Properties of Cocurrent Gas-Liquid Flow

TLDR: The problem of two-phase flow classification is complicated by the inevitable differences because of individual interpretations of visual observations and also by differences in terminology as mentioned in this paper, and a number of definite flow patterns are investigated.

Abstract: Publisher Summary Two-phase gas–liquid glow is encountered in an increasing number of important situations, and a clear understanding of the rates of transfer of momentum, heat, and material are required for logical and careful design and operation of a very wide variety of chemical engineering equipment and processes. In the production and transport of crude petroleum and petroleum products, two-phase flow is finding increasing use. Two-phase flow systems may be classified initially by composition, as containing a single component, or two or more components with any one component present in both phases or only essentially in one or the other phase. Varieties of flow patterns include bubble flow, plug flow, stratified flow, wavy flow, snug flow, annular flow, mist or spray flow. The problem of two-phase-flow classification is complicated by the inevitable differences because of individual interpretations of visual observations and also by differences in terminology. This chapter investigates a number of definite flow patterns. In the case of single-component two-phase flow—such as in vaporizing water—physical equilibrium is commonly assumed and seems to yield reasonable results, even though it might seem that supersaturation could occur. The rate of mass transfer among phases, therefore, is not a limiting process for single component flow.