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GAS-LIQUID TWO-PHASE FLOW PATTERN DETERMINATION FOR VERTICALMICROCHANNEL Marlina Marzuki TA Bachelor of Engineering with Honours 357.5 (Chemical Engineering) M84 2013 M348 2013

Transcript of GAS-LIQUID TWO-PHASE FLOW PATTERN DETERMINATION FOR ... · gelembung, pengangkutan pneumatik,...

GAS-LIQUID TWO-PHASE FLOW PATTERN DETERMINATION FOR VERTICALMICROCHANNEL

Marlina Marzuki

TA Bachelor of Engineering with Honours 3575 (Chemical Engineering)

M84 2013 M348 2013

PKHIDMAT AKLUAT AKADEMIIC UNIMAS ltSARAWAK

1111111111111111111111111 Grade _ _ -----___1000268845

Please tick (J) Final Year Project Report CIJ Masters 0 PhD D

DECLARATION OF ORIGINAL WORK

This declaration is made on the fQ day ofM~y 2013

Students Declaration

I M~RLlliAMARZ1JqV~sect~)REITQfCHEMJ~MENGJNEERlNGANRSlJSINNMJLJJY fAC1LIyQLENQlliEERJNQ hereby declare that the work entitled G~S~~lQJJP JWQ-PHASE fLQWPATIERNRJJERMlliA1]QNfQRYERI1~MMCRQ~HANNEL is my original work I have not copied from any other students work or from any other sources except where due reference or acknowledgement is made explicitly in the text nor has any part been written for me by another person

fQMAy~QJ~ MARLlliAMARZJKJ-ltZJ9gt~ Date submitted Name of the student (Matric No)

Supervisors Declaration

I ASS9crRQf RR~NRJJRQN~AN~WLAH hereby certifies that the work entitled QA$ LJQlJIQJWQ~PHASEf~QWrAIIERNPEIJRMlliAnQNfQRYERIJcMMJCRoCHANNEL was prepared by the above named student and was submitted to the FACULTY as a partialfull

fulfillment for the confennent of ~8CHELQRQfENQlliEERlli~LWJJHHQNQ1RScCHEMC~ ENGlliEERlliG and the aforementioned work to the best of my knowledge is the said students work

Received for examination by A~~QCJ~ROf RRJ9iNRJRRJNSAN8lJJ_LAH Date ZQMAy~QU (Name of the supervisor)

I declare that Projectffhesis is classified as (Please tick CJraquo

D CONFIDENTIAL (Contains confidential information under the Official Secret Act 1972) DRESTRICTED (Contains restricted information as specified by the organisation where research

was done)

rnOPEN ACCESS

Validation of ProjectThesis

I therefore duly affirmed with free consent and willingness declare that this said Projectffhesis shall be placed officially in the Centre for Academic Information Services with the abiding interest and rights as follows

bull This Projectffhesis is the sole legal property of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNlMAS)

bull The Centre for Academic Information Services has the lawful right to make copies for the purpose of academic and research only and not for other purpose

bull The Centre for Academic Information Services has the lawful right to digitalise the content for the Local Content Database

bull The Centre for Academic Information Services has the lawful right to make copies of the Projectffhesis for academic exchange between Higher Learning Institute

bull No dispute or any claim shall arise from the student itself neither third party on this Projectffhesis once it becomes the sole property ofUNIMAS

bull This Projectffhesis or any material data and information related to it shall not be distributed published or disclosed to any party by the student except with UNIMAS permission

-t---I IStudent signature ___________ Supervisor signature _k_~_(tt_20 MAY 2013 20 MAY 2013

Current Address DT 0186 KG DURIAN TUNJUNG PO BOX 81882 87028 LABUAN FT

Notes If the ProjectlThesis is CONFIDENTIAL or RESTRICTED please attach together as annexure a letter from the organisation with the period and reasons ofconfidentiality and restriction

[The instrument is duly prepared by The Centre for Academic Information Services]

APPROVAL SHEET

This final year report which entitled Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow Pattern

Determination for Vertical Microchannel was prepared by Marlina Marzuki

(23965) is hereby read and approved by

ASSOC PROF DR KHAIRUDDIN SANAULLAH Date

(Project Supervisor)

Pusat Khidmat Makiumat Akademi UNIVERSm MALAVSIA SARAW~

GAS-LIQUID TWO-PHASE FLOW PATTERN

DETERMINATION FOR VERTICAL MICROCHANNEL

MARLINA MARZUKI

Thesis is submitted to

Faculty of Engineering Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of Bachelor of Engineering

With Honours (Chemical Engineering)

2013

-~~----------------=-=~~=====================z shy

Dedicated to my beloved family and friends

ii

- shy

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank my supervisor Assoc Prof Dr Khairuddin Sanaullah

of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak from Chemical Engineering department for his

invaluable supervision guidance and support towards the completion of this thesis I

would also like to extend my gratitude to Mr Afrasyab Khan for his contribution and

encouragement throughout the course of this project Last but not least my deepest

gratitude and appreciation goes to my beloved family and friends for their infinite

love support and motivations along completing my four year undergraduate study

ABSTRACT

Microchannel has gradually received attention due to its high surface to volume ratio

which indirectly resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer To achieve more

efficient system it is likely that one should have the basic understanding on the flow

morphologies at the microscale Currently many industrial applications such as heat

exchanger bubble columns pneumatic transport pollution control and many others

facing the multi phase flow condition Multiphase flow can be defined as the

simultaneous flow of more than one phase such as gas-solid gas-liquid as well as

gas-liquid-solid flows Each of those multiphase flows produces different flow

regimes It is identified that studies on the flow regimes are important due to the

greater influence on the heat transfer rate as well as the hydrodynamics

characteristics of the flow Thus throughout this project numerical study with the

application of Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) software is perform to model

simulate and observe the flow regimes mapped for gas-liquid multiphase flow in a

vertically oriented microchannel

iv

ABSTRAK

Saluran mikro kini telah beransur-ansur mendapat perhatian kerana nisbah jumlah

luas permukaan kepada isi padunya yang besar secara tidak lansung menghasilkan

kadar pemindahan haba dan jisim yang tinggi Untuk mendapatkan sistem yang lebih

efisien adalah penting bagi seseorang untuk mempunyai kefahaman asas mengenai

morfologi aliran pad a skala mikro Pad a mas a ini terdapat pelbagai aplikasi industri

yang mengalami situasi aliran berbilang fasa seperti penukar haba kolom

gelembung pengangkutan pneumatik kawalan pencemaran dan lain-lain Aliran

berbilang fasa boleh ditakrifkan sebagai aliran serentak yang melibatkan lebih

daripada satu fasa seperti aliran gas-pepejal gas-cecair serta gas-cecair-pepejal

Setiap jenis aliran berbilang fasa menghasilkan rejim aliran yang berbeza Kajian

terhadap rejim aliran adalah penting kerana pengaruhnya yang besar terhadap kadar

permindahan haba serta ciri-ciri hidronamik aliran Oleh itu melalui projek ini

kaj ian berangka dengan menggunakan dinamika fluida pengkomputeran telah

dijalankan bagi memerhati aliran rejim yang dikenal pasti untuk gas-cecair aliran

berbilang fasa dalam sa luran mikro yang menegak

v

Pusat Khidmat Maklumat Akademi iJ [ VERSm MALAYSIA SA vA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TITLE PAGE

DEDICATION II

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Xlll

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT III

ABSTRACT IV

ABSTRAK V

TABLE OF CONTENTS VI

LIST OF TABLES IX

LIST OF FIGURES X

LIST OF SYMBOLS XII

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE XIV

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows 2

112 Gas-Liquid Flow 3

113 Gas-Solid Flow 3

114 Liquid-Solid Flow 4

11 5 Three-Phase Flows 4

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow 5

13 Microchannel 6

14 Overview of Flow Pattern 7

15 Problem Statement 9

16 Objectives and Scopes of Study 9

17 Additional Information of Report 10

vi

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

LITERA TURE REVIEW

21 Materials and Fabrication Technique 11

211 Machining 12

22 Dimensionless Number and Forces Dominate in Microchannel 12

221 Surface Tension 14

23 Two-phase Gas-Liquid Flow 15

24 Mixing in Microchannel 19

25 Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) 22

251 Volume of Fluid (VOF) Model 23

252 Mixture Model 24

253 Eulerian Model 24

26 Flow Patterns in Vertical Upflow 25

METHODOLOGY

31 Introduction 28

32 Objective 29

33 Phase One 29

331 Literature Review 30

332 Design Criteria 30

333 Experimental Setup 31

34 Phase Two 32

341 Experimental Design 33

342 Identify the Domain 34

343 Create a Solid Model of the Domain 35

344 Design and Create the Mesh 36

345 Set Up the Solver 39

346 Compute the Solution 41

347 Examine the Result 42

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

41 Introduction 43

411 Simulation 3 44

412 Simulation 4 47

413 Simulation 5 49

414 Simulation 6 51

vii

415 Simulation 7

42 Discussion

Chapter 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

51 Conclusions

52 Recommendations

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

viii

53

55

57

58

59

68

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

I

20 Density and Surface Tension of Water Against Air at Various 14

Temperatures (Weast and Astle 1982)

30 Dimensions of Capillaries 35

31 Determination of Cell Quality 37

32 Details of Mesh 37

33 Material Properties 40

34 Problem Setup 40

40 Result for the Simulation 43

ix

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

21 Flow Regimes Map (Saisorn and Wongwises 2011) 16

Two-phase Flow Regimes Map for a 100 Jlm Microchannel 22 18

(Kawahara et aI 2002)

23 T - junctions

T - junction with gas and liquid inlet perpendicular to the 23a 20

main channel

T- junction with either gas or liquid inlet is in the direction 23b 20

of the main channel

24 y- junction 21

25 Cross- junction 21

26 Flow- focusing 21

27 Flow Patterns in Vertical Upflow (Azzopardi nd) 26

Steps Involved in Developing the Methodologies for the Design 31 28

Project

32 Subjects Reviewed in Literature Review 30

33 Steps Involved in Determining the Design Criteria 31

34 Steps Involved in Preparation of Complete Experimental Facility 32

35 Adjusted Design of the Microchannel 34

36 Final Design for the Microchannel 34

37 Overall Test Section 35

38 3D Domain(Bakker 2002) 36

39 Meshing for Air Capillary 38

310 Meshing for Water Capillary 38

311 Meshing for Multiphase Capillary 39

312 Steps Involved in Solver Setting 39

41 Contours of Volume Fraction (Air) for Simulation 3 44

42 Overall Figure for Simulation 3 45

x

43 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 3 46

44 Overall Figure for Simulation 4 47

45 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 4 48

46 Overall Figure for Simulation 5 49

47 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 5 50

48 Overall Figure for Simulation 6 51

49 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 6 52

410 Overall Figure for Simulation 7 53

411 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 7 54

412 Annular Flow (taken from Saisom and Wongwises 2011) 55

413 Annular Flow (Simulation 7) 55

xi

J

0

LIST OF SYMBOLS

D Diameter

jo Superficial velocity for gas

JL Superficial velocity for liquid

p Secondary phase

q Primary phase

Qo Volumetric flowrate for gas

QL Volumetric flowrate for liquid

Re Reynolds

St Stokes

va vp Velocity of gas

VL Vq Velocity of liquid

vqp Slip velocity

Degree

degc Degree Celsius

y Surface tension

(4) Velocity ratio

a Void fraction

xii

-----

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

3D 3-Dimensional

CFD Computational Fluid Dynamic

CMC Carboxymethyl Cellulose

SDS Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate

VOF Volume of Fluid

xiii

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE

abn Atmosphere

cm Centimeter

dynecm Dyne per centimeter

glcm3 Gram per cubic meter

JkgmiddotK Joule per kilogram kelvin

kglmmiddots Kilogram per meter second

kglm3 Kilogram per cubic meter

mm Millimeter

mls Meter per second

mls2 Meter per square second

Nm Newton per meter

WmmiddotK Watts per meter kelvin

J1 Micron

J1m Micrometer

xiv

CHAPTER

INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

A phase may refer to states of matter which include solid liquid and vapor

(Crowe and Michaelides 2006) Then a multiphase flow can be defined as the

simultaneous flow of a mixture of different states or phases such as gas-liquid gasshy

solid liquid-solid or gas-liquid-solid Multiphase flow specifically two-phase flows

are found in wide range of industrial applications which comprise power generation

hydrocarbon recovery and processing food manufacturing as well as in most aspects

of chemical engineering such as distillation absorption evaporation condensation

and many others As for the extraction and transportation of crude oil from the

reservoir up to the surface it involves various phases that are gas oil water and

solids Even more complex cases have been facing the industry as the formations of

hydrates and wax frequently occur in the production line

As mentioned previously there are several combinations of multi phase flows

For each combination that flows in a given channel various form of interfacial

distributions that are also called as flow patterns are observed Out of the four types

of flow that have been listed gas-liquid flow is identified as the most complex flow

due to the combination of characteristics that involve deformable interface and the

compressibility of one of the phases (Ghajar 2005 Rahman Heidrick and Fleck

Chapter 1 Introduction

2009) Besides classification of multiphase flow is not as simple as single-phase

flow since there is several other factors need to be considered in a multi scale

structured flow such as pressure drop geometry of the channel heat flux surface

tension and several others In single-phase flow the indication of flow characteristic

is basically based on the information that includes the type of flow which is either

laminar or turbulent as well as the existence of flow separation or secondary flows

In this paper an overvIew of gas-liquid flow in a circular cross section

microchannel is given Liquid and gas are mixed in the mixing chamber and entered

the multi phase micro-capillary hence produced several significance flow patterns

The flow morphologies of mixtures made of water and air produced at the

micrometer scale flowing in a channel of circular cross section are then studied

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows

According to Corradini (1998) there are two basic types of flow patterns that

have been identified which are dispersed and stratified Dispersed flow is a type of

flow in where one phase which is in the form of discrete element is dispersed or

distributed in the other continuous phase (Patel 2010) The discrete element may be

in the form of finite particles drops or bubbles There are few examples of flow that

can be used to explain dispersed phase As in the cases for gas-solid and liquid-solid

flows the discrete elements are always in the solid phase since solid particles are not

connected with each other Meanwhile the dispersed phase in gas-liquid flow is

primarily affected by the flow rates of both phases involved For instance bubbly

flow pattern is obtained as the flow rate of the gas is significantly lower than the

liquid flow rate In addition the shape or size of the dispersed phase is governed by

2

Chapter 1 Introduction

everal factors that include balance of buoyancy inertial and surface tension forces

(Corradini 1998)

Meanwhile stratified flow is a type of flow in where the two phases involved

are separated by a distinct line of contact (Patel 2010) In contrast with bubbly flow

greater flow rate of gas phase has resulted in vertical annular flow pattern in where

there is a liquid layer along the pipe wall alongside a gaseous inner core In other

words as for the cases of horizontal and vertical flows the two different streams are

separated from each other yet travel along in the same medium due to the density and

mass flowrate differences respectively (Corradini 1998)

112 Gas-Liquid Flow

Gas-liquid flow is characterized with the flow of two phases in which one of

the phases is in gaseous form while the other is in liquid form This combination of

flows in pipes has resulted in various configurations or flow patterns ranging from

bubbly flow to annular flow There are several industries that utilize the application

of gas-liquid flow which include bubble columns the generation of small droplets

for combustion in power generation system as well as the formation of droplet for

spray forming especially in materials processing

113 Gas-Solid Flow

Flow of gas phase together with suspended solid particles best described gasshy

solid flow This type of flow has been widely used to many industrial applications

which include pneumatic transport pollution control and so on For pneumatic

3

Chapter 1 Introduction

transport it is the main method of transporting solid materials According to (Crowe

2011) in vertical up-flow orientation the velocity of the gas has to be greater than

the settling velocity of the particles in order to maintain the transport

114 Liquid-Solid Flow

Liquid-solid flow involves the flow of solid particles that are carried via the

liquid phase This type of flow can be classified under dispersed phase flow due to

the dispersion of solid particles within the continuous liquid phase The discrete

elements are conveyed through the channel by the drag and pressure forces exerted

by the liquid phase (Weber 2010) The distribution of solid particles in the flow is

dependent on several factors which involve the properties of solid and carrier liquid

parameters of the channel flow direction and many others Liquid-solid fluidization

sedimentation and filtration are some typical examples of liquid-solid flow Those

mentioned applications are mostly used in the industry for the purpose of separation

115 Three-Phase Flows

Other than gas-liquid gas-solid and liquid-solid flows three-phase flow is

another example of multi phase flows that is encountered in engineering applications

An example for three-phase flow is the occurrence of bubbles in slurry which in

returns have produced three-phase flows flowing together There are not much

literature or related materials on this type of flow yet this flow is identified to be

interesting branch of study for multiphase flows

4

Pusat Khidmat MaldumatAkademil Chapter 1 Ul1lElSm tAJAVSIA SARAWA Introduction

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow

As mentioned earlier multiphase fluid flows can be found in various

industrial processes or applications One of the most common examples is the

application of bubble column Bubble column device is where gas that is in the form

of bubbles come in contact with liquid with the main objective which is to mix the

liquid phase (Zehner and Kraume 2005) This device is commonly used as

multiphase contactors and reactors especially in chemical biochemical and

petrochemical industries since they offer several benefits during operation and

maintenance which include high heat and mass transfer rates compactness as well

as low operating and maintenance cost (Kantarci Borak and Ulgen 2004)

In bubble column the liquid may flow in either two ways which are coshy

current or counter-current to the gas flow direction An example of the simplest

bubble column is the one that consists of a vertical tube with no internals or in other

words the column is installed without any trays packings or shafts Besides for

simplest design of bubble column the gas is fed into the column at the bottom pass

through the liquid and later escaping from the upper surface If the released gas

contains high concentration of valuable reactants recycle design can be

implemented To date the simplest form of bubble column is rarely used since

numerous types of modifications are employed in order to achieve more efficient

design system

According to Kantarci et al (2004) there are three types of flow regimes that

are commonly found in bubbles columns that are bubbly flow churn-turbulent flow

and slug flow regime These flow regimes are determined according to the

superficial gas velocity applied in the column Based on the literature written by

5

Chapter 1 Introduction

previous authors bubbly flow regime is obtained at low superficial gas velocities

meanwhile churn-turbulent regime started to develop at higher superficial gas

velocities For slug flow regime it has been only conducted and observed in a smallshy

scale diameter laboratory columns at high gas flow rates (Hyndman and Larachi

1997)

13 Microchannel

Microchannel can be defined as channel with dimension that is less than 1

mm and greater than I micron (~) (Sharp et aI 2005) For other dimensions that are

above 1 mm the behaviors of the flow are observed to be the same as most

macroscopic flows Microchannel has gradually received attention due to the several

benefits offered which include high surface to volume ratio high throughput in

parallel processing reduction in the volume of sample required and many others

Greater surface to volume ratio has resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer or

in other words enhance the heat transfer rates (Kandlikar 2012 Qian and Lawai

2006) In returns micro device has become an excellent and preferable tool for heat

exchanger

As the dimension scale is reduced to micrometric scale surface to volume

ratio has become significantly important Surface tension as well as viscous force has

dominated the system as compared to gravitational force (Ahmed-Orner and Wirth

2008) In other words the flow regimes observed for two-phase flows in

microchannel are different from the regimes mapped in larger channels (Ventakesan

et aI 2010) Surface tension is originated from the intermolecular forces in which

this forces are generally negligible at macrometric scale (Bayraktar and Pidugu

6

PKHIDMAT AKLUAT AKADEMIIC UNIMAS ltSARAWAK

1111111111111111111111111 Grade _ _ -----___1000268845

Please tick (J) Final Year Project Report CIJ Masters 0 PhD D

DECLARATION OF ORIGINAL WORK

This declaration is made on the fQ day ofM~y 2013

Students Declaration

I M~RLlliAMARZ1JqV~sect~)REITQfCHEMJ~MENGJNEERlNGANRSlJSINNMJLJJY fAC1LIyQLENQlliEERJNQ hereby declare that the work entitled G~S~~lQJJP JWQ-PHASE fLQWPATIERNRJJERMlliA1]QNfQRYERI1~MMCRQ~HANNEL is my original work I have not copied from any other students work or from any other sources except where due reference or acknowledgement is made explicitly in the text nor has any part been written for me by another person

fQMAy~QJ~ MARLlliAMARZJKJ-ltZJ9gt~ Date submitted Name of the student (Matric No)

