Caracterização do escoamento bifásico líquido-gás em golfadas em dutos verticais

Abstract

Gas-liquid two-phase flows occur in many branches of industry. The flow can occur in different patterns depending on the flow rates, the properties of the phases and inclination of the tube. Slug flow is the most common in the oil industry and to improve processes, selection/design of the equipment is important predict the characteristics of this type of flow, but it is a challenge due to the complexity of interaction between the phases, that behave intermittently in time and space. In this context, the aim of this paper is to analyze influence of the gas-liquid flow in the characteristic parameters of air-water slug flow along vertical pipes. The main characteristic parameters - velocity and length of the Taylor bubble, length of the liquid slug, void fraction and frequency - were obtained by a camera with high image acquisition rate and using the Wire-Mesh Sensor. The experimental work on two- phase vertical upward flow was carried out at the LACIT (Laboratório de Ciências Térmicas-UTFPR) using a 25.8 mm internal diameter and 3.9 meters long transparent pipe. Results show that the higher the ratio between gas and liquid superficial velocities, the bigger is the bubble length, the liquid slug and the void fraction. Likewise, it was noticed that the frequency increases as the liquid superficial velocity increases, and the Taylor bubble velocity increases as the mixture velocity rises.