An Experimental Study of The Effects of The Mixing Vane on Air-water Mixed Flow

The effects of a mixing vane on air-water mixed flow have been experimentally studied in this work, to investigate the basic mechanisms that the mixing vane affects critical heat flux (CHF). Experiment was performed for various flow rates focusing on bubbly flow and annular flow patterns. Acrylic tube (1.7m long, 11 mm I.D.) and the split vane type mixing vane were used, and ring-type conductance probes were used to measure the liquid film thickness in annular flow. Experimental results show that, (a) bubbly-to slug flow transition and churn-to-annular flow transition occur respectively near the mixing vane compared to the tests without mixing vane, (b) in bubbly flow region, the mixing vane breaks the bubbles into smaller ones and forwards bubbles to the center region of the tube by the centrifugal force, (c) the liquid film thickness in annular flow is decreased near the mixing vane for mass fluxes.