Supervisors Declaration

I ASS9crRQf RR~NRJJRQN~AN~WLAH hereby certifies that the work entitled QA$ LJQlJIQJWQ~PHASEf~QWrAIIERNPEIJRMlliAnQNfQRYERIJcMMJCRoCHANNEL was prepared by the above named student and was submitted to the FACULTY as a partialfull

fulfillment for the confennent of ~8CHELQRQfENQlliEERlli~LWJJHHQNQ1RScCHEMC~ ENGlliEERlliG and the aforementioned work to the best of my knowledge is the said students work

Received for examination by A~~QCJ~ROf RRJ9iNRJRRJNSAN8lJJ_LAH Date ZQMAy~QU (Name of the supervisor)

I declare that Projectffhesis is classified as (Please tick CJraquo

D CONFIDENTIAL (Contains confidential information under the Official Secret Act 1972) DRESTRICTED (Contains restricted information as specified by the organisation where research

was done)

rnOPEN ACCESS

Validation of ProjectThesis

I therefore duly affirmed with free consent and willingness declare that this said Projectffhesis shall be placed officially in the Centre for Academic Information Services with the abiding interest and rights as follows

bull This Projectffhesis is the sole legal property of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNlMAS)

bull The Centre for Academic Information Services has the lawful right to make copies for the purpose of academic and research only and not for other purpose

bull The Centre for Academic Information Services has the lawful right to digitalise the content for the Local Content Database

bull The Centre for Academic Information Services has the lawful right to make copies of the Projectffhesis for academic exchange between Higher Learning Institute

bull No dispute or any claim shall arise from the student itself neither third party on this Projectffhesis once it becomes the sole property ofUNIMAS

bull This Projectffhesis or any material data and information related to it shall not be distributed published or disclosed to any party by the student except with UNIMAS permission

-t---I IStudent signature ___________ Supervisor signature _k_~_(tt_20 MAY 2013 20 MAY 2013

Current Address DT 0186 KG DURIAN TUNJUNG PO BOX 81882 87028 LABUAN FT

Notes If the ProjectlThesis is CONFIDENTIAL or RESTRICTED please attach together as annexure a letter from the organisation with the period and reasons ofconfidentiality and restriction

[The instrument is duly prepared by The Centre for Academic Information Services]

APPROVAL SHEET

This final year report which entitled Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow Pattern

Determination for Vertical Microchannel was prepared by Marlina Marzuki

(23965) is hereby read and approved by

ASSOC PROF DR KHAIRUDDIN SANAULLAH Date

(Project Supervisor)

Pusat Khidmat Makiumat Akademi UNIVERSm MALAVSIA SARAW~

GAS-LIQUID TWO-PHASE FLOW PATTERN

DETERMINATION FOR VERTICAL MICROCHANNEL

MARLINA MARZUKI

Thesis is submitted to

Faculty of Engineering Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of Bachelor of Engineering

With Honours (Chemical Engineering)

2013

-~~----------------=-=~~=====================z shy

Dedicated to my beloved family and friends

ii

- shy

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank my supervisor Assoc Prof Dr Khairuddin Sanaullah

of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak from Chemical Engineering department for his

invaluable supervision guidance and support towards the completion of this thesis I

would also like to extend my gratitude to Mr Afrasyab Khan for his contribution and

encouragement throughout the course of this project Last but not least my deepest

gratitude and appreciation goes to my beloved family and friends for their infinite

love support and motivations along completing my four year undergraduate study

ABSTRACT

Microchannel has gradually received attention due to its high surface to volume ratio

which indirectly resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer To achieve more

efficient system it is likely that one should have the basic understanding on the flow

morphologies at the microscale Currently many industrial applications such as heat

exchanger bubble columns pneumatic transport pollution control and many others

facing the multi phase flow condition Multiphase flow can be defined as the

simultaneous flow of more than one phase such as gas-solid gas-liquid as well as

gas-liquid-solid flows Each of those multiphase flows produces different flow

regimes It is identified that studies on the flow regimes are important due to the

greater influence on the heat transfer rate as well as the hydrodynamics

characteristics of the flow Thus throughout this project numerical study with the

application of Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) software is perform to model

simulate and observe the flow regimes mapped for gas-liquid multiphase flow in a

vertically oriented microchannel

iv

ABSTRAK

Saluran mikro kini telah beransur-ansur mendapat perhatian kerana nisbah jumlah

luas permukaan kepada isi padunya yang besar secara tidak lansung menghasilkan

kadar pemindahan haba dan jisim yang tinggi Untuk mendapatkan sistem yang lebih

efisien adalah penting bagi seseorang untuk mempunyai kefahaman asas mengenai

morfologi aliran pad a skala mikro Pad a mas a ini terdapat pelbagai aplikasi industri

yang mengalami situasi aliran berbilang fasa seperti penukar haba kolom

gelembung pengangkutan pneumatik kawalan pencemaran dan lain-lain Aliran

berbilang fasa boleh ditakrifkan sebagai aliran serentak yang melibatkan lebih

daripada satu fasa seperti aliran gas-pepejal gas-cecair serta gas-cecair-pepejal

Setiap jenis aliran berbilang fasa menghasilkan rejim aliran yang berbeza Kajian

terhadap rejim aliran adalah penting kerana pengaruhnya yang besar terhadap kadar

permindahan haba serta ciri-ciri hidronamik aliran Oleh itu melalui projek ini

kaj ian berangka dengan menggunakan dinamika fluida pengkomputeran telah

dijalankan bagi memerhati aliran rejim yang dikenal pasti untuk gas-cecair aliran

berbilang fasa dalam sa luran mikro yang menegak

v

Pusat Khidmat Maklumat Akademi iJ [ VERSm MALAYSIA SA vA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TITLE PAGE

DEDICATION II

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Xlll

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT III

ABSTRACT IV

ABSTRAK V

TABLE OF CONTENTS VI

LIST OF TABLES IX

LIST OF FIGURES X

LIST OF SYMBOLS XII

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE XIV

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows 2

112 Gas-Liquid Flow 3

113 Gas-Solid Flow 3

114 Liquid-Solid Flow 4

11 5 Three-Phase Flows 4

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow 5

13 Microchannel 6

14 Overview of Flow Pattern 7

15 Problem Statement 9

16 Objectives and Scopes of Study 9

17 Additional Information of Report 10

vi

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

LITERA TURE REVIEW

21 Materials and Fabrication Technique 11

211 Machining 12

22 Dimensionless Number and Forces Dominate in Microchannel 12

221 Surface Tension 14

23 Two-phase Gas-Liquid Flow 15

24 Mixing in Microchannel 19

25 Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) 22

251 Volume of Fluid (VOF) Model 23

252 Mixture Model 24

253 Eulerian Model 24

26 Flow Patterns in Vertical Upflow 25

METHODOLOGY

31 Introduction 28

32 Objective 29

33 Phase One 29

331 Literature Review 30

332 Design Criteria 30

333 Experimental Setup 31

34 Phase Two 32

341 Experimental Design 33

342 Identify the Domain 34

343 Create a Solid Model of the Domain 35

344 Design and Create the Mesh 36

345 Set Up the Solver 39

346 Compute the Solution 41

347 Examine the Result 42

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

41 Introduction 43

411 Simulation 3 44

412 Simulation 4 47

413 Simulation 5 49

414 Simulation 6 51

vii

415 Simulation 7

42 Discussion

Chapter 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

51 Conclusions

52 Recommendations

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

viii

53

55

57

58

59

68

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

I

20 Density and Surface Tension of Water Against Air at Various 14

Temperatures (Weast and Astle 1982)

30 Dimensions of Capillaries 35

31 Determination of Cell Quality 37

32 Details of Mesh 37

33 Material Properties 40

34 Problem Setup 40

40 Result for the Simulation 43

ix

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

21 Flow Regimes Map (Saisorn and Wongwises 2011) 16

Two-phase Flow Regimes Map for a 100 Jlm Microchannel 22 18

(Kawahara et aI 2002)

23 T - junctions

T - junction with gas and liquid inlet perpendicular to the 23a 20

main channel

T- junction with either gas or liquid inlet is in the direction 23b 20

of the main channel

24 y- junction 21

25 Cross- junction 21

26 Flow- focusing 21

27 Flow Patterns in Vertical Upflow (Azzopardi nd) 26

Steps Involved in Developing the Methodologies for the Design 31 28

Project

32 Subjects Reviewed in Literature Review 30

33 Steps Involved in Determining the Design Criteria 31

34 Steps Involved in Preparation of Complete Experimental Facility 32

35 Adjusted Design of the Microchannel 34

36 Final Design for the Microchannel 34

37 Overall Test Section 35

38 3D Domain(Bakker 2002) 36

39 Meshing for Air Capillary 38

310 Meshing for Water Capillary 38

311 Meshing for Multiphase Capillary 39

312 Steps Involved in Solver Setting 39

41 Contours of Volume Fraction (Air) for Simulation 3 44

42 Overall Figure for Simulation 3 45

x

43 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 3 46

44 Overall Figure for Simulation 4 47

45 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 4 48

46 Overall Figure for Simulation 5 49

47 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 5 50

48 Overall Figure for Simulation 6 51

49 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 6 52

410 Overall Figure for Simulation 7 53

411 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 7 54

412 Annular Flow (taken from Saisom and Wongwises 2011) 55

413 Annular Flow (Simulation 7) 55

xi

J

0

LIST OF SYMBOLS

D Diameter

jo Superficial velocity for gas

JL Superficial velocity for liquid

p Secondary phase

q Primary phase

Qo Volumetric flowrate for gas

QL Volumetric flowrate for liquid

Re Reynolds

St Stokes

va vp Velocity of gas

VL Vq Velocity of liquid

vqp Slip velocity

Degree

degc Degree Celsius

y Surface tension

(4) Velocity ratio

a Void fraction

xii

-----

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

3D 3-Dimensional

CFD Computational Fluid Dynamic

CMC Carboxymethyl Cellulose

SDS Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate

VOF Volume of Fluid

xiii

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE

abn Atmosphere

cm Centimeter

dynecm Dyne per centimeter

glcm3 Gram per cubic meter

JkgmiddotK Joule per kilogram kelvin

kglmmiddots Kilogram per meter second

kglm3 Kilogram per cubic meter

mm Millimeter

mls Meter per second

mls2 Meter per square second

Nm Newton per meter

WmmiddotK Watts per meter kelvin

J1 Micron

J1m Micrometer

xiv

CHAPTER

INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

A phase may refer to states of matter which include solid liquid and vapor

(Crowe and Michaelides 2006) Then a multiphase flow can be defined as the

simultaneous flow of a mixture of different states or phases such as gas-liquid gasshy

solid liquid-solid or gas-liquid-solid Multiphase flow specifically two-phase flows

are found in wide range of industrial applications which comprise power generation

hydrocarbon recovery and processing food manufacturing as well as in most aspects

of chemical engineering such as distillation absorption evaporation condensation

and many others As for the extraction and transportation of crude oil from the

reservoir up to the surface it involves various phases that are gas oil water and

solids Even more complex cases have been facing the industry as the formations of

hydrates and wax frequently occur in the production line

As mentioned previously there are several combinations of multi phase flows

For each combination that flows in a given channel various form of interfacial

distributions that are also called as flow patterns are observed Out of the four types

of flow that have been listed gas-liquid flow is identified as the most complex flow

due to the combination of characteristics that involve deformable interface and the

compressibility of one of the phases (Ghajar 2005 Rahman Heidrick and Fleck

Chapter 1 Introduction

2009) Besides classification of multiphase flow is not as simple as single-phase

flow since there is several other factors need to be considered in a multi scale

structured flow such as pressure drop geometry of the channel heat flux surface

tension and several others In single-phase flow the indication of flow characteristic

is basically based on the information that includes the type of flow which is either

laminar or turbulent as well as the existence of flow separation or secondary flows

In this paper an overvIew of gas-liquid flow in a circular cross section

microchannel is given Liquid and gas are mixed in the mixing chamber and entered

the multi phase micro-capillary hence produced several significance flow patterns

The flow morphologies of mixtures made of water and air produced at the

micrometer scale flowing in a channel of circular cross section are then studied

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows

According to Corradini (1998) there are two basic types of flow patterns that

have been identified which are dispersed and stratified Dispersed flow is a type of

flow in where one phase which is in the form of discrete element is dispersed or

distributed in the other continuous phase (Patel 2010) The discrete element may be

in the form of finite particles drops or bubbles There are few examples of flow that

can be used to explain dispersed phase As in the cases for gas-solid and liquid-solid

flows the discrete elements are always in the solid phase since solid particles are not

connected with each other Meanwhile the dispersed phase in gas-liquid flow is

primarily affected by the flow rates of both phases involved For instance bubbly

flow pattern is obtained as the flow rate of the gas is significantly lower than the

liquid flow rate In addition the shape or size of the dispersed phase is governed by

2

Chapter 1 Introduction

everal factors that include balance of buoyancy inertial and surface tension forces

(Corradini 1998)

Meanwhile stratified flow is a type of flow in where the two phases involved

are separated by a distinct line of contact (Patel 2010) In contrast with bubbly flow

greater flow rate of gas phase has resulted in vertical annular flow pattern in where

there is a liquid layer along the pipe wall alongside a gaseous inner core In other

words as for the cases of horizontal and vertical flows the two different streams are

separated from each other yet travel along in the same medium due to the density and

mass flowrate differences respectively (Corradini 1998)

112 Gas-Liquid Flow

Gas-liquid flow is characterized with the flow of two phases in which one of

the phases is in gaseous form while the other is in liquid form This combination of

flows in pipes has resulted in various configurations or flow patterns ranging from

bubbly flow to annular flow There are several industries that utilize the application

of gas-liquid flow which include bubble columns the generation of small droplets

for combustion in power generation system as well as the formation of droplet for

spray forming especially in materials processing

113 Gas-Solid Flow

Flow of gas phase together with suspended solid particles best described gasshy

solid flow This type of flow has been widely used to many industrial applications

which include pneumatic transport pollution control and so on For pneumatic

3

Chapter 1 Introduction

transport it is the main method of transporting solid materials According to (Crowe

2011) in vertical up-flow orientation the velocity of the gas has to be greater than

the settling velocity of the particles in order to maintain the transport

114 Liquid-Solid Flow

Liquid-solid flow involves the flow of solid particles that are carried via the

liquid phase This type of flow can be classified under dispersed phase flow due to

the dispersion of solid particles within the continuous liquid phase The discrete

elements are conveyed through the channel by the drag and pressure forces exerted

by the liquid phase (Weber 2010) The distribution of solid particles in the flow is

dependent on several factors which involve the properties of solid and carrier liquid

parameters of the channel flow direction and many others Liquid-solid fluidization

sedimentation and filtration are some typical examples of liquid-solid flow Those

mentioned applications are mostly used in the industry for the purpose of separation

115 Three-Phase Flows

Other than gas-liquid gas-solid and liquid-solid flows three-phase flow is

another example of multi phase flows that is encountered in engineering applications

An example for three-phase flow is the occurrence of bubbles in slurry which in

returns have produced three-phase flows flowing together There are not much

literature or related materials on this type of flow yet this flow is identified to be

interesting branch of study for multiphase flows

4

Pusat Khidmat MaldumatAkademil Chapter 1 Ul1lElSm tAJAVSIA SARAWA Introduction

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow

As mentioned earlier multiphase fluid flows can be found in various

industrial processes or applications One of the most common examples is the

application of bubble column Bubble column device is where gas that is in the form

of bubbles come in contact with liquid with the main objective which is to mix the

liquid phase (Zehner and Kraume 2005) This device is commonly used as

multiphase contactors and reactors especially in chemical biochemical and

petrochemical industries since they offer several benefits during operation and

maintenance which include high heat and mass transfer rates compactness as well

as low operating and maintenance cost (Kantarci Borak and Ulgen 2004)

In bubble column the liquid may flow in either two ways which are coshy

current or counter-current to the gas flow direction An example of the simplest

bubble column is the one that consists of a vertical tube with no internals or in other

words the column is installed without any trays packings or shafts Besides for

simplest design of bubble column the gas is fed into the column at the bottom pass

through the liquid and later escaping from the upper surface If the released gas

contains high concentration of valuable reactants recycle design can be

implemented To date the simplest form of bubble column is rarely used since

numerous types of modifications are employed in order to achieve more efficient

design system

According to Kantarci et al (2004) there are three types of flow regimes that

are commonly found in bubbles columns that are bubbly flow churn-turbulent flow

and slug flow regime These flow regimes are determined according to the

superficial gas velocity applied in the column Based on the literature written by

5

Chapter 1 Introduction

previous authors bubbly flow regime is obtained at low superficial gas velocities

meanwhile churn-turbulent regime started to develop at higher superficial gas

velocities For slug flow regime it has been only conducted and observed in a smallshy

scale diameter laboratory columns at high gas flow rates (Hyndman and Larachi

1997)

13 Microchannel

Microchannel can be defined as channel with dimension that is less than 1

mm and greater than I micron (~) (Sharp et aI 2005) For other dimensions that are

above 1 mm the behaviors of the flow are observed to be the same as most

macroscopic flows Microchannel has gradually received attention due to the several

benefits offered which include high surface to volume ratio high throughput in

parallel processing reduction in the volume of sample required and many others

Greater surface to volume ratio has resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer or

in other words enhance the heat transfer rates (Kandlikar 2012 Qian and Lawai

2006) In returns micro device has become an excellent and preferable tool for heat

exchanger

As the dimension scale is reduced to micrometric scale surface to volume

ratio has become significantly important Surface tension as well as viscous force has

dominated the system as compared to gravitational force (Ahmed-Orner and Wirth

2008) In other words the flow regimes observed for two-phase flows in

microchannel are different from the regimes mapped in larger channels (Ventakesan

et aI 2010) Surface tension is originated from the intermolecular forces in which

this forces are generally negligible at macrometric scale (Bayraktar and Pidugu

6

I declare that Projectffhesis is classified as (Please tick CJraquo

D CONFIDENTIAL (Contains confidential information under the Official Secret Act 1972) DRESTRICTED (Contains restricted information as specified by the organisation where research

was done)

rnOPEN ACCESS

Validation of ProjectThesis

I therefore duly affirmed with free consent and willingness declare that this said Projectffhesis shall be placed officially in the Centre for Academic Information Services with the abiding interest and rights as follows

bull This Projectffhesis is the sole legal property of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNlMAS)

bull The Centre for Academic Information Services has the lawful right to make copies for the purpose of academic and research only and not for other purpose

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bull The Centre for Academic Information Services has the lawful right to make copies of the Projectffhesis for academic exchange between Higher Learning Institute

bull No dispute or any claim shall arise from the student itself neither third party on this Projectffhesis once it becomes the sole property ofUNIMAS

bull This Projectffhesis or any material data and information related to it shall not be distributed published or disclosed to any party by the student except with UNIMAS permission

-t---I IStudent signature ___________ Supervisor signature _k_~_(tt_20 MAY 2013 20 MAY 2013

Current Address DT 0186 KG DURIAN TUNJUNG PO BOX 81882 87028 LABUAN FT

Notes If the ProjectlThesis is CONFIDENTIAL or RESTRICTED please attach together as annexure a letter from the organisation with the period and reasons ofconfidentiality and restriction

[The instrument is duly prepared by The Centre for Academic Information Services]

APPROVAL SHEET

This final year report which entitled Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow Pattern

Determination for Vertical Microchannel was prepared by Marlina Marzuki

(23965) is hereby read and approved by

ASSOC PROF DR KHAIRUDDIN SANAULLAH Date

(Project Supervisor)

Pusat Khidmat Makiumat Akademi UNIVERSm MALAVSIA SARAW~

GAS-LIQUID TWO-PHASE FLOW PATTERN

DETERMINATION FOR VERTICAL MICROCHANNEL

MARLINA MARZUKI

Thesis is submitted to

Faculty of Engineering Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of Bachelor of Engineering

With Honours (Chemical Engineering)

