• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.1521-1527
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• 2004

Thermocapillary migration of a liquid slug is caused by temperature difference between the ends of a slug. The temperature difference induces the difference of the surface tension coefficient and consequently of capillary pressure between the ends of the slug. Presently available model to predict a velocity of thermocapillary migration adopts the Poiseuille equation which is valid only for a very long slug and neglects the shear stress near the contact line. In the present study, a new model has been developed to consider the shear stress near the contact line so that it can be applied to slugs or drops of general configuration. The experiments using mineral oil with the length to diameter ratio being 10 and a glass capillary were performed. It was found that the liquid slug began to move upon overcoming contact angle hysteresis when the temperature difference reached 35$^{\circ}C$. The results indicate that the new model well predicts the velocity of the liquid slug.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.27 no.10
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• pp.520-526
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• 2015

The characteristics of gas-liquid Taylor (Slug) flow in a square micro-channel of $600{\sim}600{{\mu}m}$ were investigated experimentally in this paper. The test fluids were nitrogen and water. The liquid and gas superficial velocities were 0.01~3 m/s and 0.1~3 m/s, respectively. Bubble and liquid slug length, bubble velocity, and frequency were measured by analyzing optical images using a high speed camera. Bubble length decreased with higher liquid flow rate, which increased dramatically with higher gas flow rate. However, slug length did not vary with changes in inlet liquid conditions. Additionally, bubble velocities and frequencies increased with higher liquid and gas flow rates. It was found that measured bubble lengths were in good agreement with the empirical models in the existing literature, but slug lengths were not.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2004.04a
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• pp.1951-1956
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• 2004

The transient nature and complex flow geometries of two-phase gas-liquid flows cause fundamental difficulties when measuring flow velocity using an electromagnetic flowmeter. Recently, a current-sensing flowmeter was introduced to obtain measurements with high temporal resolution (Ahn et $al.^{(1)}$). In this study, current-sensing flowmeter theory was applied to measure the fast velocity transients in slug flows. To do this, the velocity fields of axisymmetric gas-liquid slug flow in a vertical pipe were obtained using Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) method and the virtual potential distributions for the electrodes of finite size were also computed using the finite volume method for the simulated slug flow. The output signal prediction for slug flow was carried out from the velocity and virtual potential (or weight function) fields. The flowmeter was numerically calibrated to obtain the cross-sectional liquid mean velocity at an electrode plane from the predicted output signal. Two calibration parameters are required for this procedure: a flow pattern coefficient and a localization parameter. The flow pattern coefficient was defined by the ratio of the liquid resistance between the electrodes for two-phase flow with respect to that for single-phase flow, and the localization parameter was introduced to avoid errors in the flowmeter readings caused by liquid acceleration or deceleration around the electrodes. These parameters were also calculated from the computed velocity and virtual potential fields. The results can be used to obtain the liquid mean velocity from the slug flow signal measured by a current-sensing flowmeter.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.29 no.6 s.237
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• pp.671-686
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• 2005

The transient nature and complex geometries of two-phase gas-liquid flows cause fundamental difficulties when measuring flow velocity using an electromagnetic flowmeter. Recently, a current-sensing flowmeter was introduced to obtain measurements with high temporal resolution (Ahn et al.). In this study, current-sensing flowmeter theory was applied to measure the fast velocity transients in slug flows. The velocity fields of axisymmetric gas-liquid slug flow in a vertical pipe were obtained using Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) method, and the virtual potential distributions for the electrodes of finite size were also computed using the finite volume method for simulating slug flow. The output signal prediction for slug flow was carried out from the velocity and virtual potential (or weight function) fields. The flowmeter was numerically calibrated to obtain the cross-sectional liquid mean velocity at an electrode plane from the predicted output signal. Two calibration parameters are proposed for this procedure: a flow pattern coefficient and a localization parameter. The flow pattern coefficient was defined by the ratio of the liquid resistance between the electrodes for two-phase flow with respect to that for single-phase flow, and the localization parameter was introduced to avoid errors in the flowmeter readings caused by liquid acceleration or deceleration around the electrodes. These parameters were also calculated from the computed velocity and virtual potential fields. The results can be used to obtain the liquid mean velocity from the slug flow signal measured by a current-sensing flowmeter.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.227-236
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• 2016

