Author(s)

DOAA AWAD, ABDUL RAFEY SIDDIQUI, YASSER AL-HAMIDI, MOHAMMAD AZIZUR RAHMAN, IBRAHIM HASSAN

Abstract

The objective of this experimental study was to develop a flow regime map for two-phase air-water flow within a wavy horizontal micro-channel. The water flow rates were varied from 29.1cm³/min to 218cm³/min, and the air flow rate was varied from 313.3cm³/min to 2350cm³/min. The variations culminated in a total of 63 different data points. The captured video of the flow was analyzed visually, and the flow regime was determined. This was repeated for each data point to ensure experimental repeatability. Seven different flow regimes were observed within this micro-channel, which were annular flow, bubbly flow, churn (or semi-annular) flow, plug flow, slug flow, stratified flow, and wavy flow. The data points were plotted on a flow regime chart. This map, which pertains to horizontal flow within wavy micro-channels, was also compared against flow regime maps for straight horizontal and vertical micro-channels.

Keywords

two-phase flow, wavy microchannel, visualization, flow regimes, high-speed camera