2013

-~~----------------=-=~~=====================z shy

Dedicated to my beloved family and friends

ii

- shy

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank my supervisor Assoc Prof Dr Khairuddin Sanaullah

of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak from Chemical Engineering department for his

invaluable supervision guidance and support towards the completion of this thesis I

would also like to extend my gratitude to Mr Afrasyab Khan for his contribution and

encouragement throughout the course of this project Last but not least my deepest

gratitude and appreciation goes to my beloved family and friends for their infinite

love support and motivations along completing my four year undergraduate study

ABSTRACT

Microchannel has gradually received attention due to its high surface to volume ratio

which indirectly resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer To achieve more

efficient system it is likely that one should have the basic understanding on the flow

morphologies at the microscale Currently many industrial applications such as heat

exchanger bubble columns pneumatic transport pollution control and many others

facing the multi phase flow condition Multiphase flow can be defined as the

simultaneous flow of more than one phase such as gas-solid gas-liquid as well as

gas-liquid-solid flows Each of those multiphase flows produces different flow

regimes It is identified that studies on the flow regimes are important due to the

greater influence on the heat transfer rate as well as the hydrodynamics

characteristics of the flow Thus throughout this project numerical study with the

application of Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) software is perform to model

simulate and observe the flow regimes mapped for gas-liquid multiphase flow in a

vertically oriented microchannel

iv

ABSTRAK

Saluran mikro kini telah beransur-ansur mendapat perhatian kerana nisbah jumlah

luas permukaan kepada isi padunya yang besar secara tidak lansung menghasilkan

kadar pemindahan haba dan jisim yang tinggi Untuk mendapatkan sistem yang lebih

efisien adalah penting bagi seseorang untuk mempunyai kefahaman asas mengenai

morfologi aliran pad a skala mikro Pad a mas a ini terdapat pelbagai aplikasi industri

yang mengalami situasi aliran berbilang fasa seperti penukar haba kolom

gelembung pengangkutan pneumatik kawalan pencemaran dan lain-lain Aliran

berbilang fasa boleh ditakrifkan sebagai aliran serentak yang melibatkan lebih

daripada satu fasa seperti aliran gas-pepejal gas-cecair serta gas-cecair-pepejal

Setiap jenis aliran berbilang fasa menghasilkan rejim aliran yang berbeza Kajian

terhadap rejim aliran adalah penting kerana pengaruhnya yang besar terhadap kadar

permindahan haba serta ciri-ciri hidronamik aliran Oleh itu melalui projek ini

kaj ian berangka dengan menggunakan dinamika fluida pengkomputeran telah

dijalankan bagi memerhati aliran rejim yang dikenal pasti untuk gas-cecair aliran

berbilang fasa dalam sa luran mikro yang menegak

v

Pusat Khidmat Maklumat Akademi iJ [ VERSm MALAYSIA SA vA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TITLE PAGE

DEDICATION II

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Xlll

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT III

ABSTRACT IV

ABSTRAK V

TABLE OF CONTENTS VI

LIST OF TABLES IX

LIST OF FIGURES X

LIST OF SYMBOLS XII

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE XIV

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows 2

112 Gas-Liquid Flow 3

113 Gas-Solid Flow 3

114 Liquid-Solid Flow 4

11 5 Three-Phase Flows 4

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow 5

13 Microchannel 6

14 Overview of Flow Pattern 7

15 Problem Statement 9

16 Objectives and Scopes of Study 9

17 Additional Information of Report 10

vi

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

LITERA TURE REVIEW

21 Materials and Fabrication Technique 11

211 Machining 12

22 Dimensionless Number and Forces Dominate in Microchannel 12

221 Surface Tension 14

23 Two-phase Gas-Liquid Flow 15

24 Mixing in Microchannel 19

25 Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) 22

251 Volume of Fluid (VOF) Model 23

252 Mixture Model 24

253 Eulerian Model 24

26 Flow Patterns in Vertical Upflow 25

METHODOLOGY

31 Introduction 28

32 Objective 29

33 Phase One 29

331 Literature Review 30

332 Design Criteria 30

333 Experimental Setup 31

34 Phase Two 32

341 Experimental Design 33

342 Identify the Domain 34

343 Create a Solid Model of the Domain 35

344 Design and Create the Mesh 36

345 Set Up the Solver 39

346 Compute the Solution 41

347 Examine the Result 42

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

41 Introduction 43

411 Simulation 3 44

412 Simulation 4 47

413 Simulation 5 49

414 Simulation 6 51

vii

415 Simulation 7

42 Discussion

Chapter 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

51 Conclusions

52 Recommendations

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

viii

53

55

57

58

59

68

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

I

20 Density and Surface Tension of Water Against Air at Various 14

Temperatures (Weast and Astle 1982)

30 Dimensions of Capillaries 35

31 Determination of Cell Quality 37

32 Details of Mesh 37

33 Material Properties 40

34 Problem Setup 40

40 Result for the Simulation 43

ix

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

21 Flow Regimes Map (Saisorn and Wongwises 2011) 16

Two-phase Flow Regimes Map for a 100 Jlm Microchannel 22 18

(Kawahara et aI 2002)

23 T - junctions

T - junction with gas and liquid inlet perpendicular to the 23a 20

main channel

T- junction with either gas or liquid inlet is in the direction 23b 20

of the main channel

24 y- junction 21

25 Cross- junction 21

26 Flow- focusing 21

27 Flow Patterns in Vertical Upflow (Azzopardi nd) 26

Steps Involved in Developing the Methodologies for the Design 31 28

Project

32 Subjects Reviewed in Literature Review 30

33 Steps Involved in Determining the Design Criteria 31

34 Steps Involved in Preparation of Complete Experimental Facility 32

35 Adjusted Design of the Microchannel 34

36 Final Design for the Microchannel 34

37 Overall Test Section 35

38 3D Domain(Bakker 2002) 36

39 Meshing for Air Capillary 38

310 Meshing for Water Capillary 38

311 Meshing for Multiphase Capillary 39

312 Steps Involved in Solver Setting 39

41 Contours of Volume Fraction (Air) for Simulation 3 44

42 Overall Figure for Simulation 3 45

x

43 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 3 46

44 Overall Figure for Simulation 4 47

45 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 4 48

46 Overall Figure for Simulation 5 49

47 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 5 50

48 Overall Figure for Simulation 6 51

49 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 6 52

410 Overall Figure for Simulation 7 53

411 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 7 54

412 Annular Flow (taken from Saisom and Wongwises 2011) 55

413 Annular Flow (Simulation 7) 55

xi

J

0

LIST OF SYMBOLS

D Diameter

jo Superficial velocity for gas

JL Superficial velocity for liquid

p Secondary phase

q Primary phase

Qo Volumetric flowrate for gas

QL Volumetric flowrate for liquid

Re Reynolds

St Stokes

va vp Velocity of gas

VL Vq Velocity of liquid

vqp Slip velocity

Degree

degc Degree Celsius

y Surface tension

(4) Velocity ratio

a Void fraction

xii

-----

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

3D 3-Dimensional

CFD Computational Fluid Dynamic

CMC Carboxymethyl Cellulose

SDS Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate

VOF Volume of Fluid

xiii

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE

abn Atmosphere

cm Centimeter

dynecm Dyne per centimeter

glcm3 Gram per cubic meter

JkgmiddotK Joule per kilogram kelvin

kglmmiddots Kilogram per meter second

kglm3 Kilogram per cubic meter

mm Millimeter

mls Meter per second

mls2 Meter per square second

Nm Newton per meter

WmmiddotK Watts per meter kelvin

J1 Micron

J1m Micrometer

xiv

CHAPTER

INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

A phase may refer to states of matter which include solid liquid and vapor

(Crowe and Michaelides 2006) Then a multiphase flow can be defined as the

simultaneous flow of a mixture of different states or phases such as gas-liquid gasshy

solid liquid-solid or gas-liquid-solid Multiphase flow specifically two-phase flows

are found in wide range of industrial applications which comprise power generation

hydrocarbon recovery and processing food manufacturing as well as in most aspects

of chemical engineering such as distillation absorption evaporation condensation

and many others As for the extraction and transportation of crude oil from the

reservoir up to the surface it involves various phases that are gas oil water and

solids Even more complex cases have been facing the industry as the formations of

hydrates and wax frequently occur in the production line

As mentioned previously there are several combinations of multi phase flows

For each combination that flows in a given channel various form of interfacial

distributions that are also called as flow patterns are observed Out of the four types

of flow that have been listed gas-liquid flow is identified as the most complex flow

due to the combination of characteristics that involve deformable interface and the

compressibility of one of the phases (Ghajar 2005 Rahman Heidrick and Fleck

Chapter 1 Introduction

2009) Besides classification of multiphase flow is not as simple as single-phase

flow since there is several other factors need to be considered in a multi scale

structured flow such as pressure drop geometry of the channel heat flux surface

tension and several others In single-phase flow the indication of flow characteristic

is basically based on the information that includes the type of flow which is either

laminar or turbulent as well as the existence of flow separation or secondary flows

In this paper an overvIew of gas-liquid flow in a circular cross section

microchannel is given Liquid and gas are mixed in the mixing chamber and entered

the multi phase micro-capillary hence produced several significance flow patterns

The flow morphologies of mixtures made of water and air produced at the

micrometer scale flowing in a channel of circular cross section are then studied

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows

According to Corradini (1998) there are two basic types of flow patterns that

have been identified which are dispersed and stratified Dispersed flow is a type of

flow in where one phase which is in the form of discrete element is dispersed or

distributed in the other continuous phase (Patel 2010) The discrete element may be

in the form of finite particles drops or bubbles There are few examples of flow that

can be used to explain dispersed phase As in the cases for gas-solid and liquid-solid

flows the discrete elements are always in the solid phase since solid particles are not

connected with each other Meanwhile the dispersed phase in gas-liquid flow is

primarily affected by the flow rates of both phases involved For instance bubbly

flow pattern is obtained as the flow rate of the gas is significantly lower than the

liquid flow rate In addition the shape or size of the dispersed phase is governed by

2

Chapter 1 Introduction

everal factors that include balance of buoyancy inertial and surface tension forces

(Corradini 1998)

Meanwhile stratified flow is a type of flow in where the two phases involved

are separated by a distinct line of contact (Patel 2010) In contrast with bubbly flow

greater flow rate of gas phase has resulted in vertical annular flow pattern in where

there is a liquid layer along the pipe wall alongside a gaseous inner core In other

words as for the cases of horizontal and vertical flows the two different streams are

separated from each other yet travel along in the same medium due to the density and

mass flowrate differences respectively (Corradini 1998)

112 Gas-Liquid Flow

Gas-liquid flow is characterized with the flow of two phases in which one of

the phases is in gaseous form while the other is in liquid form This combination of

flows in pipes has resulted in various configurations or flow patterns ranging from

bubbly flow to annular flow There are several industries that utilize the application

of gas-liquid flow which include bubble columns the generation of small droplets

for combustion in power generation system as well as the formation of droplet for

spray forming especially in materials processing

113 Gas-Solid Flow

Flow of gas phase together with suspended solid particles best described gasshy

solid flow This type of flow has been widely used to many industrial applications

which include pneumatic transport pollution control and so on For pneumatic

3

Chapter 1 Introduction

transport it is the main method of transporting solid materials According to (Crowe

2011) in vertical up-flow orientation the velocity of the gas has to be greater than

the settling velocity of the particles in order to maintain the transport

114 Liquid-Solid Flow

Liquid-solid flow involves the flow of solid particles that are carried via the

liquid phase This type of flow can be classified under dispersed phase flow due to

the dispersion of solid particles within the continuous liquid phase The discrete

elements are conveyed through the channel by the drag and pressure forces exerted

by the liquid phase (Weber 2010) The distribution of solid particles in the flow is

dependent on several factors which involve the properties of solid and carrier liquid

parameters of the channel flow direction and many others Liquid-solid fluidization

sedimentation and filtration are some typical examples of liquid-solid flow Those

mentioned applications are mostly used in the industry for the purpose of separation

115 Three-Phase Flows

Other than gas-liquid gas-solid and liquid-solid flows three-phase flow is

another example of multi phase flows that is encountered in engineering applications

An example for three-phase flow is the occurrence of bubbles in slurry which in

returns have produced three-phase flows flowing together There are not much

literature or related materials on this type of flow yet this flow is identified to be

interesting branch of study for multiphase flows

4

Pusat Khidmat MaldumatAkademil Chapter 1 Ul1lElSm tAJAVSIA SARAWA Introduction

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow

As mentioned earlier multiphase fluid flows can be found in various

industrial processes or applications One of the most common examples is the

application of bubble column Bubble column device is where gas that is in the form

of bubbles come in contact with liquid with the main objective which is to mix the

liquid phase (Zehner and Kraume 2005) This device is commonly used as

multiphase contactors and reactors especially in chemical biochemical and

petrochemical industries since they offer several benefits during operation and

maintenance which include high heat and mass transfer rates compactness as well

as low operating and maintenance cost (Kantarci Borak and Ulgen 2004)

In bubble column the liquid may flow in either two ways which are coshy

current or counter-current to the gas flow direction An example of the simplest

bubble column is the one that consists of a vertical tube with no internals or in other

words the column is installed without any trays packings or shafts Besides for

simplest design of bubble column the gas is fed into the column at the bottom pass

through the liquid and later escaping from the upper surface If the released gas

contains high concentration of valuable reactants recycle design can be

implemented To date the simplest form of bubble column is rarely used since

numerous types of modifications are employed in order to achieve more efficient

design system

According to Kantarci et al (2004) there are three types of flow regimes that

are commonly found in bubbles columns that are bubbly flow churn-turbulent flow

and slug flow regime These flow regimes are determined according to the

superficial gas velocity applied in the column Based on the literature written by

5

Chapter 1 Introduction

previous authors bubbly flow regime is obtained at low superficial gas velocities

meanwhile churn-turbulent regime started to develop at higher superficial gas

velocities For slug flow regime it has been only conducted and observed in a smallshy

scale diameter laboratory columns at high gas flow rates (Hyndman and Larachi

1997)

13 Microchannel

Microchannel can be defined as channel with dimension that is less than 1

mm and greater than I micron (~) (Sharp et aI 2005) For other dimensions that are

above 1 mm the behaviors of the flow are observed to be the same as most

macroscopic flows Microchannel has gradually received attention due to the several

benefits offered which include high surface to volume ratio high throughput in

parallel processing reduction in the volume of sample required and many others

Greater surface to volume ratio has resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer or

in other words enhance the heat transfer rates (Kandlikar 2012 Qian and Lawai

2006) In returns micro device has become an excellent and preferable tool for heat

exchanger

As the dimension scale is reduced to micrometric scale surface to volume

ratio has become significantly important Surface tension as well as viscous force has

dominated the system as compared to gravitational force (Ahmed-Orner and Wirth

2008) In other words the flow regimes observed for two-phase flows in

microchannel are different from the regimes mapped in larger channels (Ventakesan

et aI 2010) Surface tension is originated from the intermolecular forces in which

this forces are generally negligible at macrometric scale (Bayraktar and Pidugu

6

APPROVAL SHEET

This final year report which entitled Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow Pattern

Determination for Vertical Microchannel was prepared by Marlina Marzuki

(23965) is hereby read and approved by

ASSOC PROF DR KHAIRUDDIN SANAULLAH Date

(Project Supervisor)

Pusat Khidmat Makiumat Akademi UNIVERSm MALAVSIA SARAW~

GAS-LIQUID TWO-PHASE FLOW PATTERN

DETERMINATION FOR VERTICAL MICROCHANNEL

MARLINA MARZUKI

Thesis is submitted to

Faculty of Engineering Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of Bachelor of Engineering

With Honours (Chemical Engineering)

2013

-~~----------------=-=~~=====================z shy

Dedicated to my beloved family and friends

ii

- shy

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank my supervisor Assoc Prof Dr Khairuddin Sanaullah

of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak from Chemical Engineering department for his

invaluable supervision guidance and support towards the completion of this thesis I

would also like to extend my gratitude to Mr Afrasyab Khan for his contribution and

encouragement throughout the course of this project Last but not least my deepest

gratitude and appreciation goes to my beloved family and friends for their infinite

love support and motivations along completing my four year undergraduate study

ABSTRACT

Microchannel has gradually received attention due to its high surface to volume ratio

which indirectly resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer To achieve more

efficient system it is likely that one should have the basic understanding on the flow

morphologies at the microscale Currently many industrial applications such as heat

exchanger bubble columns pneumatic transport pollution control and many others

facing the multi phase flow condition Multiphase flow can be defined as the

simultaneous flow of more than one phase such as gas-solid gas-liquid as well as

gas-liquid-solid flows Each of those multiphase flows produces different flow

regimes It is identified that studies on the flow regimes are important due to the

greater influence on the heat transfer rate as well as the hydrodynamics

characteristics of the flow Thus throughout this project numerical study with the

application of Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) software is perform to model

simulate and observe the flow regimes mapped for gas-liquid multiphase flow in a

vertically oriented microchannel

iv

ABSTRAK

Saluran mikro kini telah beransur-ansur mendapat perhatian kerana nisbah jumlah

luas permukaan kepada isi padunya yang besar secara tidak lansung menghasilkan

kadar pemindahan haba dan jisim yang tinggi Untuk mendapatkan sistem yang lebih

efisien adalah penting bagi seseorang untuk mempunyai kefahaman asas mengenai

morfologi aliran pad a skala mikro Pad a mas a ini terdapat pelbagai aplikasi industri

yang mengalami situasi aliran berbilang fasa seperti penukar haba kolom

gelembung pengangkutan pneumatik kawalan pencemaran dan lain-lain Aliran

berbilang fasa boleh ditakrifkan sebagai aliran serentak yang melibatkan lebih

daripada satu fasa seperti aliran gas-pepejal gas-cecair serta gas-cecair-pepejal

Setiap jenis aliran berbilang fasa menghasilkan rejim aliran yang berbeza Kajian

terhadap rejim aliran adalah penting kerana pengaruhnya yang besar terhadap kadar

permindahan haba serta ciri-ciri hidronamik aliran Oleh itu melalui projek ini

kaj ian berangka dengan menggunakan dinamika fluida pengkomputeran telah

dijalankan bagi memerhati aliran rejim yang dikenal pasti untuk gas-cecair aliran

berbilang fasa dalam sa luran mikro yang menegak

v

Pusat Khidmat Maklumat Akademi iJ [ VERSm MALAYSIA SA vA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TITLE PAGE

DEDICATION II

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Xlll

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT III

ABSTRACT IV

ABSTRAK V

TABLE OF CONTENTS VI

LIST OF TABLES IX

LIST OF FIGURES X

LIST OF SYMBOLS XII

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE XIV

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows 2

112 Gas-Liquid Flow 3

113 Gas-Solid Flow 3

114 Liquid-Solid Flow 4

11 5 Three-Phase Flows 4

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow 5

13 Microchannel 6

14 Overview of Flow Pattern 7

15 Problem Statement 9

16 Objectives and Scopes of Study 9

17 Additional Information of Report 10

vi

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

LITERA TURE REVIEW

21 Materials and Fabrication Technique 11

211 Machining 12

22 Dimensionless Number and Forces Dominate in Microchannel 12

221 Surface Tension 14

23 Two-phase Gas-Liquid Flow 15

24 Mixing in Microchannel 19

25 Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) 22

251 Volume of Fluid (VOF) Model 23

252 Mixture Model 24

253 Eulerian Model 24

26 Flow Patterns in Vertical Upflow 25

METHODOLOGY

31 Introduction 28

32 Objective 29

33 Phase One 29

331 Literature Review 30

332 Design Criteria 30

333 Experimental Setup 31

34 Phase Two 32

341 Experimental Design 33

342 Identify the Domain 34

343 Create a Solid Model of the Domain 35

344 Design and Create the Mesh 36

345 Set Up the Solver 39

346 Compute the Solution 41

347 Examine the Result 42

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

41 Introduction 43

411 Simulation 3 44

412 Simulation 4 47

413 Simulation 5 49

414 Simulation 6 51

vii

415 Simulation 7

42 Discussion

Chapter 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

51 Conclusions

52 Recommendations

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

viii

53

55

57

58

59

68

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

I

20 Density and Surface Tension of Water Against Air at Various 14

Temperatures (Weast and Astle 1982)

30 Dimensions of Capillaries 35

31 Determination of Cell Quality 37

32 Details of Mesh 37

33 Material Properties 40

34 Problem Setup 40

40 Result for the Simulation 43

ix

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

21 Flow Regimes Map (Saisorn and Wongwises 2011) 16

Two-phase Flow Regimes Map for a 100 Jlm Microchannel 22 18

(Kawahara et aI 2002)

