STATISTICAL CHARACTER OF LARGE DISTURBANCE WAVES IN UPWARD TWO-PHASE FLOW OF AIR-WATER MIXTURES

Abstract

The character of large disturbance waves in upward two-phase flow of air-water mixtures was studied statistically by analyzing the film thickness fluctuation obtained by electrical conductivity method. The experiment was carried out in 10 mm ID glass tube. The distribution of film thickness, periodicity and frequency of fluctuation, which were estimated by adopting the autocorrelation function and spectral analysis; wave velocity, which was estimated by analysis of cross-correlation function of film thickness fluctuation; and wave separation distance were measured. These values were correlated with the gas and liquid flow rates and flow patterns.