In the present experimental study, the effect of gas- and liquid-injected methods on the formation of bubble and liquid slug at the merging micro T-junction of a square microchannel with dimensions $600{\mu}m{\times}600{\mu}m$ was investigated. Nitrogen and water were used as test fluids. The superficial velocities of the liquid and gas were in the range of 0.05 - 1 m/s, and 0.1 - 1 m/s, respectively, where the Taylor flow was observed. The bubble length, liquid slug length, bubble velocity, and bubble generation frequency were measured by analyzing the images captured using a high-speed camera. Under similar inlet superficial velocity conditions, in the case of gas injection to the main channel at the merging T-junction (T_gas-liquid), the lengths of the bubble and liquid slug were longer, and the bubble generation frequency was lower than in the case of liquid injection to the main channel at the merging T-junction (T_liquid-gas). On the other hand, in both cases, the bubble velocity was almost the same. The previous correlation proposed using experimental data for T_liquid-gas had predicted the present experimental data of bubble length, bubble velocity, liquid slug length, and bubble generation frequency for T_gas-liquid to be ~24%, ~9%, ~39%, ~55%, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.75-80
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• 2015

The effect of inlet mixer geometries on the two-phase flow patterns in square micro-channel with $600{\times}600{\mu}m$ was investigated experimentally in this paper. The 4 different mixer configurations based on the Y, Impacting, and two T types (gas and liquid inlets were switched) were used. The test fluids were nitrogen and water. The liquid and gas superficial velocities were 0.01~10 m/s and 0.1~100 m/s, respectively. Several distinctive flow patterns, namely, annular, slug-annular, slug, slug-bubbly, bubbly, and churn flow could be seen. The flow pattern maps for each mixer were suggested, and it can be concluded that two-phase flow patterns are not very sensitive to the mixer geometries. But the mixing behaviors of gas and liquid for each mixer were different for slug and bubbly flow. Thus, the characteristics of slug and bubble for each case were not same.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.39 no.7
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• pp.557-566
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• 2015

The characteristics of a gas-liquid Taylor (slug) flow in a square micro-channel with dimensions of $600{\mu}m{\times}600{\mu}m$ are experimentally investigated in this paper. The test fluids were nitrogen and water. The superficial velocities of the liquid and gas were in the ranges of 0.01 - 3 m/s and 0.1 - 3 m/s, respectively. The bubble and liquid slug lengths, bubble velocities, and bubble frequencies for various inlet conditions were measured by analyzing optical images obtained with a high-speed camera. It was found that the measured values (bubble and liquid slug lengths, bubble velocities) were not in good agreement with the values obtained using empirical models presented in the existing literature. Modified models for the bubble and liquid slug lengths and bubble velocity are suggested and shown to be in good agreement (${\pm}20$) with the measured values. Moreover, the bubble frequency could be predicted well by the relationship between the unit cell length and its velocity.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.246-254
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• 2013

Some characteristics of nitrogen-water slug flow were optically measured, in vertical acrylic tubes of 2, 5 and 8 mm diameter. Bubble velocity, bubble and unit cell lengths were measured, by analyzing the light intensity signals from two sets of dot laser-infrared sensor modules mounted along the transparent tubes. Optical images of the bubbles were also taken and analyzed, to measure bubble shapes and liquid film thickness. It was found that the measured bubble velocities were in good agreement with the empirical models in the literature, except for those measured under high superficial velocity condition in the 2 mm tube. Bubble length was found to be the longest in the 2 mm tube, being 4 to 5 times those of the other tubes. Liquid film was found to have developed early in the 2 mm tube, which made the blunt shape of the bubble head. Liquid film thickness in the 8 mm tube was measured at almost twice those of the other tubes.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.401-408
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• 2012

Volumetric mass transfer coefficient was measured with carbon dioxide and deionized water for the gas-liquid cocurrent slug flow in 2, 5 and 8 mm tubes. Measurement was repeated with and without a vertical section in an experimental setup and entrance effect was found greater for smaller tubes. Volumetric mass transfer coefficient in the vertical section was found generally a strong function of gas- and liquid-phase superficial velocities. 5 mm- and 8 mm-tube data are highly consistent each other but not with 2 mm tube.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.1569-1573
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• 2004

Two ring-type conductance meters were manufactured to measure void fraction and its propagation speed in slug flow. The signal of conductance meter with two rings depends on liquid temperature. Therefore a conductance meter with separated probe designed by Coney (1973), which is independent of liquid temperature, was used and experimentally proved. The manufactured conductance meters showed a good repeatability and agreement with the analytical solution by Coney (1973). From time lag between two conductance meter, we could calculate the propagation speed of void fraction.