23 T - junctions

T - junction with gas and liquid inlet perpendicular to the 23a 20

main channel

T- junction with either gas or liquid inlet is in the direction 23b 20

of the main channel

24 y- junction 21

25 Cross- junction 21

26 Flow- focusing 21

27 Flow Patterns in Vertical Upflow (Azzopardi nd) 26

Steps Involved in Developing the Methodologies for the Design 31 28

Project

32 Subjects Reviewed in Literature Review 30

33 Steps Involved in Determining the Design Criteria 31

34 Steps Involved in Preparation of Complete Experimental Facility 32

35 Adjusted Design of the Microchannel 34

36 Final Design for the Microchannel 34

37 Overall Test Section 35

38 3D Domain(Bakker 2002) 36

39 Meshing for Air Capillary 38

310 Meshing for Water Capillary 38

311 Meshing for Multiphase Capillary 39

312 Steps Involved in Solver Setting 39

41 Contours of Volume Fraction (Air) for Simulation 3 44

42 Overall Figure for Simulation 3 45

x

43 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 3 46

44 Overall Figure for Simulation 4 47

45 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 4 48

46 Overall Figure for Simulation 5 49

47 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 5 50

48 Overall Figure for Simulation 6 51

49 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 6 52

410 Overall Figure for Simulation 7 53

411 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 7 54

412 Annular Flow (taken from Saisom and Wongwises 2011) 55

413 Annular Flow (Simulation 7) 55

xi

J

0

LIST OF SYMBOLS

D Diameter

jo Superficial velocity for gas

JL Superficial velocity for liquid

p Secondary phase

q Primary phase

Qo Volumetric flowrate for gas

QL Volumetric flowrate for liquid

Re Reynolds

St Stokes

va vp Velocity of gas

VL Vq Velocity of liquid

vqp Slip velocity

Degree

degc Degree Celsius

y Surface tension

(4) Velocity ratio

a Void fraction

xii

-----

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

3D 3-Dimensional

CFD Computational Fluid Dynamic

CMC Carboxymethyl Cellulose

SDS Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate

VOF Volume of Fluid

xiii

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE

abn Atmosphere

cm Centimeter

dynecm Dyne per centimeter

glcm3 Gram per cubic meter

JkgmiddotK Joule per kilogram kelvin

kglmmiddots Kilogram per meter second

kglm3 Kilogram per cubic meter

mm Millimeter

mls Meter per second

mls2 Meter per square second

Nm Newton per meter

WmmiddotK Watts per meter kelvin

J1 Micron

J1m Micrometer

xiv

CHAPTER

INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

A phase may refer to states of matter which include solid liquid and vapor

(Crowe and Michaelides 2006) Then a multiphase flow can be defined as the

simultaneous flow of a mixture of different states or phases such as gas-liquid gasshy

solid liquid-solid or gas-liquid-solid Multiphase flow specifically two-phase flows

are found in wide range of industrial applications which comprise power generation

hydrocarbon recovery and processing food manufacturing as well as in most aspects

of chemical engineering such as distillation absorption evaporation condensation

and many others As for the extraction and transportation of crude oil from the

reservoir up to the surface it involves various phases that are gas oil water and

solids Even more complex cases have been facing the industry as the formations of

hydrates and wax frequently occur in the production line

As mentioned previously there are several combinations of multi phase flows

For each combination that flows in a given channel various form of interfacial

distributions that are also called as flow patterns are observed Out of the four types

of flow that have been listed gas-liquid flow is identified as the most complex flow

due to the combination of characteristics that involve deformable interface and the

compressibility of one of the phases (Ghajar 2005 Rahman Heidrick and Fleck

Chapter 1 Introduction

2009) Besides classification of multiphase flow is not as simple as single-phase

flow since there is several other factors need to be considered in a multi scale

structured flow such as pressure drop geometry of the channel heat flux surface

tension and several others In single-phase flow the indication of flow characteristic

is basically based on the information that includes the type of flow which is either

laminar or turbulent as well as the existence of flow separation or secondary flows

In this paper an overvIew of gas-liquid flow in a circular cross section

microchannel is given Liquid and gas are mixed in the mixing chamber and entered

the multi phase micro-capillary hence produced several significance flow patterns

The flow morphologies of mixtures made of water and air produced at the

micrometer scale flowing in a channel of circular cross section are then studied

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows

According to Corradini (1998) there are two basic types of flow patterns that

have been identified which are dispersed and stratified Dispersed flow is a type of

flow in where one phase which is in the form of discrete element is dispersed or

distributed in the other continuous phase (Patel 2010) The discrete element may be

in the form of finite particles drops or bubbles There are few examples of flow that

can be used to explain dispersed phase As in the cases for gas-solid and liquid-solid

flows the discrete elements are always in the solid phase since solid particles are not

connected with each other Meanwhile the dispersed phase in gas-liquid flow is

primarily affected by the flow rates of both phases involved For instance bubbly

flow pattern is obtained as the flow rate of the gas is significantly lower than the

liquid flow rate In addition the shape or size of the dispersed phase is governed by

2

Chapter 1 Introduction

everal factors that include balance of buoyancy inertial and surface tension forces

(Corradini 1998)

Meanwhile stratified flow is a type of flow in where the two phases involved

are separated by a distinct line of contact (Patel 2010) In contrast with bubbly flow

greater flow rate of gas phase has resulted in vertical annular flow pattern in where

there is a liquid layer along the pipe wall alongside a gaseous inner core In other

words as for the cases of horizontal and vertical flows the two different streams are

separated from each other yet travel along in the same medium due to the density and

mass flowrate differences respectively (Corradini 1998)

112 Gas-Liquid Flow

Gas-liquid flow is characterized with the flow of two phases in which one of

the phases is in gaseous form while the other is in liquid form This combination of

flows in pipes has resulted in various configurations or flow patterns ranging from

bubbly flow to annular flow There are several industries that utilize the application

of gas-liquid flow which include bubble columns the generation of small droplets

for combustion in power generation system as well as the formation of droplet for

spray forming especially in materials processing

113 Gas-Solid Flow

Flow of gas phase together with suspended solid particles best described gasshy

solid flow This type of flow has been widely used to many industrial applications

which include pneumatic transport pollution control and so on For pneumatic

3

Chapter 1 Introduction

transport it is the main method of transporting solid materials According to (Crowe

2011) in vertical up-flow orientation the velocity of the gas has to be greater than

the settling velocity of the particles in order to maintain the transport

114 Liquid-Solid Flow

Liquid-solid flow involves the flow of solid particles that are carried via the

liquid phase This type of flow can be classified under dispersed phase flow due to

the dispersion of solid particles within the continuous liquid phase The discrete

elements are conveyed through the channel by the drag and pressure forces exerted

by the liquid phase (Weber 2010) The distribution of solid particles in the flow is

dependent on several factors which involve the properties of solid and carrier liquid

parameters of the channel flow direction and many others Liquid-solid fluidization

sedimentation and filtration are some typical examples of liquid-solid flow Those

mentioned applications are mostly used in the industry for the purpose of separation

115 Three-Phase Flows

Other than gas-liquid gas-solid and liquid-solid flows three-phase flow is

another example of multi phase flows that is encountered in engineering applications

An example for three-phase flow is the occurrence of bubbles in slurry which in

returns have produced three-phase flows flowing together There are not much

literature or related materials on this type of flow yet this flow is identified to be

interesting branch of study for multiphase flows

4

Pusat Khidmat MaldumatAkademil Chapter 1 Ul1lElSm tAJAVSIA SARAWA Introduction

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow

As mentioned earlier multiphase fluid flows can be found in various

industrial processes or applications One of the most common examples is the

application of bubble column Bubble column device is where gas that is in the form

of bubbles come in contact with liquid with the main objective which is to mix the

liquid phase (Zehner and Kraume 2005) This device is commonly used as

multiphase contactors and reactors especially in chemical biochemical and

petrochemical industries since they offer several benefits during operation and

maintenance which include high heat and mass transfer rates compactness as well

as low operating and maintenance cost (Kantarci Borak and Ulgen 2004)

In bubble column the liquid may flow in either two ways which are coshy

current or counter-current to the gas flow direction An example of the simplest

bubble column is the one that consists of a vertical tube with no internals or in other

words the column is installed without any trays packings or shafts Besides for

simplest design of bubble column the gas is fed into the column at the bottom pass

through the liquid and later escaping from the upper surface If the released gas

contains high concentration of valuable reactants recycle design can be

implemented To date the simplest form of bubble column is rarely used since

numerous types of modifications are employed in order to achieve more efficient

design system

According to Kantarci et al (2004) there are three types of flow regimes that

are commonly found in bubbles columns that are bubbly flow churn-turbulent flow

and slug flow regime These flow regimes are determined according to the

superficial gas velocity applied in the column Based on the literature written by

5

Chapter 1 Introduction

previous authors bubbly flow regime is obtained at low superficial gas velocities

meanwhile churn-turbulent regime started to develop at higher superficial gas

velocities For slug flow regime it has been only conducted and observed in a smallshy

scale diameter laboratory columns at high gas flow rates (Hyndman and Larachi

1997)

13 Microchannel

Microchannel can be defined as channel with dimension that is less than 1

mm and greater than I micron (~) (Sharp et aI 2005) For other dimensions that are

above 1 mm the behaviors of the flow are observed to be the same as most

macroscopic flows Microchannel has gradually received attention due to the several

benefits offered which include high surface to volume ratio high throughput in

parallel processing reduction in the volume of sample required and many others

Greater surface to volume ratio has resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer or

in other words enhance the heat transfer rates (Kandlikar 2012 Qian and Lawai

2006) In returns micro device has become an excellent and preferable tool for heat

exchanger

As the dimension scale is reduced to micrometric scale surface to volume

ratio has become significantly important Surface tension as well as viscous force has

dominated the system as compared to gravitational force (Ahmed-Orner and Wirth

2008) In other words the flow regimes observed for two-phase flows in

microchannel are different from the regimes mapped in larger channels (Ventakesan

et aI 2010) Surface tension is originated from the intermolecular forces in which

this forces are generally negligible at macrometric scale (Bayraktar and Pidugu

6

Pusat Khidmat Makiumat Akademi UNIVERSm MALAVSIA SARAW~

GAS-LIQUID TWO-PHASE FLOW PATTERN

DETERMINATION FOR VERTICAL MICROCHANNEL

MARLINA MARZUKI

Thesis is submitted to

Faculty of Engineering Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of Bachelor of Engineering

With Honours (Chemical Engineering)

2013

-~~----------------=-=~~=====================z shy

Dedicated to my beloved family and friends

ii

- shy

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank my supervisor Assoc Prof Dr Khairuddin Sanaullah

of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak from Chemical Engineering department for his

invaluable supervision guidance and support towards the completion of this thesis I

would also like to extend my gratitude to Mr Afrasyab Khan for his contribution and

encouragement throughout the course of this project Last but not least my deepest

gratitude and appreciation goes to my beloved family and friends for their infinite

love support and motivations along completing my four year undergraduate study

ABSTRACT

Microchannel has gradually received attention due to its high surface to volume ratio

which indirectly resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer To achieve more

efficient system it is likely that one should have the basic understanding on the flow

morphologies at the microscale Currently many industrial applications such as heat

exchanger bubble columns pneumatic transport pollution control and many others

facing the multi phase flow condition Multiphase flow can be defined as the

simultaneous flow of more than one phase such as gas-solid gas-liquid as well as

gas-liquid-solid flows Each of those multiphase flows produces different flow

regimes It is identified that studies on the flow regimes are important due to the

greater influence on the heat transfer rate as well as the hydrodynamics

characteristics of the flow Thus throughout this project numerical study with the

application of Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) software is perform to model

simulate and observe the flow regimes mapped for gas-liquid multiphase flow in a

vertically oriented microchannel

iv

ABSTRAK

Saluran mikro kini telah beransur-ansur mendapat perhatian kerana nisbah jumlah

luas permukaan kepada isi padunya yang besar secara tidak lansung menghasilkan

kadar pemindahan haba dan jisim yang tinggi Untuk mendapatkan sistem yang lebih

efisien adalah penting bagi seseorang untuk mempunyai kefahaman asas mengenai

morfologi aliran pad a skala mikro Pad a mas a ini terdapat pelbagai aplikasi industri

yang mengalami situasi aliran berbilang fasa seperti penukar haba kolom

gelembung pengangkutan pneumatik kawalan pencemaran dan lain-lain Aliran

berbilang fasa boleh ditakrifkan sebagai aliran serentak yang melibatkan lebih

daripada satu fasa seperti aliran gas-pepejal gas-cecair serta gas-cecair-pepejal

Setiap jenis aliran berbilang fasa menghasilkan rejim aliran yang berbeza Kajian

terhadap rejim aliran adalah penting kerana pengaruhnya yang besar terhadap kadar

permindahan haba serta ciri-ciri hidronamik aliran Oleh itu melalui projek ini

kaj ian berangka dengan menggunakan dinamika fluida pengkomputeran telah

dijalankan bagi memerhati aliran rejim yang dikenal pasti untuk gas-cecair aliran

berbilang fasa dalam sa luran mikro yang menegak

v

Pusat Khidmat Maklumat Akademi iJ [ VERSm MALAYSIA SA vA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TITLE PAGE

DEDICATION II

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Xlll

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT III

ABSTRACT IV

ABSTRAK V

TABLE OF CONTENTS VI

LIST OF TABLES IX

LIST OF FIGURES X

LIST OF SYMBOLS XII

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE XIV

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows 2

112 Gas-Liquid Flow 3

113 Gas-Solid Flow 3

114 Liquid-Solid Flow 4

11 5 Three-Phase Flows 4

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow 5

13 Microchannel 6

14 Overview of Flow Pattern 7

15 Problem Statement 9

16 Objectives and Scopes of Study 9

17 Additional Information of Report 10

vi

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

LITERA TURE REVIEW

21 Materials and Fabrication Technique 11

211 Machining 12

22 Dimensionless Number and Forces Dominate in Microchannel 12

221 Surface Tension 14

23 Two-phase Gas-Liquid Flow 15

24 Mixing in Microchannel 19

25 Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) 22

251 Volume of Fluid (VOF) Model 23

252 Mixture Model 24

253 Eulerian Model 24

26 Flow Patterns in Vertical Upflow 25

METHODOLOGY

31 Introduction 28

32 Objective 29

33 Phase One 29

331 Literature Review 30

332 Design Criteria 30

333 Experimental Setup 31

34 Phase Two 32

341 Experimental Design 33

342 Identify the Domain 34

343 Create a Solid Model of the Domain 35

344 Design and Create the Mesh 36

345 Set Up the Solver 39

346 Compute the Solution 41

347 Examine the Result 42

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

41 Introduction 43

411 Simulation 3 44

412 Simulation 4 47

413 Simulation 5 49

414 Simulation 6 51

vii

415 Simulation 7

42 Discussion

Chapter 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

51 Conclusions

52 Recommendations

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

viii

53

55

57

58

59

68

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

I

20 Density and Surface Tension of Water Against Air at Various 14

Temperatures (Weast and Astle 1982)

30 Dimensions of Capillaries 35

31 Determination of Cell Quality 37

32 Details of Mesh 37

33 Material Properties 40

34 Problem Setup 40

40 Result for the Simulation 43

ix

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

21 Flow Regimes Map (Saisorn and Wongwises 2011) 16

Two-phase Flow Regimes Map for a 100 Jlm Microchannel 22 18

(Kawahara et aI 2002)

23 T - junctions

T - junction with gas and liquid inlet perpendicular to the 23a 20

main channel

T- junction with either gas or liquid inlet is in the direction 23b 20

of the main channel

24 y- junction 21

25 Cross- junction 21

26 Flow- focusing 21

27 Flow Patterns in Vertical Upflow (Azzopardi nd) 26

Steps Involved in Developing the Methodologies for the Design 31 28

Project

32 Subjects Reviewed in Literature Review 30

33 Steps Involved in Determining the Design Criteria 31

34 Steps Involved in Preparation of Complete Experimental Facility 32

35 Adjusted Design of the Microchannel 34

36 Final Design for the Microchannel 34

37 Overall Test Section 35

38 3D Domain(Bakker 2002) 36

39 Meshing for Air Capillary 38

310 Meshing for Water Capillary 38

311 Meshing for Multiphase Capillary 39

312 Steps Involved in Solver Setting 39

41 Contours of Volume Fraction (Air) for Simulation 3 44

42 Overall Figure for Simulation 3 45

x

43 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 3 46

44 Overall Figure for Simulation 4 47

45 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 4 48

46 Overall Figure for Simulation 5 49

47 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 5 50

48 Overall Figure for Simulation 6 51

49 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 6 52

410 Overall Figure for Simulation 7 53

411 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 7 54

412 Annular Flow (taken from Saisom and Wongwises 2011) 55

413 Annular Flow (Simulation 7) 55

xi

J

0

LIST OF SYMBOLS

D Diameter

jo Superficial velocity for gas

JL Superficial velocity for liquid

p Secondary phase

q Primary phase

Qo Volumetric flowrate for gas

QL Volumetric flowrate for liquid

Re Reynolds

St Stokes

va vp Velocity of gas

VL Vq Velocity of liquid

vqp Slip velocity

Degree

degc Degree Celsius

y Surface tension

(4) Velocity ratio

a Void fraction

xii

-----

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

3D 3-Dimensional

CFD Computational Fluid Dynamic

CMC Carboxymethyl Cellulose

SDS Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate

VOF Volume of Fluid

xiii

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE

abn Atmosphere

cm Centimeter

dynecm Dyne per centimeter

glcm3 Gram per cubic meter

JkgmiddotK Joule per kilogram kelvin

kglmmiddots Kilogram per meter second

kglm3 Kilogram per cubic meter

mm Millimeter

mls Meter per second

mls2 Meter per square second

Nm Newton per meter

WmmiddotK Watts per meter kelvin

J1 Micron

J1m Micrometer

xiv

CHAPTER

INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

A phase may refer to states of matter which include solid liquid and vapor

(Crowe and Michaelides 2006) Then a multiphase flow can be defined as the

simultaneous flow of a mixture of different states or phases such as gas-liquid gasshy

solid liquid-solid or gas-liquid-solid Multiphase flow specifically two-phase flows

are found in wide range of industrial applications which comprise power generation

hydrocarbon recovery and processing food manufacturing as well as in most aspects

of chemical engineering such as distillation absorption evaporation condensation

and many others As for the extraction and transportation of crude oil from the

reservoir up to the surface it involves various phases that are gas oil water and

solids Even more complex cases have been facing the industry as the formations of

hydrates and wax frequently occur in the production line

As mentioned previously there are several combinations of multi phase flows

For each combination that flows in a given channel various form of interfacial

distributions that are also called as flow patterns are observed Out of the four types

of flow that have been listed gas-liquid flow is identified as the most complex flow

due to the combination of characteristics that involve deformable interface and the

compressibility of one of the phases (Ghajar 2005 Rahman Heidrick and Fleck

Chapter 1 Introduction

2009) Besides classification of multiphase flow is not as simple as single-phase

flow since there is several other factors need to be considered in a multi scale

structured flow such as pressure drop geometry of the channel heat flux surface

tension and several others In single-phase flow the indication of flow characteristic

is basically based on the information that includes the type of flow which is either

laminar or turbulent as well as the existence of flow separation or secondary flows

In this paper an overvIew of gas-liquid flow in a circular cross section

microchannel is given Liquid and gas are mixed in the mixing chamber and entered

the multi phase micro-capillary hence produced several significance flow patterns

The flow morphologies of mixtures made of water and air produced at the

micrometer scale flowing in a channel of circular cross section are then studied

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows

According to Corradini (1998) there are two basic types of flow patterns that

have been identified which are dispersed and stratified Dispersed flow is a type of

flow in where one phase which is in the form of discrete element is dispersed or

distributed in the other continuous phase (Patel 2010) The discrete element may be

in the form of finite particles drops or bubbles There are few examples of flow that

can be used to explain dispersed phase As in the cases for gas-solid and liquid-solid

flows the discrete elements are always in the solid phase since solid particles are not

connected with each other Meanwhile the dispersed phase in gas-liquid flow is

primarily affected by the flow rates of both phases involved For instance bubbly

flow pattern is obtained as the flow rate of the gas is significantly lower than the

liquid flow rate In addition the shape or size of the dispersed phase is governed by

2

Chapter 1 Introduction

everal factors that include balance of buoyancy inertial and surface tension forces

(Corradini 1998)

Meanwhile stratified flow is a type of flow in where the two phases involved

are separated by a distinct line of contact (Patel 2010) In contrast with bubbly flow

greater flow rate of gas phase has resulted in vertical annular flow pattern in where

there is a liquid layer along the pipe wall alongside a gaseous inner core In other

words as for the cases of horizontal and vertical flows the two different streams are

separated from each other yet travel along in the same medium due to the density and

mass flowrate differences respectively (Corradini 1998)

