems, such as boilers, evaporators and condensers. There have been several experimental studies on the ow patterns (Baker, 1954; Mandhane et al., 1974; Wong and Yau, 1997). In addition, several theoretical models for the prediction of the ow patterns transition have been proposed (Barnea et al., 1980; Speeding and Chen, 1981; Lin and Hanratty, 1987; Shoham, 2005). However, very few studies have been published on the effect of liquid viscosity on ow patterns of gasliquid ow in horizontal pipes. Furukawa and Fukano (2001) demonstrated that the ow patterns in vertical upward ow strongly depends on the liquid viscosity. However, for horizontal pipes, Weisman et al. (1979) concluded that the liquid viscosity slightly affects the ow patterns, the liquid viscosity that they used was only up to 150 mPa s. Therefore, more in-depth studies are required to clarify the inuence of high viscosity on ow patterns in a horizontal pipe.

In this study, we investigated the effect of liquid viscosity on ow patterns of gasliquid horizontal ow in a transparent pipe of 20 mm inner diameter, using water or an aqueous solution of polysaccharide thickener (tamarind seed gum), which is a Newtonian uid, as the liquid phase, and air as the gas phase. Liquid viscosity range was from 1 to 11,000 mPa s. 2. Experimental setup Fig. 2 shows a simplied version of the experimental setup. The experimental layout consists of a transparent horizontal pipe to be able to observe the ow patterns made from polyphenylsulphone with 20 mm inner diameter and 19 m length. Water or an aqueous solution of polysaccharide thickener as the liquid phase is supplied by a pump from a buffer tank, and ows into the mixing zone. The gas phase, air, is also supplied to the mixing zone. In the mixing zone, the gas phase is fed in parallel with liquid ow (see Fig. 2). Each phase pipe lines are equipped with check valves, so they do not ow backward. The two-phase mixture is mixed thoroughly in the mixing zone before owing into the test section where the ow pattern is observed visually. Three differential pressure meters have been placed every 2 m in the last 6 m of the test section to measure the pressure drop. The two-phase mixture is separated in a receiver tank, and the air is subsequently vented to the atmosphere. Remaining bubbles in the liquid phase are removed by a deaerator, before the liquid returns to the buffer tank. The experimental conditions used in this study are listed in Table 1. The liquid viscosity was measured with a Brookeld viscometer before and after every experiment to conrm that there was not

Corresponding author. Tel.: +81 438 64 2497; fax: +81 438 64 2496.
E-mail address: kiyoshi.naitou@mitsui-chem.co.jp (K. Naito). 0301-9322/$ - see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijmultiphaseow.2011.08.001

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Fig. 1. Gasliquid two-phase ow patterns in horizontal pipe.

any change in it. For every experiment, the liquid viscosity was adjusted with the concentration of tamarind seed gum. For example, the liquid viscosity is about 10,000 mPa s when the concentration of tamarind seed gun is 3 wt.%. 3. Results and discussion In this paper, we dene stratied smooth ow and stratied wavy ow as stratied ow, and plug ow and slug ow as intermittent ow. While roll wave ow is generally classied into stratied ow, we distinguished between roll wave ow and stratied ow by the measurements of pressure drop because there are different trends at each ow pattern, in addition to the visual/video observation (see Fig. 1). Dispersed bubble ow was not observed in any of the experimental conditions used in this study. The ow patterns obtained by using water as the liquid phase (viscosity is 1 mPa s) are plotted on Fig. 3, where the ordinate axis is the supercial liquid velocity, VSL, and the abscissa axis is the supercial gas velocity, VSG. Taitel and Dukler (1976) developed a semi-theoretical model to predict the ow pattern map of gas

liquid two phase ow in horizontal or inclined pipes. The ow pattern transition lines obtained from their model have been added to Fig. 3. The experimental results, when roll wave ow is considered as annular ow are in agreement with TaitelDukler map. In addition, these results are consistent with other experimental results (Weisman et al., 1979; Speeding and Spence, 1993). The ow patterns obtained by using an aqueous solution as the liquid phase with a viscosity of 100 or 250 mPa s are plotted on Fig. 4. This ow pattern map is quite different compared with the case of water. The supercial gas velocity, VSG at the ow pattern transition point from roll wave to annular ow decreases as liquid viscosity increases, and the regions of stratied ow at low VSG are replaced by that of intermittent ow. Furthermore, Fig. 5 shows a measurement example of LockhartMartinelli pressure drop correlation presented by Lockhart and Martinelli (1949) at a liquid viscosity of 100 mPa s or 250 mPa s (VSL:0.044 m/s, VSG:514 m/s). These pressure drops of test section are measured experimentally by using the differential pressure meters. According to the visual/video observation, we nd the boundary between roll wave ow and stratied ow corresponds to the inection point in the loglog plot of LockhartMartinelli pressure drop correlation, and can identify each ow pattern. The ow patterns obtained by using an aqueous solution as the liquid phase with a viscosity of 2500 or 7500 mPa s are plotted on Fig. 6. Furthermore, Fig. 7 shows the experimental results with a liquid viscosity of 11,000 mPa s. The tendency mentioned above becomes remarkable as the liquid viscosity increases. Stratied ow can not be observed in almost all experimental conditions with a liquid viscosity of 11,000 mPa s, and the regions of stratied ow are replaced by that of intermittent ow. In addition, roll wave ow is difcult to observe, and the regions of roll wave ow are replaced by that of annular ow. As shown in Fig. 8, the results for the transition lines are compared with those obtained using the TaitelDukler model in the case of the 100 mPa s viscosity solution. As the liquid viscosity increases, the transition lines from stratied ow to intermittent ow and from stratied ow to annular ow, obtained by the TaitelDukler model, move to the direction of low VSL and VSG. Our experimental results show the same tendency, but TaitelDukler model more drastically predicts the effect of liquid viscosity. Therefore, when the liquid viscosity is higher than 100 mPa s, there is a difference between the TaitelDukler map and our experimental results.

