The Effects of Inlet Flow Conditions on Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow in a Micro Tube

In the present study, the effects of inlet geometry on the microscale two-phase flow patterns have been examined. The relationships among the flow pattern, the void fraction, the pressure loss and the heat transfer coefficient have been also investigated under different inlet flow conditions. At the inlet, a stainless steel tube is inserted into the micro glass tube, of which inner diameter is 300 and 600 μm. The gas and liquid paths and the diameter of the inner tube are interchangeable. The flow patterns are recorded at the inlet and also in the developed region in the micro tubes. The flow patterns observed in the 600 μm tube are bubbly, slug, churn and annular flows, while bubbly and churn flows are not present in the 300 μm tube. For bubbly and slug flows, bubble formation process is found to be strongly affected by the inlet conditions. Accordingly, the pressure loss as well as the heat transfer rate are changed. In addition, the bubble size is not uniquely determined; bubbles of different sizes are observed in repeated experiments under the same inlet flow conditions. On the other hand, for churn and annular flows, the flow patterns are not affected by the inlet conditions.