112 Gas-Liquid Flow

Gas-liquid flow is characterized with the flow of two phases in which one of

the phases is in gaseous form while the other is in liquid form This combination of

flows in pipes has resulted in various configurations or flow patterns ranging from

bubbly flow to annular flow There are several industries that utilize the application

of gas-liquid flow which include bubble columns the generation of small droplets

for combustion in power generation system as well as the formation of droplet for

spray forming especially in materials processing

113 Gas-Solid Flow

Flow of gas phase together with suspended solid particles best described gasshy

solid flow This type of flow has been widely used to many industrial applications

which include pneumatic transport pollution control and so on For pneumatic

3

Chapter 1 Introduction

transport it is the main method of transporting solid materials According to (Crowe

2011) in vertical up-flow orientation the velocity of the gas has to be greater than

the settling velocity of the particles in order to maintain the transport

114 Liquid-Solid Flow

Liquid-solid flow involves the flow of solid particles that are carried via the

liquid phase This type of flow can be classified under dispersed phase flow due to

the dispersion of solid particles within the continuous liquid phase The discrete

elements are conveyed through the channel by the drag and pressure forces exerted

by the liquid phase (Weber 2010) The distribution of solid particles in the flow is

dependent on several factors which involve the properties of solid and carrier liquid

parameters of the channel flow direction and many others Liquid-solid fluidization

sedimentation and filtration are some typical examples of liquid-solid flow Those

mentioned applications are mostly used in the industry for the purpose of separation

115 Three-Phase Flows

Other than gas-liquid gas-solid and liquid-solid flows three-phase flow is

another example of multi phase flows that is encountered in engineering applications

An example for three-phase flow is the occurrence of bubbles in slurry which in

returns have produced three-phase flows flowing together There are not much

literature or related materials on this type of flow yet this flow is identified to be

interesting branch of study for multiphase flows

4

Pusat Khidmat MaldumatAkademil Chapter 1 Ul1lElSm tAJAVSIA SARAWA Introduction

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow

As mentioned earlier multiphase fluid flows can be found in various

industrial processes or applications One of the most common examples is the

application of bubble column Bubble column device is where gas that is in the form

of bubbles come in contact with liquid with the main objective which is to mix the

liquid phase (Zehner and Kraume 2005) This device is commonly used as

multiphase contactors and reactors especially in chemical biochemical and

petrochemical industries since they offer several benefits during operation and

maintenance which include high heat and mass transfer rates compactness as well

as low operating and maintenance cost (Kantarci Borak and Ulgen 2004)

In bubble column the liquid may flow in either two ways which are coshy

current or counter-current to the gas flow direction An example of the simplest

bubble column is the one that consists of a vertical tube with no internals or in other

words the column is installed without any trays packings or shafts Besides for

simplest design of bubble column the gas is fed into the column at the bottom pass

through the liquid and later escaping from the upper surface If the released gas

contains high concentration of valuable reactants recycle design can be

implemented To date the simplest form of bubble column is rarely used since

numerous types of modifications are employed in order to achieve more efficient

design system

According to Kantarci et al (2004) there are three types of flow regimes that

are commonly found in bubbles columns that are bubbly flow churn-turbulent flow

and slug flow regime These flow regimes are determined according to the

superficial gas velocity applied in the column Based on the literature written by

5

Chapter 1 Introduction

previous authors bubbly flow regime is obtained at low superficial gas velocities

meanwhile churn-turbulent regime started to develop at higher superficial gas

velocities For slug flow regime it has been only conducted and observed in a smallshy

scale diameter laboratory columns at high gas flow rates (Hyndman and Larachi

1997)

13 Microchannel

Microchannel can be defined as channel with dimension that is less than 1

mm and greater than I micron (~) (Sharp et aI 2005) For other dimensions that are

above 1 mm the behaviors of the flow are observed to be the same as most

macroscopic flows Microchannel has gradually received attention due to the several

benefits offered which include high surface to volume ratio high throughput in

parallel processing reduction in the volume of sample required and many others

Greater surface to volume ratio has resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer or

in other words enhance the heat transfer rates (Kandlikar 2012 Qian and Lawai

2006) In returns micro device has become an excellent and preferable tool for heat

exchanger

As the dimension scale is reduced to micrometric scale surface to volume

ratio has become significantly important Surface tension as well as viscous force has

dominated the system as compared to gravitational force (Ahmed-Orner and Wirth

2008) In other words the flow regimes observed for two-phase flows in

microchannel are different from the regimes mapped in larger channels (Ventakesan

et aI 2010) Surface tension is originated from the intermolecular forces in which

this forces are generally negligible at macrometric scale (Bayraktar and Pidugu

6

Dedicated to my beloved family and friends

ii

- shy

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank my supervisor Assoc Prof Dr Khairuddin Sanaullah

of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak from Chemical Engineering department for his

invaluable supervision guidance and support towards the completion of this thesis I

would also like to extend my gratitude to Mr Afrasyab Khan for his contribution and

encouragement throughout the course of this project Last but not least my deepest

gratitude and appreciation goes to my beloved family and friends for their infinite

love support and motivations along completing my four year undergraduate study

ABSTRACT

Microchannel has gradually received attention due to its high surface to volume ratio

which indirectly resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer To achieve more

efficient system it is likely that one should have the basic understanding on the flow

morphologies at the microscale Currently many industrial applications such as heat

exchanger bubble columns pneumatic transport pollution control and many others

facing the multi phase flow condition Multiphase flow can be defined as the

simultaneous flow of more than one phase such as gas-solid gas-liquid as well as

gas-liquid-solid flows Each of those multiphase flows produces different flow

regimes It is identified that studies on the flow regimes are important due to the

greater influence on the heat transfer rate as well as the hydrodynamics

characteristics of the flow Thus throughout this project numerical study with the

application of Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) software is perform to model

simulate and observe the flow regimes mapped for gas-liquid multiphase flow in a

vertically oriented microchannel

iv

ABSTRAK

Saluran mikro kini telah beransur-ansur mendapat perhatian kerana nisbah jumlah

luas permukaan kepada isi padunya yang besar secara tidak lansung menghasilkan

kadar pemindahan haba dan jisim yang tinggi Untuk mendapatkan sistem yang lebih

efisien adalah penting bagi seseorang untuk mempunyai kefahaman asas mengenai

morfologi aliran pad a skala mikro Pad a mas a ini terdapat pelbagai aplikasi industri

yang mengalami situasi aliran berbilang fasa seperti penukar haba kolom

gelembung pengangkutan pneumatik kawalan pencemaran dan lain-lain Aliran

berbilang fasa boleh ditakrifkan sebagai aliran serentak yang melibatkan lebih

daripada satu fasa seperti aliran gas-pepejal gas-cecair serta gas-cecair-pepejal

Setiap jenis aliran berbilang fasa menghasilkan rejim aliran yang berbeza Kajian

terhadap rejim aliran adalah penting kerana pengaruhnya yang besar terhadap kadar

permindahan haba serta ciri-ciri hidronamik aliran Oleh itu melalui projek ini

kaj ian berangka dengan menggunakan dinamika fluida pengkomputeran telah

dijalankan bagi memerhati aliran rejim yang dikenal pasti untuk gas-cecair aliran

berbilang fasa dalam sa luran mikro yang menegak

v

Pusat Khidmat Maklumat Akademi iJ [ VERSm MALAYSIA SA vA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TITLE PAGE

DEDICATION II

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Xlll

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT III

ABSTRACT IV

ABSTRAK V

TABLE OF CONTENTS VI

LIST OF TABLES IX

LIST OF FIGURES X

LIST OF SYMBOLS XII

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE XIV

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows 2

112 Gas-Liquid Flow 3

113 Gas-Solid Flow 3

114 Liquid-Solid Flow 4

11 5 Three-Phase Flows 4

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow 5

13 Microchannel 6

14 Overview of Flow Pattern 7

15 Problem Statement 9

16 Objectives and Scopes of Study 9

17 Additional Information of Report 10

vi

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

LITERA TURE REVIEW

21 Materials and Fabrication Technique 11

211 Machining 12

22 Dimensionless Number and Forces Dominate in Microchannel 12

221 Surface Tension 14

23 Two-phase Gas-Liquid Flow 15

24 Mixing in Microchannel 19

25 Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) 22

251 Volume of Fluid (VOF) Model 23

252 Mixture Model 24

253 Eulerian Model 24

26 Flow Patterns in Vertical Upflow 25

METHODOLOGY

31 Introduction 28

32 Objective 29

33 Phase One 29

331 Literature Review 30

332 Design Criteria 30

333 Experimental Setup 31

34 Phase Two 32

341 Experimental Design 33

342 Identify the Domain 34

343 Create a Solid Model of the Domain 35

344 Design and Create the Mesh 36

345 Set Up the Solver 39

346 Compute the Solution 41

347 Examine the Result 42

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

41 Introduction 43

411 Simulation 3 44

412 Simulation 4 47

413 Simulation 5 49

414 Simulation 6 51

vii

415 Simulation 7

42 Discussion

Chapter 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

51 Conclusions

52 Recommendations

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

viii

53

55

57

58

59

68

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

I

20 Density and Surface Tension of Water Against Air at Various 14

Temperatures (Weast and Astle 1982)

30 Dimensions of Capillaries 35

31 Determination of Cell Quality 37

32 Details of Mesh 37

33 Material Properties 40

34 Problem Setup 40

40 Result for the Simulation 43

ix

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

21 Flow Regimes Map (Saisorn and Wongwises 2011) 16

Two-phase Flow Regimes Map for a 100 Jlm Microchannel 22 18

(Kawahara et aI 2002)

23 T - junctions

T - junction with gas and liquid inlet perpendicular to the 23a 20

main channel

T- junction with either gas or liquid inlet is in the direction 23b 20

of the main channel

24 y- junction 21

25 Cross- junction 21

26 Flow- focusing 21

27 Flow Patterns in Vertical Upflow (Azzopardi nd) 26

Steps Involved in Developing the Methodologies for the Design 31 28

Project

32 Subjects Reviewed in Literature Review 30

33 Steps Involved in Determining the Design Criteria 31

34 Steps Involved in Preparation of Complete Experimental Facility 32

35 Adjusted Design of the Microchannel 34

36 Final Design for the Microchannel 34

37 Overall Test Section 35

38 3D Domain(Bakker 2002) 36

39 Meshing for Air Capillary 38

310 Meshing for Water Capillary 38

311 Meshing for Multiphase Capillary 39

312 Steps Involved in Solver Setting 39

41 Contours of Volume Fraction (Air) for Simulation 3 44

42 Overall Figure for Simulation 3 45

x

43 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 3 46

44 Overall Figure for Simulation 4 47

45 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 4 48

46 Overall Figure for Simulation 5 49

47 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 5 50

48 Overall Figure for Simulation 6 51

49 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 6 52

410 Overall Figure for Simulation 7 53

411 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 7 54

412 Annular Flow (taken from Saisom and Wongwises 2011) 55

413 Annular Flow (Simulation 7) 55

xi

J

0

LIST OF SYMBOLS

D Diameter

jo Superficial velocity for gas

JL Superficial velocity for liquid

p Secondary phase

q Primary phase

Qo Volumetric flowrate for gas

QL Volumetric flowrate for liquid

Re Reynolds

St Stokes

va vp Velocity of gas

VL Vq Velocity of liquid

vqp Slip velocity

Degree

degc Degree Celsius

y Surface tension

(4) Velocity ratio

a Void fraction

xii

-----

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

3D 3-Dimensional

CFD Computational Fluid Dynamic

CMC Carboxymethyl Cellulose

SDS Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate

VOF Volume of Fluid

xiii

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE

abn Atmosphere

cm Centimeter

dynecm Dyne per centimeter

glcm3 Gram per cubic meter

JkgmiddotK Joule per kilogram kelvin

kglmmiddots Kilogram per meter second

kglm3 Kilogram per cubic meter

mm Millimeter

mls Meter per second

mls2 Meter per square second

Nm Newton per meter

WmmiddotK Watts per meter kelvin

J1 Micron

J1m Micrometer

xiv

CHAPTER

INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

A phase may refer to states of matter which include solid liquid and vapor

(Crowe and Michaelides 2006) Then a multiphase flow can be defined as the

simultaneous flow of a mixture of different states or phases such as gas-liquid gasshy

solid liquid-solid or gas-liquid-solid Multiphase flow specifically two-phase flows

are found in wide range of industrial applications which comprise power generation

hydrocarbon recovery and processing food manufacturing as well as in most aspects

of chemical engineering such as distillation absorption evaporation condensation

and many others As for the extraction and transportation of crude oil from the

reservoir up to the surface it involves various phases that are gas oil water and

solids Even more complex cases have been facing the industry as the formations of

hydrates and wax frequently occur in the production line

As mentioned previously there are several combinations of multi phase flows

For each combination that flows in a given channel various form of interfacial

distributions that are also called as flow patterns are observed Out of the four types

of flow that have been listed gas-liquid flow is identified as the most complex flow

due to the combination of characteristics that involve deformable interface and the

compressibility of one of the phases (Ghajar 2005 Rahman Heidrick and Fleck

Chapter 1 Introduction

2009) Besides classification of multiphase flow is not as simple as single-phase

flow since there is several other factors need to be considered in a multi scale

structured flow such as pressure drop geometry of the channel heat flux surface

tension and several others In single-phase flow the indication of flow characteristic

is basically based on the information that includes the type of flow which is either

laminar or turbulent as well as the existence of flow separation or secondary flows

In this paper an overvIew of gas-liquid flow in a circular cross section

microchannel is given Liquid and gas are mixed in the mixing chamber and entered

the multi phase micro-capillary hence produced several significance flow patterns

The flow morphologies of mixtures made of water and air produced at the

micrometer scale flowing in a channel of circular cross section are then studied

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows

According to Corradini (1998) there are two basic types of flow patterns that

have been identified which are dispersed and stratified Dispersed flow is a type of

flow in where one phase which is in the form of discrete element is dispersed or

distributed in the other continuous phase (Patel 2010) The discrete element may be

in the form of finite particles drops or bubbles There are few examples of flow that

can be used to explain dispersed phase As in the cases for gas-solid and liquid-solid

flows the discrete elements are always in the solid phase since solid particles are not

connected with each other Meanwhile the dispersed phase in gas-liquid flow is

primarily affected by the flow rates of both phases involved For instance bubbly

flow pattern is obtained as the flow rate of the gas is significantly lower than the

liquid flow rate In addition the shape or size of the dispersed phase is governed by

2

Chapter 1 Introduction

everal factors that include balance of buoyancy inertial and surface tension forces

(Corradini 1998)

Meanwhile stratified flow is a type of flow in where the two phases involved

are separated by a distinct line of contact (Patel 2010) In contrast with bubbly flow

greater flow rate of gas phase has resulted in vertical annular flow pattern in where

there is a liquid layer along the pipe wall alongside a gaseous inner core In other

words as for the cases of horizontal and vertical flows the two different streams are

separated from each other yet travel along in the same medium due to the density and

mass flowrate differences respectively (Corradini 1998)

112 Gas-Liquid Flow

Gas-liquid flow is characterized with the flow of two phases in which one of

the phases is in gaseous form while the other is in liquid form This combination of

flows in pipes has resulted in various configurations or flow patterns ranging from

bubbly flow to annular flow There are several industries that utilize the application

of gas-liquid flow which include bubble columns the generation of small droplets

for combustion in power generation system as well as the formation of droplet for

spray forming especially in materials processing

113 Gas-Solid Flow

Flow of gas phase together with suspended solid particles best described gasshy

solid flow This type of flow has been widely used to many industrial applications

which include pneumatic transport pollution control and so on For pneumatic

3

Chapter 1 Introduction

transport it is the main method of transporting solid materials According to (Crowe

2011) in vertical up-flow orientation the velocity of the gas has to be greater than

the settling velocity of the particles in order to maintain the transport

114 Liquid-Solid Flow

Liquid-solid flow involves the flow of solid particles that are carried via the

liquid phase This type of flow can be classified under dispersed phase flow due to

the dispersion of solid particles within the continuous liquid phase The discrete

elements are conveyed through the channel by the drag and pressure forces exerted

by the liquid phase (Weber 2010) The distribution of solid particles in the flow is

dependent on several factors which involve the properties of solid and carrier liquid

parameters of the channel flow direction and many others Liquid-solid fluidization

sedimentation and filtration are some typical examples of liquid-solid flow Those

mentioned applications are mostly used in the industry for the purpose of separation

115 Three-Phase Flows

Other than gas-liquid gas-solid and liquid-solid flows three-phase flow is

another example of multi phase flows that is encountered in engineering applications

An example for three-phase flow is the occurrence of bubbles in slurry which in

returns have produced three-phase flows flowing together There are not much

literature or related materials on this type of flow yet this flow is identified to be

interesting branch of study for multiphase flows

4

Pusat Khidmat MaldumatAkademil Chapter 1 Ul1lElSm tAJAVSIA SARAWA Introduction

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow

As mentioned earlier multiphase fluid flows can be found in various

industrial processes or applications One of the most common examples is the

application of bubble column Bubble column device is where gas that is in the form

of bubbles come in contact with liquid with the main objective which is to mix the

liquid phase (Zehner and Kraume 2005) This device is commonly used as

multiphase contactors and reactors especially in chemical biochemical and

petrochemical industries since they offer several benefits during operation and

maintenance which include high heat and mass transfer rates compactness as well

as low operating and maintenance cost (Kantarci Borak and Ulgen 2004)

In bubble column the liquid may flow in either two ways which are coshy

current or counter-current to the gas flow direction An example of the simplest

bubble column is the one that consists of a vertical tube with no internals or in other

words the column is installed without any trays packings or shafts Besides for

simplest design of bubble column the gas is fed into the column at the bottom pass

through the liquid and later escaping from the upper surface If the released gas

contains high concentration of valuable reactants recycle design can be

implemented To date the simplest form of bubble column is rarely used since

numerous types of modifications are employed in order to achieve more efficient

design system

According to Kantarci et al (2004) there are three types of flow regimes that

are commonly found in bubbles columns that are bubbly flow churn-turbulent flow

and slug flow regime These flow regimes are determined according to the

superficial gas velocity applied in the column Based on the literature written by

5

Chapter 1 Introduction

previous authors bubbly flow regime is obtained at low superficial gas velocities

meanwhile churn-turbulent regime started to develop at higher superficial gas

velocities For slug flow regime it has been only conducted and observed in a smallshy

scale diameter laboratory columns at high gas flow rates (Hyndman and Larachi

1997)

13 Microchannel

Microchannel can be defined as channel with dimension that is less than 1

mm and greater than I micron (~) (Sharp et aI 2005) For other dimensions that are

above 1 mm the behaviors of the flow are observed to be the same as most

macroscopic flows Microchannel has gradually received attention due to the several

benefits offered which include high surface to volume ratio high throughput in

parallel processing reduction in the volume of sample required and many others

Greater surface to volume ratio has resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer or

in other words enhance the heat transfer rates (Kandlikar 2012 Qian and Lawai

2006) In returns micro device has become an excellent and preferable tool for heat

exchanger

As the dimension scale is reduced to micrometric scale surface to volume

ratio has become significantly important Surface tension as well as viscous force has

dominated the system as compared to gravitational force (Ahmed-Orner and Wirth

2008) In other words the flow regimes observed for two-phase flows in

microchannel are different from the regimes mapped in larger channels (Ventakesan

et aI 2010) Surface tension is originated from the intermolecular forces in which

this forces are generally negligible at macrometric scale (Bayraktar and Pidugu

6

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank my supervisor Assoc Prof Dr Khairuddin Sanaullah

of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak from Chemical Engineering department for his

invaluable supervision guidance and support towards the completion of this thesis I

would also like to extend my gratitude to Mr Afrasyab Khan for his contribution and

encouragement throughout the course of this project Last but not least my deepest

gratitude and appreciation goes to my beloved family and friends for their infinite

love support and motivations along completing my four year undergraduate study

ABSTRACT

Microchannel has gradually received attention due to its high surface to volume ratio

which indirectly resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer To achieve more

efficient system it is likely that one should have the basic understanding on the flow

morphologies at the microscale Currently many industrial applications such as heat

exchanger bubble columns pneumatic transport pollution control and many others

facing the multi phase flow condition Multiphase flow can be defined as the

simultaneous flow of more than one phase such as gas-solid gas-liquid as well as

gas-liquid-solid flows Each of those multiphase flows produces different flow

regimes It is identified that studies on the flow regimes are important due to the

greater influence on the heat transfer rate as well as the hydrodynamics

characteristics of the flow Thus throughout this project numerical study with the

application of Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) software is perform to model

simulate and observe the flow regimes mapped for gas-liquid multiphase flow in a

vertically oriented microchannel

iv

ABSTRAK

Saluran mikro kini telah beransur-ansur mendapat perhatian kerana nisbah jumlah

luas permukaan kepada isi padunya yang besar secara tidak lansung menghasilkan

kadar pemindahan haba dan jisim yang tinggi Untuk mendapatkan sistem yang lebih

efisien adalah penting bagi seseorang untuk mempunyai kefahaman asas mengenai

morfologi aliran pad a skala mikro Pad a mas a ini terdapat pelbagai aplikasi industri

yang mengalami situasi aliran berbilang fasa seperti penukar haba kolom

gelembung pengangkutan pneumatik kawalan pencemaran dan lain-lain Aliran

berbilang fasa boleh ditakrifkan sebagai aliran serentak yang melibatkan lebih

daripada satu fasa seperti aliran gas-pepejal gas-cecair serta gas-cecair-pepejal