Fig. 2. Experimental layout for ow pattern observation.

H. Matsubara, K. Naito / International Journal of Multiphase Flow 37 (2011) 12771281 Table 1 Experimental conditions. Liquid viscosity (mPa s) 1 100 250 2500 7500 11,000 Supercial liquid velocity (m/s) 0.0030.177 0.0030.177 0.0030.177 0.0030.088 0.0030.022 0.0030.013 Supercial gas velocity (m/s) 126 1.526 2.525 2.522 519 7.518

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Fig. 5. LockhartMartinelli pressure drop correlation at a liquid viscosity of 100 mPa s or 250 mPa s.

Fig. 3. Observed ow patterns for airwater; the results are compared with the transition line obtained from the model proposed by Taitel and Dukler (1976).

Fig. 6. Observed ow patterns at a liquid viscosity of (a) 2500 mPa s and (b) 7500 mPa s.

Fig. 4. Observed ow patterns at a liquid viscosity of (a) 100 mPa s and (b) 250 mPa s.

In the TaitelDukler model, the liquid height-to-diameter ratio, hL/D, is calculated from the simplied one-dimensional momentum balance equation by assuming equilibrium stratied ow to

Fig. 7. Observed ow patterns at a liquid viscosity of 11,000 mPa s.

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Fig. 8. Comparison between ow patterns for air and aqueous solution with a viscosity of 100 mPa s and those obtained using the model proposed by Taitel and Dukler.

Fig. 11. Relationship between fI/fG and liquid viscosity.

Fig. 9. Comparison of hL/D observed and calculated from one-dimensional momentum balance equation (VSL:0.003 m/s).

model prediction. In the TaitelDukler model, the interfacial friction factor, fI is equal to wall friction factor, fG. This means that a smooth interface exists. Because the unsmoothed interface is observed for air and high viscosity liquid two phase horizontal ow in our experiments, fI seems to be larger than fG, and the incorrect prediction of hL/D is thought to occur because of this approximation. If fI is larger than fG, the prediction of hL/D is lower than the original. Therefore, we have demonstrated that the modied model predictions in the case of 100 mPa s are in agreement with the experimental data compared to the original, as shown in Fig. 10. In this model, it is assumed fI/fG = 100. Similarly, in the case of other liquid viscosities (250, 2500, 7500 and 11,000 mPa s), modied TaitelDukler maps are in agreement with the experimental data by adjusting the value of fI/fG. As shown in Fig. 11, fI/fG increases with the liquid viscosity because the unsmoothed interface develops, and becomes almost constant with the high viscosity.

4. Conclusions Gasliquid two-phase ow patterns observation is carried out for a horizontal pipe of 20 mm inner diameter, using water or an aqueous solution of polysaccharide thickener as the liquid phase, and air as the gas phase. As a result, it is claried that the regions of roll wave ow and stratied ow are replaced respectively by that of annular ow and intermittent ow as the liquid velocity increases. When the liquid viscosity is higher than 100 mPa s, our experimental results are not in agreement with a previous paper by Weisman et al. (1979) that reports that the liquid viscosity slightly affects the ow pattern, and the commonly used TaitelDukler model for the ow pattern transition. Therefore, another different approach must be developed for the problem of ow pattern prediction in the case of high viscosity.

Fig. 10. Comparison between ow patterns for air and aqueous solution with a viscosity of 100 mPa s and those obtained using the modied model.

occur, and the transition criterion is a function of hL/D. For example, a ow pattern is judged an annular ow when hL/D < 0.35. However, this model seems to overestimate hL/D when the liquid viscosity is higher than water viscosity. As shown in Fig. 9, the observed liquid height is higher than that of the model prediction of 1 mPa s, but is lower than that of the model prediction of 2800 mPa s. In our experiments, the liquid height has been measured by viewing the liquid phase through the transparent pipe. According to the TaitelDukler model, it is difcult to observe stratied ow for air and high viscosity liquid two phase horizontal ow because of high hL/D calculated from the simplied onedimensional momentum balance equation. In fact, we can observe stratied ow because the liquid height is not as high as that of the

References
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H. Matsubara, K. Naito / International Journal of Multiphase Flow 37 (2011) 12771281 Speeding, P.L., Chen, J.J.J., 1981. A simplied method of determining ow pattern transition of two-phase ow in a horizontal pipe. Int. J. Multiphase Flow 6, 729 731. Speeding, P.L., Spence, D.R., 1993. Flow regimes in two-phase gasliquid ow. Int. J. Multiphase Flow 2, 245280. Taitel, Y., Dukler, A.E., 1976. A model for predicting ow regime transitions in horizontal and near horizontal gasliquid ow. AIChE J. 22, 4755.

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