Time varying behavior of cocurrent gas-liquid flows in packed beds

Abstract

The time-varying fluid mechanics of the pulse flow regime are studied by the use of continuous pressure measurements. It is found that pulses can occur either or intermittently and the time period between pulses scales inversely with a modified Reynolds number. A simple physical basis for this scaling is suggested by a one-dimentional map. The results emphasize the importance of knowing the time scale of pulses and suggest that it is worthwhile to look for similar scalings for other intermittent flow phenomena such as slugs in horizontal gas-liquid flows.