Setiap jenis aliran berbilang fasa menghasilkan rejim aliran yang berbeza Kajian

terhadap rejim aliran adalah penting kerana pengaruhnya yang besar terhadap kadar

permindahan haba serta ciri-ciri hidronamik aliran Oleh itu melalui projek ini

kaj ian berangka dengan menggunakan dinamika fluida pengkomputeran telah

dijalankan bagi memerhati aliran rejim yang dikenal pasti untuk gas-cecair aliran

berbilang fasa dalam sa luran mikro yang menegak

v

Pusat Khidmat Maklumat Akademi iJ [ VERSm MALAYSIA SA vA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TITLE PAGE

DEDICATION II

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Xlll

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT III

ABSTRACT IV

ABSTRAK V

TABLE OF CONTENTS VI

LIST OF TABLES IX

LIST OF FIGURES X

LIST OF SYMBOLS XII

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE XIV

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows 2

112 Gas-Liquid Flow 3

113 Gas-Solid Flow 3

114 Liquid-Solid Flow 4

11 5 Three-Phase Flows 4

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow 5

13 Microchannel 6

14 Overview of Flow Pattern 7

15 Problem Statement 9

16 Objectives and Scopes of Study 9

17 Additional Information of Report 10

vi

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

LITERA TURE REVIEW

21 Materials and Fabrication Technique 11

211 Machining 12

22 Dimensionless Number and Forces Dominate in Microchannel 12

221 Surface Tension 14

23 Two-phase Gas-Liquid Flow 15

24 Mixing in Microchannel 19

25 Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) 22

251 Volume of Fluid (VOF) Model 23

252 Mixture Model 24

253 Eulerian Model 24

26 Flow Patterns in Vertical Upflow 25

METHODOLOGY

31 Introduction 28

32 Objective 29

33 Phase One 29

331 Literature Review 30

332 Design Criteria 30

333 Experimental Setup 31

34 Phase Two 32

341 Experimental Design 33

342 Identify the Domain 34

343 Create a Solid Model of the Domain 35

344 Design and Create the Mesh 36

345 Set Up the Solver 39

346 Compute the Solution 41

347 Examine the Result 42

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

41 Introduction 43

411 Simulation 3 44

412 Simulation 4 47

413 Simulation 5 49

414 Simulation 6 51

vii

415 Simulation 7

42 Discussion

Chapter 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

51 Conclusions

52 Recommendations

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

viii

53

55

57

58

59

68

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

I

20 Density and Surface Tension of Water Against Air at Various 14

Temperatures (Weast and Astle 1982)

30 Dimensions of Capillaries 35

31 Determination of Cell Quality 37

32 Details of Mesh 37

33 Material Properties 40

34 Problem Setup 40

40 Result for the Simulation 43

ix

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

21 Flow Regimes Map (Saisorn and Wongwises 2011) 16

Two-phase Flow Regimes Map for a 100 Jlm Microchannel 22 18

(Kawahara et aI 2002)

23 T - junctions

T - junction with gas and liquid inlet perpendicular to the 23a 20

main channel

T- junction with either gas or liquid inlet is in the direction 23b 20

of the main channel

24 y- junction 21

25 Cross- junction 21

26 Flow- focusing 21

27 Flow Patterns in Vertical Upflow (Azzopardi nd) 26

Steps Involved in Developing the Methodologies for the Design 31 28

Project

32 Subjects Reviewed in Literature Review 30

33 Steps Involved in Determining the Design Criteria 31

34 Steps Involved in Preparation of Complete Experimental Facility 32

35 Adjusted Design of the Microchannel 34

36 Final Design for the Microchannel 34

37 Overall Test Section 35

38 3D Domain(Bakker 2002) 36

39 Meshing for Air Capillary 38

310 Meshing for Water Capillary 38

311 Meshing for Multiphase Capillary 39

312 Steps Involved in Solver Setting 39

41 Contours of Volume Fraction (Air) for Simulation 3 44

42 Overall Figure for Simulation 3 45

x

43 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 3 46

44 Overall Figure for Simulation 4 47

45 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 4 48

46 Overall Figure for Simulation 5 49

47 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 5 50

48 Overall Figure for Simulation 6 51

49 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 6 52

410 Overall Figure for Simulation 7 53

411 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 7 54

412 Annular Flow (taken from Saisom and Wongwises 2011) 55

413 Annular Flow (Simulation 7) 55

xi

J

0

LIST OF SYMBOLS

D Diameter

jo Superficial velocity for gas

JL Superficial velocity for liquid

p Secondary phase

q Primary phase

Qo Volumetric flowrate for gas

QL Volumetric flowrate for liquid

Re Reynolds

St Stokes

va vp Velocity of gas

VL Vq Velocity of liquid

vqp Slip velocity

Degree

degc Degree Celsius

y Surface tension

(4) Velocity ratio

a Void fraction

xii

-----

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

3D 3-Dimensional

CFD Computational Fluid Dynamic

CMC Carboxymethyl Cellulose

SDS Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate

VOF Volume of Fluid

xiii

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE

abn Atmosphere

cm Centimeter

dynecm Dyne per centimeter

glcm3 Gram per cubic meter

JkgmiddotK Joule per kilogram kelvin

kglmmiddots Kilogram per meter second

kglm3 Kilogram per cubic meter

mm Millimeter

mls Meter per second

mls2 Meter per square second

Nm Newton per meter

WmmiddotK Watts per meter kelvin

J1 Micron

J1m Micrometer

xiv

CHAPTER

INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

A phase may refer to states of matter which include solid liquid and vapor

(Crowe and Michaelides 2006) Then a multiphase flow can be defined as the

simultaneous flow of a mixture of different states or phases such as gas-liquid gasshy

solid liquid-solid or gas-liquid-solid Multiphase flow specifically two-phase flows

are found in wide range of industrial applications which comprise power generation

hydrocarbon recovery and processing food manufacturing as well as in most aspects

of chemical engineering such as distillation absorption evaporation condensation

and many others As for the extraction and transportation of crude oil from the

reservoir up to the surface it involves various phases that are gas oil water and

solids Even more complex cases have been facing the industry as the formations of

hydrates and wax frequently occur in the production line

As mentioned previously there are several combinations of multi phase flows

For each combination that flows in a given channel various form of interfacial

distributions that are also called as flow patterns are observed Out of the four types

of flow that have been listed gas-liquid flow is identified as the most complex flow

due to the combination of characteristics that involve deformable interface and the

compressibility of one of the phases (Ghajar 2005 Rahman Heidrick and Fleck

Chapter 1 Introduction

2009) Besides classification of multiphase flow is not as simple as single-phase

flow since there is several other factors need to be considered in a multi scale

structured flow such as pressure drop geometry of the channel heat flux surface

tension and several others In single-phase flow the indication of flow characteristic

is basically based on the information that includes the type of flow which is either

laminar or turbulent as well as the existence of flow separation or secondary flows

In this paper an overvIew of gas-liquid flow in a circular cross section

microchannel is given Liquid and gas are mixed in the mixing chamber and entered

the multi phase micro-capillary hence produced several significance flow patterns

The flow morphologies of mixtures made of water and air produced at the

micrometer scale flowing in a channel of circular cross section are then studied

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows

According to Corradini (1998) there are two basic types of flow patterns that

have been identified which are dispersed and stratified Dispersed flow is a type of

flow in where one phase which is in the form of discrete element is dispersed or

distributed in the other continuous phase (Patel 2010) The discrete element may be

in the form of finite particles drops or bubbles There are few examples of flow that

can be used to explain dispersed phase As in the cases for gas-solid and liquid-solid

flows the discrete elements are always in the solid phase since solid particles are not

connected with each other Meanwhile the dispersed phase in gas-liquid flow is

primarily affected by the flow rates of both phases involved For instance bubbly

flow pattern is obtained as the flow rate of the gas is significantly lower than the

liquid flow rate In addition the shape or size of the dispersed phase is governed by

2

Chapter 1 Introduction

everal factors that include balance of buoyancy inertial and surface tension forces

(Corradini 1998)

Meanwhile stratified flow is a type of flow in where the two phases involved

are separated by a distinct line of contact (Patel 2010) In contrast with bubbly flow

greater flow rate of gas phase has resulted in vertical annular flow pattern in where

there is a liquid layer along the pipe wall alongside a gaseous inner core In other

words as for the cases of horizontal and vertical flows the two different streams are

separated from each other yet travel along in the same medium due to the density and

mass flowrate differences respectively (Corradini 1998)

112 Gas-Liquid Flow

Gas-liquid flow is characterized with the flow of two phases in which one of

the phases is in gaseous form while the other is in liquid form This combination of

flows in pipes has resulted in various configurations or flow patterns ranging from

bubbly flow to annular flow There are several industries that utilize the application

of gas-liquid flow which include bubble columns the generation of small droplets

for combustion in power generation system as well as the formation of droplet for

spray forming especially in materials processing

113 Gas-Solid Flow

Flow of gas phase together with suspended solid particles best described gasshy

solid flow This type of flow has been widely used to many industrial applications

which include pneumatic transport pollution control and so on For pneumatic

3

Chapter 1 Introduction

transport it is the main method of transporting solid materials According to (Crowe

2011) in vertical up-flow orientation the velocity of the gas has to be greater than

the settling velocity of the particles in order to maintain the transport

114 Liquid-Solid Flow

Liquid-solid flow involves the flow of solid particles that are carried via the

liquid phase This type of flow can be classified under dispersed phase flow due to

the dispersion of solid particles within the continuous liquid phase The discrete

elements are conveyed through the channel by the drag and pressure forces exerted

by the liquid phase (Weber 2010) The distribution of solid particles in the flow is

dependent on several factors which involve the properties of solid and carrier liquid

parameters of the channel flow direction and many others Liquid-solid fluidization

sedimentation and filtration are some typical examples of liquid-solid flow Those

mentioned applications are mostly used in the industry for the purpose of separation

115 Three-Phase Flows

Other than gas-liquid gas-solid and liquid-solid flows three-phase flow is

another example of multi phase flows that is encountered in engineering applications

An example for three-phase flow is the occurrence of bubbles in slurry which in

returns have produced three-phase flows flowing together There are not much

literature or related materials on this type of flow yet this flow is identified to be

interesting branch of study for multiphase flows

4

Pusat Khidmat MaldumatAkademil Chapter 1 Ul1lElSm tAJAVSIA SARAWA Introduction

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow

As mentioned earlier multiphase fluid flows can be found in various

industrial processes or applications One of the most common examples is the

application of bubble column Bubble column device is where gas that is in the form

of bubbles come in contact with liquid with the main objective which is to mix the

liquid phase (Zehner and Kraume 2005) This device is commonly used as

multiphase contactors and reactors especially in chemical biochemical and

petrochemical industries since they offer several benefits during operation and

maintenance which include high heat and mass transfer rates compactness as well

as low operating and maintenance cost (Kantarci Borak and Ulgen 2004)

In bubble column the liquid may flow in either two ways which are coshy

current or counter-current to the gas flow direction An example of the simplest

bubble column is the one that consists of a vertical tube with no internals or in other

words the column is installed without any trays packings or shafts Besides for

simplest design of bubble column the gas is fed into the column at the bottom pass

through the liquid and later escaping from the upper surface If the released gas

contains high concentration of valuable reactants recycle design can be

implemented To date the simplest form of bubble column is rarely used since

numerous types of modifications are employed in order to achieve more efficient

design system

According to Kantarci et al (2004) there are three types of flow regimes that

are commonly found in bubbles columns that are bubbly flow churn-turbulent flow

and slug flow regime These flow regimes are determined according to the

superficial gas velocity applied in the column Based on the literature written by

5

Chapter 1 Introduction

previous authors bubbly flow regime is obtained at low superficial gas velocities

meanwhile churn-turbulent regime started to develop at higher superficial gas

velocities For slug flow regime it has been only conducted and observed in a smallshy

scale diameter laboratory columns at high gas flow rates (Hyndman and Larachi

1997)

13 Microchannel

Microchannel can be defined as channel with dimension that is less than 1

mm and greater than I micron (~) (Sharp et aI 2005) For other dimensions that are

above 1 mm the behaviors of the flow are observed to be the same as most

macroscopic flows Microchannel has gradually received attention due to the several

benefits offered which include high surface to volume ratio high throughput in

parallel processing reduction in the volume of sample required and many others

Greater surface to volume ratio has resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer or

in other words enhance the heat transfer rates (Kandlikar 2012 Qian and Lawai

2006) In returns micro device has become an excellent and preferable tool for heat

exchanger

As the dimension scale is reduced to micrometric scale surface to volume

ratio has become significantly important Surface tension as well as viscous force has

dominated the system as compared to gravitational force (Ahmed-Orner and Wirth

2008) In other words the flow regimes observed for two-phase flows in

microchannel are different from the regimes mapped in larger channels (Ventakesan

et aI 2010) Surface tension is originated from the intermolecular forces in which

this forces are generally negligible at macrometric scale (Bayraktar and Pidugu

6

ABSTRACT

Microchannel has gradually received attention due to its high surface to volume ratio

which indirectly resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer To achieve more

efficient system it is likely that one should have the basic understanding on the flow

morphologies at the microscale Currently many industrial applications such as heat

exchanger bubble columns pneumatic transport pollution control and many others

facing the multi phase flow condition Multiphase flow can be defined as the

simultaneous flow of more than one phase such as gas-solid gas-liquid as well as

gas-liquid-solid flows Each of those multiphase flows produces different flow

regimes It is identified that studies on the flow regimes are important due to the

greater influence on the heat transfer rate as well as the hydrodynamics

characteristics of the flow Thus throughout this project numerical study with the

application of Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) software is perform to model

simulate and observe the flow regimes mapped for gas-liquid multiphase flow in a

vertically oriented microchannel

iv

ABSTRAK

Saluran mikro kini telah beransur-ansur mendapat perhatian kerana nisbah jumlah

luas permukaan kepada isi padunya yang besar secara tidak lansung menghasilkan

kadar pemindahan haba dan jisim yang tinggi Untuk mendapatkan sistem yang lebih

efisien adalah penting bagi seseorang untuk mempunyai kefahaman asas mengenai

morfologi aliran pad a skala mikro Pad a mas a ini terdapat pelbagai aplikasi industri

yang mengalami situasi aliran berbilang fasa seperti penukar haba kolom

gelembung pengangkutan pneumatik kawalan pencemaran dan lain-lain Aliran

berbilang fasa boleh ditakrifkan sebagai aliran serentak yang melibatkan lebih

daripada satu fasa seperti aliran gas-pepejal gas-cecair serta gas-cecair-pepejal

Setiap jenis aliran berbilang fasa menghasilkan rejim aliran yang berbeza Kajian

terhadap rejim aliran adalah penting kerana pengaruhnya yang besar terhadap kadar

permindahan haba serta ciri-ciri hidronamik aliran Oleh itu melalui projek ini

kaj ian berangka dengan menggunakan dinamika fluida pengkomputeran telah

dijalankan bagi memerhati aliran rejim yang dikenal pasti untuk gas-cecair aliran

berbilang fasa dalam sa luran mikro yang menegak

v

Pusat Khidmat Maklumat Akademi iJ [ VERSm MALAYSIA SA vA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TITLE PAGE

DEDICATION II

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Xlll

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT III

ABSTRACT IV

ABSTRAK V

TABLE OF CONTENTS VI

LIST OF TABLES IX

LIST OF FIGURES X

LIST OF SYMBOLS XII

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE XIV

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows 2

112 Gas-Liquid Flow 3

113 Gas-Solid Flow 3

114 Liquid-Solid Flow 4

11 5 Three-Phase Flows 4

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow 5

13 Microchannel 6

14 Overview of Flow Pattern 7

15 Problem Statement 9

16 Objectives and Scopes of Study 9

17 Additional Information of Report 10

vi

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

LITERA TURE REVIEW

21 Materials and Fabrication Technique 11

211 Machining 12

22 Dimensionless Number and Forces Dominate in Microchannel 12

221 Surface Tension 14

23 Two-phase Gas-Liquid Flow 15

24 Mixing in Microchannel 19

25 Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) 22

251 Volume of Fluid (VOF) Model 23

252 Mixture Model 24

253 Eulerian Model 24

26 Flow Patterns in Vertical Upflow 25

METHODOLOGY

31 Introduction 28

32 Objective 29

33 Phase One 29

331 Literature Review 30

332 Design Criteria 30

333 Experimental Setup 31

34 Phase Two 32

341 Experimental Design 33

342 Identify the Domain 34

343 Create a Solid Model of the Domain 35

344 Design and Create the Mesh 36

345 Set Up the Solver 39

346 Compute the Solution 41

347 Examine the Result 42

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

41 Introduction 43

411 Simulation 3 44

412 Simulation 4 47

413 Simulation 5 49

414 Simulation 6 51

vii

415 Simulation 7

42 Discussion

Chapter 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

51 Conclusions

52 Recommendations

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

viii

53

55

57

58

59

68

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

I

20 Density and Surface Tension of Water Against Air at Various 14

Temperatures (Weast and Astle 1982)

30 Dimensions of Capillaries 35

31 Determination of Cell Quality 37

32 Details of Mesh 37

33 Material Properties 40

34 Problem Setup 40

40 Result for the Simulation 43

ix

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

21 Flow Regimes Map (Saisorn and Wongwises 2011) 16

Two-phase Flow Regimes Map for a 100 Jlm Microchannel 22 18

(Kawahara et aI 2002)

23 T - junctions

T - junction with gas and liquid inlet perpendicular to the 23a 20

main channel

T- junction with either gas or liquid inlet is in the direction 23b 20

of the main channel

24 y- junction 21

25 Cross- junction 21

26 Flow- focusing 21

27 Flow Patterns in Vertical Upflow (Azzopardi nd) 26

Steps Involved in Developing the Methodologies for the Design 31 28

Project

32 Subjects Reviewed in Literature Review 30

33 Steps Involved in Determining the Design Criteria 31

34 Steps Involved in Preparation of Complete Experimental Facility 32

35 Adjusted Design of the Microchannel 34

36 Final Design for the Microchannel 34

37 Overall Test Section 35

38 3D Domain(Bakker 2002) 36

39 Meshing for Air Capillary 38

310 Meshing for Water Capillary 38

311 Meshing for Multiphase Capillary 39

312 Steps Involved in Solver Setting 39

41 Contours of Volume Fraction (Air) for Simulation 3 44

42 Overall Figure for Simulation 3 45

x

43 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 3 46

44 Overall Figure for Simulation 4 47

45 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 4 48

46 Overall Figure for Simulation 5 49

47 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 5 50

48 Overall Figure for Simulation 6 51

49 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 6 52

410 Overall Figure for Simulation 7 53

411 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 7 54

412 Annular Flow (taken from Saisom and Wongwises 2011) 55

413 Annular Flow (Simulation 7) 55

xi

J

0

LIST OF SYMBOLS

D Diameter

jo Superficial velocity for gas

JL Superficial velocity for liquid

p Secondary phase

q Primary phase

Qo Volumetric flowrate for gas

QL Volumetric flowrate for liquid

Re Reynolds

St Stokes

va vp Velocity of gas

VL Vq Velocity of liquid

vqp Slip velocity

Degree

degc Degree Celsius

y Surface tension

(4) Velocity ratio

a Void fraction

xii

-----

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

3D 3-Dimensional

CFD Computational Fluid Dynamic

CMC Carboxymethyl Cellulose

SDS Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate

VOF Volume of Fluid

xiii

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE

abn Atmosphere

cm Centimeter

dynecm Dyne per centimeter

glcm3 Gram per cubic meter

JkgmiddotK Joule per kilogram kelvin

kglmmiddots Kilogram per meter second

kglm3 Kilogram per cubic meter

mm Millimeter

mls Meter per second

mls2 Meter per square second

Nm Newton per meter

WmmiddotK Watts per meter kelvin

J1 Micron

J1m Micrometer

xiv

CHAPTER

INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

A phase may refer to states of matter which include solid liquid and vapor

(Crowe and Michaelides 2006) Then a multiphase flow can be defined as the

simultaneous flow of a mixture of different states or phases such as gas-liquid gasshy

solid liquid-solid or gas-liquid-solid Multiphase flow specifically two-phase flows

are found in wide range of industrial applications which comprise power generation

hydrocarbon recovery and processing food manufacturing as well as in most aspects

of chemical engineering such as distillation absorption evaporation condensation

and many others As for the extraction and transportation of crude oil from the

reservoir up to the surface it involves various phases that are gas oil water and

solids Even more complex cases have been facing the industry as the formations of

hydrates and wax frequently occur in the production line

As mentioned previously there are several combinations of multi phase flows

For each combination that flows in a given channel various form of interfacial

distributions that are also called as flow patterns are observed Out of the four types

of flow that have been listed gas-liquid flow is identified as the most complex flow

due to the combination of characteristics that involve deformable interface and the

compressibility of one of the phases (Ghajar 2005 Rahman Heidrick and Fleck

Chapter 1 Introduction

2009) Besides classification of multiphase flow is not as simple as single-phase

flow since there is several other factors need to be considered in a multi scale

structured flow such as pressure drop geometry of the channel heat flux surface

tension and several others In single-phase flow the indication of flow characteristic

is basically based on the information that includes the type of flow which is either

laminar or turbulent as well as the existence of flow separation or secondary flows

