Turbulence and Bubble Break up in Slug Flow with Wall Injection

Abstract

The present work investigates experimentally the changes on the properties of horizontal slug flows subject to fluid injection at the wall. Measurements include data on global flow rates, pressure drop and local mean and fluctuating velocity profiles for nine different conditions. The properties of the two-phase flow are measured through a Shadow Sizer system and laser-based sensors. Two distinct flow transpiration rates are studied, v++wi = v w / U m = 0.0005 and 0.001. The effects of flow transpiration were observed to induce bubble break-up and large changes in the passage frequency and characteristic lengths of the unit cells. In addition to the two-phase flow results, single-phase flow measurements are presented with a view to compare the different turbulent effects introduced by the second phase. The work also proposes modifications in the models of Dukler and Hubbard (Ind. Eng. Chem. Fund. 14 337–347 (1975)) and Orell (Chem. Eng. Sci. 60 1371–1381 (2005)) so that fluid injection at the wall can be accounted for. All theoretical predictions are compared with the experimental data.