Flow Behavior and Pressure Drop of Two-Phase Flow through C-Shaped Bend in Vertical Plane, (I)

Abstract

Experimental results are presented on the flow behavior, average void fraction and pressure drop in air-water two-phase flow mixture flowing upward through a C-shaped bend curved in vertical plane. The curved test section of transparent acrylic resin tubing was varied in four versions of (a) 90 mm, (b) 132.5 mm and (c) 180 mm radii of curvature with 16 mm inside diameter tube, and (d) 135 radius with 24 mm diameter tube. The combined action of gravity and centrifugal force acting on the two-phase flow is expressed in terms of a modified Froude number representing the balance of radial forces between those acting on the liquid and the gaseous phases of the flow passing through the reclined vertical U- bend. The average void fraction in the curved test section was determined, and empirically correlated to the pressure drop, by means of a series of nondimensional numbers.