In this paper an overvIew of gas-liquid flow in a circular cross section

microchannel is given Liquid and gas are mixed in the mixing chamber and entered

the multi phase micro-capillary hence produced several significance flow patterns

The flow morphologies of mixtures made of water and air produced at the

micrometer scale flowing in a channel of circular cross section are then studied

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows

According to Corradini (1998) there are two basic types of flow patterns that

have been identified which are dispersed and stratified Dispersed flow is a type of

flow in where one phase which is in the form of discrete element is dispersed or

distributed in the other continuous phase (Patel 2010) The discrete element may be

in the form of finite particles drops or bubbles There are few examples of flow that

can be used to explain dispersed phase As in the cases for gas-solid and liquid-solid

flows the discrete elements are always in the solid phase since solid particles are not

connected with each other Meanwhile the dispersed phase in gas-liquid flow is

primarily affected by the flow rates of both phases involved For instance bubbly

flow pattern is obtained as the flow rate of the gas is significantly lower than the

liquid flow rate In addition the shape or size of the dispersed phase is governed by

2

Chapter 1 Introduction

everal factors that include balance of buoyancy inertial and surface tension forces

(Corradini 1998)

Meanwhile stratified flow is a type of flow in where the two phases involved

are separated by a distinct line of contact (Patel 2010) In contrast with bubbly flow

greater flow rate of gas phase has resulted in vertical annular flow pattern in where

there is a liquid layer along the pipe wall alongside a gaseous inner core In other

words as for the cases of horizontal and vertical flows the two different streams are

separated from each other yet travel along in the same medium due to the density and

mass flowrate differences respectively (Corradini 1998)

112 Gas-Liquid Flow

Gas-liquid flow is characterized with the flow of two phases in which one of

the phases is in gaseous form while the other is in liquid form This combination of

flows in pipes has resulted in various configurations or flow patterns ranging from

bubbly flow to annular flow There are several industries that utilize the application

of gas-liquid flow which include bubble columns the generation of small droplets

for combustion in power generation system as well as the formation of droplet for

spray forming especially in materials processing

113 Gas-Solid Flow

Flow of gas phase together with suspended solid particles best described gasshy

solid flow This type of flow has been widely used to many industrial applications

which include pneumatic transport pollution control and so on For pneumatic

3

Chapter 1 Introduction

transport it is the main method of transporting solid materials According to (Crowe

2011) in vertical up-flow orientation the velocity of the gas has to be greater than

the settling velocity of the particles in order to maintain the transport

114 Liquid-Solid Flow

Liquid-solid flow involves the flow of solid particles that are carried via the

liquid phase This type of flow can be classified under dispersed phase flow due to

the dispersion of solid particles within the continuous liquid phase The discrete

elements are conveyed through the channel by the drag and pressure forces exerted

by the liquid phase (Weber 2010) The distribution of solid particles in the flow is

dependent on several factors which involve the properties of solid and carrier liquid

parameters of the channel flow direction and many others Liquid-solid fluidization

sedimentation and filtration are some typical examples of liquid-solid flow Those

mentioned applications are mostly used in the industry for the purpose of separation

115 Three-Phase Flows

Other than gas-liquid gas-solid and liquid-solid flows three-phase flow is

another example of multi phase flows that is encountered in engineering applications

An example for three-phase flow is the occurrence of bubbles in slurry which in

returns have produced three-phase flows flowing together There are not much

literature or related materials on this type of flow yet this flow is identified to be

interesting branch of study for multiphase flows

4

Pusat Khidmat MaldumatAkademil Chapter 1 Ul1lElSm tAJAVSIA SARAWA Introduction

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow

As mentioned earlier multiphase fluid flows can be found in various

industrial processes or applications One of the most common examples is the

application of bubble column Bubble column device is where gas that is in the form

of bubbles come in contact with liquid with the main objective which is to mix the

liquid phase (Zehner and Kraume 2005) This device is commonly used as

multiphase contactors and reactors especially in chemical biochemical and

petrochemical industries since they offer several benefits during operation and

maintenance which include high heat and mass transfer rates compactness as well

as low operating and maintenance cost (Kantarci Borak and Ulgen 2004)

In bubble column the liquid may flow in either two ways which are coshy

current or counter-current to the gas flow direction An example of the simplest

bubble column is the one that consists of a vertical tube with no internals or in other

words the column is installed without any trays packings or shafts Besides for

simplest design of bubble column the gas is fed into the column at the bottom pass

through the liquid and later escaping from the upper surface If the released gas

contains high concentration of valuable reactants recycle design can be

implemented To date the simplest form of bubble column is rarely used since

numerous types of modifications are employed in order to achieve more efficient

design system

According to Kantarci et al (2004) there are three types of flow regimes that

are commonly found in bubbles columns that are bubbly flow churn-turbulent flow

and slug flow regime These flow regimes are determined according to the

superficial gas velocity applied in the column Based on the literature written by

5

Chapter 1 Introduction

previous authors bubbly flow regime is obtained at low superficial gas velocities

meanwhile churn-turbulent regime started to develop at higher superficial gas

velocities For slug flow regime it has been only conducted and observed in a smallshy

scale diameter laboratory columns at high gas flow rates (Hyndman and Larachi

1997)

13 Microchannel

Microchannel can be defined as channel with dimension that is less than 1

mm and greater than I micron (~) (Sharp et aI 2005) For other dimensions that are

above 1 mm the behaviors of the flow are observed to be the same as most

macroscopic flows Microchannel has gradually received attention due to the several

benefits offered which include high surface to volume ratio high throughput in

parallel processing reduction in the volume of sample required and many others

Greater surface to volume ratio has resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer or

in other words enhance the heat transfer rates (Kandlikar 2012 Qian and Lawai

2006) In returns micro device has become an excellent and preferable tool for heat

exchanger

As the dimension scale is reduced to micrometric scale surface to volume

ratio has become significantly important Surface tension as well as viscous force has

dominated the system as compared to gravitational force (Ahmed-Orner and Wirth

2008) In other words the flow regimes observed for two-phase flows in

microchannel are different from the regimes mapped in larger channels (Ventakesan

et aI 2010) Surface tension is originated from the intermolecular forces in which

this forces are generally negligible at macrometric scale (Bayraktar and Pidugu

6

ABSTRAK

Saluran mikro kini telah beransur-ansur mendapat perhatian kerana nisbah jumlah

luas permukaan kepada isi padunya yang besar secara tidak lansung menghasilkan

kadar pemindahan haba dan jisim yang tinggi Untuk mendapatkan sistem yang lebih

efisien adalah penting bagi seseorang untuk mempunyai kefahaman asas mengenai

morfologi aliran pad a skala mikro Pad a mas a ini terdapat pelbagai aplikasi industri

yang mengalami situasi aliran berbilang fasa seperti penukar haba kolom

gelembung pengangkutan pneumatik kawalan pencemaran dan lain-lain Aliran

berbilang fasa boleh ditakrifkan sebagai aliran serentak yang melibatkan lebih

daripada satu fasa seperti aliran gas-pepejal gas-cecair serta gas-cecair-pepejal

Setiap jenis aliran berbilang fasa menghasilkan rejim aliran yang berbeza Kajian

terhadap rejim aliran adalah penting kerana pengaruhnya yang besar terhadap kadar

permindahan haba serta ciri-ciri hidronamik aliran Oleh itu melalui projek ini

kaj ian berangka dengan menggunakan dinamika fluida pengkomputeran telah

dijalankan bagi memerhati aliran rejim yang dikenal pasti untuk gas-cecair aliran

berbilang fasa dalam sa luran mikro yang menegak

v

Pusat Khidmat Maklumat Akademi iJ [ VERSm MALAYSIA SA vA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TITLE PAGE

DEDICATION II

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Xlll

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT III

ABSTRACT IV

ABSTRAK V

TABLE OF CONTENTS VI

LIST OF TABLES IX

LIST OF FIGURES X

LIST OF SYMBOLS XII

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE XIV

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows 2

112 Gas-Liquid Flow 3

113 Gas-Solid Flow 3

114 Liquid-Solid Flow 4

11 5 Three-Phase Flows 4

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow 5

13 Microchannel 6

14 Overview of Flow Pattern 7

15 Problem Statement 9

16 Objectives and Scopes of Study 9

17 Additional Information of Report 10

vi

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

LITERA TURE REVIEW

21 Materials and Fabrication Technique 11

211 Machining 12

22 Dimensionless Number and Forces Dominate in Microchannel 12

221 Surface Tension 14

23 Two-phase Gas-Liquid Flow 15

24 Mixing in Microchannel 19

25 Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) 22

251 Volume of Fluid (VOF) Model 23

252 Mixture Model 24

253 Eulerian Model 24

26 Flow Patterns in Vertical Upflow 25

METHODOLOGY

31 Introduction 28

32 Objective 29

33 Phase One 29

331 Literature Review 30

332 Design Criteria 30

333 Experimental Setup 31

34 Phase Two 32

341 Experimental Design 33

342 Identify the Domain 34

343 Create a Solid Model of the Domain 35

344 Design and Create the Mesh 36

345 Set Up the Solver 39

346 Compute the Solution 41

347 Examine the Result 42

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

41 Introduction 43

411 Simulation 3 44

412 Simulation 4 47

413 Simulation 5 49

414 Simulation 6 51

vii

415 Simulation 7

42 Discussion

Chapter 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

51 Conclusions

52 Recommendations

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

viii

53

55

57

58

59

68

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

I

20 Density and Surface Tension of Water Against Air at Various 14

Temperatures (Weast and Astle 1982)

30 Dimensions of Capillaries 35

31 Determination of Cell Quality 37

32 Details of Mesh 37

33 Material Properties 40

34 Problem Setup 40

40 Result for the Simulation 43

ix

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

21 Flow Regimes Map (Saisorn and Wongwises 2011) 16

Two-phase Flow Regimes Map for a 100 Jlm Microchannel 22 18

(Kawahara et aI 2002)

23 T - junctions

T - junction with gas and liquid inlet perpendicular to the 23a 20

main channel

T- junction with either gas or liquid inlet is in the direction 23b 20

of the main channel

24 y- junction 21

25 Cross- junction 21

26 Flow- focusing 21

27 Flow Patterns in Vertical Upflow (Azzopardi nd) 26

Steps Involved in Developing the Methodologies for the Design 31 28

Project

32 Subjects Reviewed in Literature Review 30

33 Steps Involved in Determining the Design Criteria 31

34 Steps Involved in Preparation of Complete Experimental Facility 32

35 Adjusted Design of the Microchannel 34

36 Final Design for the Microchannel 34

37 Overall Test Section 35

38 3D Domain(Bakker 2002) 36

39 Meshing for Air Capillary 38

310 Meshing for Water Capillary 38

311 Meshing for Multiphase Capillary 39

312 Steps Involved in Solver Setting 39

41 Contours of Volume Fraction (Air) for Simulation 3 44

42 Overall Figure for Simulation 3 45

x

43 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 3 46

44 Overall Figure for Simulation 4 47

45 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 4 48

46 Overall Figure for Simulation 5 49

47 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 5 50

48 Overall Figure for Simulation 6 51

49 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 6 52

410 Overall Figure for Simulation 7 53

411 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 7 54

412 Annular Flow (taken from Saisom and Wongwises 2011) 55

413 Annular Flow (Simulation 7) 55

xi

J

0

LIST OF SYMBOLS

D Diameter

jo Superficial velocity for gas

JL Superficial velocity for liquid

p Secondary phase

q Primary phase

Qo Volumetric flowrate for gas

QL Volumetric flowrate for liquid

Re Reynolds

St Stokes

va vp Velocity of gas

VL Vq Velocity of liquid

vqp Slip velocity

Degree

degc Degree Celsius

y Surface tension

(4) Velocity ratio

a Void fraction

xii

-----

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

3D 3-Dimensional

CFD Computational Fluid Dynamic

CMC Carboxymethyl Cellulose

SDS Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate

VOF Volume of Fluid

xiii

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE

abn Atmosphere

cm Centimeter

dynecm Dyne per centimeter

glcm3 Gram per cubic meter

JkgmiddotK Joule per kilogram kelvin

kglmmiddots Kilogram per meter second

kglm3 Kilogram per cubic meter

mm Millimeter

mls Meter per second

mls2 Meter per square second

Nm Newton per meter

WmmiddotK Watts per meter kelvin

J1 Micron

J1m Micrometer

xiv

CHAPTER

INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

A phase may refer to states of matter which include solid liquid and vapor

(Crowe and Michaelides 2006) Then a multiphase flow can be defined as the

simultaneous flow of a mixture of different states or phases such as gas-liquid gasshy

solid liquid-solid or gas-liquid-solid Multiphase flow specifically two-phase flows

are found in wide range of industrial applications which comprise power generation

hydrocarbon recovery and processing food manufacturing as well as in most aspects

of chemical engineering such as distillation absorption evaporation condensation

and many others As for the extraction and transportation of crude oil from the

reservoir up to the surface it involves various phases that are gas oil water and

solids Even more complex cases have been facing the industry as the formations of

hydrates and wax frequently occur in the production line

As mentioned previously there are several combinations of multi phase flows

For each combination that flows in a given channel various form of interfacial

distributions that are also called as flow patterns are observed Out of the four types

of flow that have been listed gas-liquid flow is identified as the most complex flow

due to the combination of characteristics that involve deformable interface and the

compressibility of one of the phases (Ghajar 2005 Rahman Heidrick and Fleck

Chapter 1 Introduction

2009) Besides classification of multiphase flow is not as simple as single-phase

flow since there is several other factors need to be considered in a multi scale

structured flow such as pressure drop geometry of the channel heat flux surface

tension and several others In single-phase flow the indication of flow characteristic

is basically based on the information that includes the type of flow which is either

laminar or turbulent as well as the existence of flow separation or secondary flows

In this paper an overvIew of gas-liquid flow in a circular cross section

microchannel is given Liquid and gas are mixed in the mixing chamber and entered

the multi phase micro-capillary hence produced several significance flow patterns

The flow morphologies of mixtures made of water and air produced at the

micrometer scale flowing in a channel of circular cross section are then studied

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows

According to Corradini (1998) there are two basic types of flow patterns that

have been identified which are dispersed and stratified Dispersed flow is a type of

flow in where one phase which is in the form of discrete element is dispersed or

distributed in the other continuous phase (Patel 2010) The discrete element may be

in the form of finite particles drops or bubbles There are few examples of flow that

can be used to explain dispersed phase As in the cases for gas-solid and liquid-solid

flows the discrete elements are always in the solid phase since solid particles are not

connected with each other Meanwhile the dispersed phase in gas-liquid flow is

primarily affected by the flow rates of both phases involved For instance bubbly

flow pattern is obtained as the flow rate of the gas is significantly lower than the

liquid flow rate In addition the shape or size of the dispersed phase is governed by

2

Chapter 1 Introduction

everal factors that include balance of buoyancy inertial and surface tension forces

(Corradini 1998)

Meanwhile stratified flow is a type of flow in where the two phases involved

are separated by a distinct line of contact (Patel 2010) In contrast with bubbly flow

greater flow rate of gas phase has resulted in vertical annular flow pattern in where

there is a liquid layer along the pipe wall alongside a gaseous inner core In other

words as for the cases of horizontal and vertical flows the two different streams are

separated from each other yet travel along in the same medium due to the density and

mass flowrate differences respectively (Corradini 1998)

112 Gas-Liquid Flow

Gas-liquid flow is characterized with the flow of two phases in which one of

the phases is in gaseous form while the other is in liquid form This combination of

flows in pipes has resulted in various configurations or flow patterns ranging from

bubbly flow to annular flow There are several industries that utilize the application

of gas-liquid flow which include bubble columns the generation of small droplets

for combustion in power generation system as well as the formation of droplet for

spray forming especially in materials processing

113 Gas-Solid Flow

Flow of gas phase together with suspended solid particles best described gasshy

solid flow This type of flow has been widely used to many industrial applications

which include pneumatic transport pollution control and so on For pneumatic

3

Chapter 1 Introduction

transport it is the main method of transporting solid materials According to (Crowe

2011) in vertical up-flow orientation the velocity of the gas has to be greater than

the settling velocity of the particles in order to maintain the transport

114 Liquid-Solid Flow

Liquid-solid flow involves the flow of solid particles that are carried via the

liquid phase This type of flow can be classified under dispersed phase flow due to

the dispersion of solid particles within the continuous liquid phase The discrete

elements are conveyed through the channel by the drag and pressure forces exerted

by the liquid phase (Weber 2010) The distribution of solid particles in the flow is

dependent on several factors which involve the properties of solid and carrier liquid

parameters of the channel flow direction and many others Liquid-solid fluidization

sedimentation and filtration are some typical examples of liquid-solid flow Those

mentioned applications are mostly used in the industry for the purpose of separation

115 Three-Phase Flows

Other than gas-liquid gas-solid and liquid-solid flows three-phase flow is

another example of multi phase flows that is encountered in engineering applications

An example for three-phase flow is the occurrence of bubbles in slurry which in

returns have produced three-phase flows flowing together There are not much

literature or related materials on this type of flow yet this flow is identified to be

interesting branch of study for multiphase flows

4

Pusat Khidmat MaldumatAkademil Chapter 1 Ul1lElSm tAJAVSIA SARAWA Introduction

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow

As mentioned earlier multiphase fluid flows can be found in various

industrial processes or applications One of the most common examples is the

application of bubble column Bubble column device is where gas that is in the form

of bubbles come in contact with liquid with the main objective which is to mix the

liquid phase (Zehner and Kraume 2005) This device is commonly used as

multiphase contactors and reactors especially in chemical biochemical and

petrochemical industries since they offer several benefits during operation and

maintenance which include high heat and mass transfer rates compactness as well

as low operating and maintenance cost (Kantarci Borak and Ulgen 2004)

In bubble column the liquid may flow in either two ways which are coshy

current or counter-current to the gas flow direction An example of the simplest

bubble column is the one that consists of a vertical tube with no internals or in other

words the column is installed without any trays packings or shafts Besides for

simplest design of bubble column the gas is fed into the column at the bottom pass

through the liquid and later escaping from the upper surface If the released gas

contains high concentration of valuable reactants recycle design can be

implemented To date the simplest form of bubble column is rarely used since

numerous types of modifications are employed in order to achieve more efficient

design system

According to Kantarci et al (2004) there are three types of flow regimes that

are commonly found in bubbles columns that are bubbly flow churn-turbulent flow

and slug flow regime These flow regimes are determined according to the

superficial gas velocity applied in the column Based on the literature written by

