(An) Experimental and analytical study on the bubble-to-slug flow regime transition based on the void wave instability

Abstract

An experimental and analytical work is performed to investigate the relation between the developing phenomena in bubble flow and the propagation phenomena of void waves. For this purpose, the structural developments in bubble flow and the propagation property of void waves are measured over a broad range of flow conditions including the bubble-to-slug flow regime transition (BSFRT) region. And a linear stability analysis is performed, based on the two-fluid model, to establish the analytical model on the wave propagation parameters, and the predictability of the model is validated by comparing analytical results with experimental observations. In the experimental work, an impedance void meter is developed to measure the void fraction, and a series of test are performed by varying the bubble size in order to investigate the bubble size effect on the bubble flow structures for various flow conditions. Statistical signal processing techniques are applied to void signals in order to objectively identify the changing modes of bubble flow structures and to estimate the wave propagation properties. The impedance void meter developed in this study showed very good temporal and spatial resolutions enough to identify the developing phenomena in bubble flow structures and to investigate the void wave propagations, and the void distribution effect could be minimized by electrically shielding the guard electrodes. It was also designed so that the inherent errors due to the phase shifts between channels be negligible. Various features occurred in the transitional process of bubble flow could be objectively identified by introducing some statistical parameters evaluated from void signals. Two distinct modes of structural development in bubble flow were observed in the transitional process, and they are found to be much influenced by the initial bubble size. And the mechanism to govern BSFRT could be characterized by two ways depending on the developing modes of bubble flow...