Film behavior of two-phase flow in a horizontal pipe with a sudden contraction

Abstract

The flow regime transitions in a horizontal pipe with a sudden contraction were investigated in detail using a high-speed video camera and the developing process of the two-phase flow was clarified. In the present study, five flow regimes were observed, then the flow regime of the liquid film was classified into seven categories of regimes. Moreover, at high gas and liquid velocities, DW3 which was transitional wave to “Misty wave” from DW2 (three-dimensional disturbance wave) was newly observed. The two-phase distribution patterns were analyzed through the concept of the standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis. DW3 occurs erratically, while other disturbance waves occur regularly.