5

Chapter 1 Introduction

previous authors bubbly flow regime is obtained at low superficial gas velocities

meanwhile churn-turbulent regime started to develop at higher superficial gas

velocities For slug flow regime it has been only conducted and observed in a smallshy

scale diameter laboratory columns at high gas flow rates (Hyndman and Larachi

1997)

13 Microchannel

Microchannel can be defined as channel with dimension that is less than 1

mm and greater than I micron (~) (Sharp et aI 2005) For other dimensions that are

above 1 mm the behaviors of the flow are observed to be the same as most

macroscopic flows Microchannel has gradually received attention due to the several

benefits offered which include high surface to volume ratio high throughput in

parallel processing reduction in the volume of sample required and many others

Greater surface to volume ratio has resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer or

in other words enhance the heat transfer rates (Kandlikar 2012 Qian and Lawai

2006) In returns micro device has become an excellent and preferable tool for heat

exchanger

As the dimension scale is reduced to micrometric scale surface to volume

ratio has become significantly important Surface tension as well as viscous force has

dominated the system as compared to gravitational force (Ahmed-Orner and Wirth

2008) In other words the flow regimes observed for two-phase flows in

microchannel are different from the regimes mapped in larger channels (Ventakesan

et aI 2010) Surface tension is originated from the intermolecular forces in which

this forces are generally negligible at macrometric scale (Bayraktar and Pidugu

6

Pusat Khidmat Maklumat Akademi iJ [ VERSm MALAYSIA SA vA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TITLE PAGE

DEDICATION II

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Xlll

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT III

ABSTRACT IV

ABSTRAK V

TABLE OF CONTENTS VI

LIST OF TABLES IX

LIST OF FIGURES X

LIST OF SYMBOLS XII

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE XIV

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows 2

112 Gas-Liquid Flow 3

113 Gas-Solid Flow 3

114 Liquid-Solid Flow 4

11 5 Three-Phase Flows 4

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow 5

13 Microchannel 6

14 Overview of Flow Pattern 7

15 Problem Statement 9

16 Objectives and Scopes of Study 9

17 Additional Information of Report 10

vi

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

LITERA TURE REVIEW

21 Materials and Fabrication Technique 11

211 Machining 12

22 Dimensionless Number and Forces Dominate in Microchannel 12

221 Surface Tension 14

23 Two-phase Gas-Liquid Flow 15

24 Mixing in Microchannel 19

25 Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) 22

251 Volume of Fluid (VOF) Model 23

252 Mixture Model 24

253 Eulerian Model 24

26 Flow Patterns in Vertical Upflow 25

METHODOLOGY

31 Introduction 28

32 Objective 29

33 Phase One 29

331 Literature Review 30

332 Design Criteria 30

333 Experimental Setup 31

34 Phase Two 32

341 Experimental Design 33

342 Identify the Domain 34

343 Create a Solid Model of the Domain 35

344 Design and Create the Mesh 36

345 Set Up the Solver 39

346 Compute the Solution 41

347 Examine the Result 42

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

41 Introduction 43

411 Simulation 3 44

412 Simulation 4 47

413 Simulation 5 49

414 Simulation 6 51

vii

415 Simulation 7

42 Discussion

Chapter 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

51 Conclusions

52 Recommendations

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

viii

53

55

57

58

59

68

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

I

20 Density and Surface Tension of Water Against Air at Various 14

Temperatures (Weast and Astle 1982)

30 Dimensions of Capillaries 35

31 Determination of Cell Quality 37

32 Details of Mesh 37

33 Material Properties 40

34 Problem Setup 40

40 Result for the Simulation 43

ix

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

21 Flow Regimes Map (Saisorn and Wongwises 2011) 16

Two-phase Flow Regimes Map for a 100 Jlm Microchannel 22 18

(Kawahara et aI 2002)

23 T - junctions

T - junction with gas and liquid inlet perpendicular to the 23a 20

main channel

T- junction with either gas or liquid inlet is in the direction 23b 20

of the main channel

24 y- junction 21

25 Cross- junction 21

26 Flow- focusing 21

27 Flow Patterns in Vertical Upflow (Azzopardi nd) 26

Steps Involved in Developing the Methodologies for the Design 31 28

Project

32 Subjects Reviewed in Literature Review 30

33 Steps Involved in Determining the Design Criteria 31

34 Steps Involved in Preparation of Complete Experimental Facility 32

35 Adjusted Design of the Microchannel 34

36 Final Design for the Microchannel 34

37 Overall Test Section 35

38 3D Domain(Bakker 2002) 36

39 Meshing for Air Capillary 38

310 Meshing for Water Capillary 38

311 Meshing for Multiphase Capillary 39

312 Steps Involved in Solver Setting 39

41 Contours of Volume Fraction (Air) for Simulation 3 44

42 Overall Figure for Simulation 3 45

x

43 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 3 46

44 Overall Figure for Simulation 4 47

45 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 4 48

46 Overall Figure for Simulation 5 49

47 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 5 50

48 Overall Figure for Simulation 6 51

49 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 6 52

410 Overall Figure for Simulation 7 53

411 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 7 54

412 Annular Flow (taken from Saisom and Wongwises 2011) 55

413 Annular Flow (Simulation 7) 55

xi

J

0

LIST OF SYMBOLS

D Diameter

jo Superficial velocity for gas

JL Superficial velocity for liquid

p Secondary phase

q Primary phase

Qo Volumetric flowrate for gas

QL Volumetric flowrate for liquid

Re Reynolds

St Stokes

va vp Velocity of gas

VL Vq Velocity of liquid

vqp Slip velocity

Degree

degc Degree Celsius

y Surface tension

(4) Velocity ratio

a Void fraction

xii

-----

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

3D 3-Dimensional

CFD Computational Fluid Dynamic

CMC Carboxymethyl Cellulose

SDS Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate

VOF Volume of Fluid

xiii

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE

abn Atmosphere

cm Centimeter

dynecm Dyne per centimeter

glcm3 Gram per cubic meter

JkgmiddotK Joule per kilogram kelvin

kglmmiddots Kilogram per meter second

kglm3 Kilogram per cubic meter

mm Millimeter

mls Meter per second

mls2 Meter per square second

Nm Newton per meter

WmmiddotK Watts per meter kelvin

J1 Micron

J1m Micrometer

xiv

CHAPTER

INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

A phase may refer to states of matter which include solid liquid and vapor

(Crowe and Michaelides 2006) Then a multiphase flow can be defined as the

simultaneous flow of a mixture of different states or phases such as gas-liquid gasshy

solid liquid-solid or gas-liquid-solid Multiphase flow specifically two-phase flows

are found in wide range of industrial applications which comprise power generation

hydrocarbon recovery and processing food manufacturing as well as in most aspects

of chemical engineering such as distillation absorption evaporation condensation

and many others As for the extraction and transportation of crude oil from the

reservoir up to the surface it involves various phases that are gas oil water and

solids Even more complex cases have been facing the industry as the formations of

hydrates and wax frequently occur in the production line

As mentioned previously there are several combinations of multi phase flows

For each combination that flows in a given channel various form of interfacial

distributions that are also called as flow patterns are observed Out of the four types

of flow that have been listed gas-liquid flow is identified as the most complex flow

due to the combination of characteristics that involve deformable interface and the

compressibility of one of the phases (Ghajar 2005 Rahman Heidrick and Fleck

Chapter 1 Introduction

2009) Besides classification of multiphase flow is not as simple as single-phase

flow since there is several other factors need to be considered in a multi scale

structured flow such as pressure drop geometry of the channel heat flux surface

tension and several others In single-phase flow the indication of flow characteristic

is basically based on the information that includes the type of flow which is either

laminar or turbulent as well as the existence of flow separation or secondary flows

In this paper an overvIew of gas-liquid flow in a circular cross section

microchannel is given Liquid and gas are mixed in the mixing chamber and entered

the multi phase micro-capillary hence produced several significance flow patterns

The flow morphologies of mixtures made of water and air produced at the

micrometer scale flowing in a channel of circular cross section are then studied

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows

According to Corradini (1998) there are two basic types of flow patterns that

have been identified which are dispersed and stratified Dispersed flow is a type of

flow in where one phase which is in the form of discrete element is dispersed or

distributed in the other continuous phase (Patel 2010) The discrete element may be

in the form of finite particles drops or bubbles There are few examples of flow that

can be used to explain dispersed phase As in the cases for gas-solid and liquid-solid

flows the discrete elements are always in the solid phase since solid particles are not

connected with each other Meanwhile the dispersed phase in gas-liquid flow is

primarily affected by the flow rates of both phases involved For instance bubbly

flow pattern is obtained as the flow rate of the gas is significantly lower than the

liquid flow rate In addition the shape or size of the dispersed phase is governed by

2

Chapter 1 Introduction

everal factors that include balance of buoyancy inertial and surface tension forces

(Corradini 1998)

Meanwhile stratified flow is a type of flow in where the two phases involved

are separated by a distinct line of contact (Patel 2010) In contrast with bubbly flow

greater flow rate of gas phase has resulted in vertical annular flow pattern in where

there is a liquid layer along the pipe wall alongside a gaseous inner core In other

words as for the cases of horizontal and vertical flows the two different streams are

separated from each other yet travel along in the same medium due to the density and

mass flowrate differences respectively (Corradini 1998)

112 Gas-Liquid Flow

Gas-liquid flow is characterized with the flow of two phases in which one of

the phases is in gaseous form while the other is in liquid form This combination of

flows in pipes has resulted in various configurations or flow patterns ranging from

bubbly flow to annular flow There are several industries that utilize the application

of gas-liquid flow which include bubble columns the generation of small droplets

for combustion in power generation system as well as the formation of droplet for

spray forming especially in materials processing

113 Gas-Solid Flow

Flow of gas phase together with suspended solid particles best described gasshy

solid flow This type of flow has been widely used to many industrial applications

which include pneumatic transport pollution control and so on For pneumatic

3

Chapter 1 Introduction

transport it is the main method of transporting solid materials According to (Crowe

2011) in vertical up-flow orientation the velocity of the gas has to be greater than

the settling velocity of the particles in order to maintain the transport

114 Liquid-Solid Flow

Liquid-solid flow involves the flow of solid particles that are carried via the

liquid phase This type of flow can be classified under dispersed phase flow due to

the dispersion of solid particles within the continuous liquid phase The discrete

elements are conveyed through the channel by the drag and pressure forces exerted

by the liquid phase (Weber 2010) The distribution of solid particles in the flow is

dependent on several factors which involve the properties of solid and carrier liquid

parameters of the channel flow direction and many others Liquid-solid fluidization

sedimentation and filtration are some typical examples of liquid-solid flow Those

mentioned applications are mostly used in the industry for the purpose of separation

115 Three-Phase Flows

Other than gas-liquid gas-solid and liquid-solid flows three-phase flow is

another example of multi phase flows that is encountered in engineering applications

An example for three-phase flow is the occurrence of bubbles in slurry which in

returns have produced three-phase flows flowing together There are not much

literature or related materials on this type of flow yet this flow is identified to be

interesting branch of study for multiphase flows

4

Pusat Khidmat MaldumatAkademil Chapter 1 Ul1lElSm tAJAVSIA SARAWA Introduction

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow

As mentioned earlier multiphase fluid flows can be found in various

industrial processes or applications One of the most common examples is the

application of bubble column Bubble column device is where gas that is in the form

of bubbles come in contact with liquid with the main objective which is to mix the

liquid phase (Zehner and Kraume 2005) This device is commonly used as

multiphase contactors and reactors especially in chemical biochemical and

petrochemical industries since they offer several benefits during operation and

maintenance which include high heat and mass transfer rates compactness as well

as low operating and maintenance cost (Kantarci Borak and Ulgen 2004)

In bubble column the liquid may flow in either two ways which are coshy

current or counter-current to the gas flow direction An example of the simplest

bubble column is the one that consists of a vertical tube with no internals or in other

words the column is installed without any trays packings or shafts Besides for

simplest design of bubble column the gas is fed into the column at the bottom pass

through the liquid and later escaping from the upper surface If the released gas

contains high concentration of valuable reactants recycle design can be

implemented To date the simplest form of bubble column is rarely used since

numerous types of modifications are employed in order to achieve more efficient

design system

According to Kantarci et al (2004) there are three types of flow regimes that

are commonly found in bubbles columns that are bubbly flow churn-turbulent flow

and slug flow regime These flow regimes are determined according to the

superficial gas velocity applied in the column Based on the literature written by

5

Chapter 1 Introduction

previous authors bubbly flow regime is obtained at low superficial gas velocities

meanwhile churn-turbulent regime started to develop at higher superficial gas

velocities For slug flow regime it has been only conducted and observed in a smallshy

scale diameter laboratory columns at high gas flow rates (Hyndman and Larachi

1997)

13 Microchannel

Microchannel can be defined as channel with dimension that is less than 1

mm and greater than I micron (~) (Sharp et aI 2005) For other dimensions that are

above 1 mm the behaviors of the flow are observed to be the same as most

macroscopic flows Microchannel has gradually received attention due to the several

benefits offered which include high surface to volume ratio high throughput in

parallel processing reduction in the volume of sample required and many others

Greater surface to volume ratio has resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer or

in other words enhance the heat transfer rates (Kandlikar 2012 Qian and Lawai

2006) In returns micro device has become an excellent and preferable tool for heat

exchanger

As the dimension scale is reduced to micrometric scale surface to volume

ratio has become significantly important Surface tension as well as viscous force has

dominated the system as compared to gravitational force (Ahmed-Orner and Wirth

2008) In other words the flow regimes observed for two-phase flows in

microchannel are different from the regimes mapped in larger channels (Ventakesan

et aI 2010) Surface tension is originated from the intermolecular forces in which

this forces are generally negligible at macrometric scale (Bayraktar and Pidugu

6

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

LITERA TURE REVIEW

21 Materials and Fabrication Technique 11

211 Machining 12

22 Dimensionless Number and Forces Dominate in Microchannel 12

221 Surface Tension 14

23 Two-phase Gas-Liquid Flow 15

24 Mixing in Microchannel 19

25 Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) 22

251 Volume of Fluid (VOF) Model 23

252 Mixture Model 24

253 Eulerian Model 24

26 Flow Patterns in Vertical Upflow 25

METHODOLOGY

31 Introduction 28

32 Objective 29

33 Phase One 29

331 Literature Review 30

332 Design Criteria 30

333 Experimental Setup 31

34 Phase Two 32

341 Experimental Design 33

342 Identify the Domain 34

343 Create a Solid Model of the Domain 35

344 Design and Create the Mesh 36

345 Set Up the Solver 39

346 Compute the Solution 41

347 Examine the Result 42

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

41 Introduction 43

411 Simulation 3 44

412 Simulation 4 47

413 Simulation 5 49

414 Simulation 6 51

vii

415 Simulation 7

42 Discussion

Chapter 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

51 Conclusions

52 Recommendations

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

viii

53

55

57

58

59

68

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

I

20 Density and Surface Tension of Water Against Air at Various 14

Temperatures (Weast and Astle 1982)

30 Dimensions of Capillaries 35

31 Determination of Cell Quality 37

32 Details of Mesh 37

33 Material Properties 40

34 Problem Setup 40

40 Result for the Simulation 43

ix

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

21 Flow Regimes Map (Saisorn and Wongwises 2011) 16

Two-phase Flow Regimes Map for a 100 Jlm Microchannel 22 18

(Kawahara et aI 2002)

23 T - junctions

T - junction with gas and liquid inlet perpendicular to the 23a 20

main channel

T- junction with either gas or liquid inlet is in the direction 23b 20

of the main channel

24 y- junction 21

25 Cross- junction 21

26 Flow- focusing 21

27 Flow Patterns in Vertical Upflow (Azzopardi nd) 26

Steps Involved in Developing the Methodologies for the Design 31 28

Project

32 Subjects Reviewed in Literature Review 30

33 Steps Involved in Determining the Design Criteria 31

34 Steps Involved in Preparation of Complete Experimental Facility 32

35 Adjusted Design of the Microchannel 34

36 Final Design for the Microchannel 34

37 Overall Test Section 35

38 3D Domain(Bakker 2002) 36

39 Meshing for Air Capillary 38

310 Meshing for Water Capillary 38

311 Meshing for Multiphase Capillary 39

312 Steps Involved in Solver Setting 39

41 Contours of Volume Fraction (Air) for Simulation 3 44

42 Overall Figure for Simulation 3 45

x

43 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 3 46

44 Overall Figure for Simulation 4 47

45 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 4 48

46 Overall Figure for Simulation 5 49

47 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 5 50

48 Overall Figure for Simulation 6 51

49 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 6 52

410 Overall Figure for Simulation 7 53

411 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 7 54

412 Annular Flow (taken from Saisom and Wongwises 2011) 55

413 Annular Flow (Simulation 7) 55

xi

J

0

LIST OF SYMBOLS

D Diameter

jo Superficial velocity for gas

JL Superficial velocity for liquid

p Secondary phase

q Primary phase

Qo Volumetric flowrate for gas

QL Volumetric flowrate for liquid

Re Reynolds

St Stokes

va vp Velocity of gas

VL Vq Velocity of liquid

vqp Slip velocity

Degree

degc Degree Celsius

y Surface tension

(4) Velocity ratio

a Void fraction

xii

-----

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

3D 3-Dimensional

CFD Computational Fluid Dynamic

CMC Carboxymethyl Cellulose

SDS Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate

VOF Volume of Fluid

xiii

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE

abn Atmosphere

cm Centimeter

dynecm Dyne per centimeter

glcm3 Gram per cubic meter

JkgmiddotK Joule per kilogram kelvin

kglmmiddots Kilogram per meter second

kglm3 Kilogram per cubic meter

mm Millimeter

mls Meter per second

mls2 Meter per square second

Nm Newton per meter

WmmiddotK Watts per meter kelvin

J1 Micron

J1m Micrometer

xiv

CHAPTER

INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

A phase may refer to states of matter which include solid liquid and vapor

(Crowe and Michaelides 2006) Then a multiphase flow can be defined as the

simultaneous flow of a mixture of different states or phases such as gas-liquid gasshy

solid liquid-solid or gas-liquid-solid Multiphase flow specifically two-phase flows

are found in wide range of industrial applications which comprise power generation

hydrocarbon recovery and processing food manufacturing as well as in most aspects

of chemical engineering such as distillation absorption evaporation condensation

and many others As for the extraction and transportation of crude oil from the

reservoir up to the surface it involves various phases that are gas oil water and

solids Even more complex cases have been facing the industry as the formations of

hydrates and wax frequently occur in the production line

As mentioned previously there are several combinations of multi phase flows

For each combination that flows in a given channel various form of interfacial

distributions that are also called as flow patterns are observed Out of the four types

of flow that have been listed gas-liquid flow is identified as the most complex flow

due to the combination of characteristics that involve deformable interface and the

compressibility of one of the phases (Ghajar 2005 Rahman Heidrick and Fleck

Chapter 1 Introduction

2009) Besides classification of multiphase flow is not as simple as single-phase

flow since there is several other factors need to be considered in a multi scale

structured flow such as pressure drop geometry of the channel heat flux surface

tension and several others In single-phase flow the indication of flow characteristic

is basically based on the information that includes the type of flow which is either

laminar or turbulent as well as the existence of flow separation or secondary flows

In this paper an overvIew of gas-liquid flow in a circular cross section

microchannel is given Liquid and gas are mixed in the mixing chamber and entered

the multi phase micro-capillary hence produced several significance flow patterns

The flow morphologies of mixtures made of water and air produced at the

micrometer scale flowing in a channel of circular cross section are then studied

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows

According to Corradini (1998) there are two basic types of flow patterns that

have been identified which are dispersed and stratified Dispersed flow is a type of

flow in where one phase which is in the form of discrete element is dispersed or

distributed in the other continuous phase (Patel 2010) The discrete element may be

in the form of finite particles drops or bubbles There are few examples of flow that

can be used to explain dispersed phase As in the cases for gas-solid and liquid-solid

flows the discrete elements are always in the solid phase since solid particles are not

connected with each other Meanwhile the dispersed phase in gas-liquid flow is

primarily affected by the flow rates of both phases involved For instance bubbly

flow pattern is obtained as the flow rate of the gas is significantly lower than the

liquid flow rate In addition the shape or size of the dispersed phase is governed by

2

Chapter 1 Introduction

everal factors that include balance of buoyancy inertial and surface tension forces

(Corradini 1998)

Meanwhile stratified flow is a type of flow in where the two phases involved

are separated by a distinct line of contact (Patel 2010) In contrast with bubbly flow

greater flow rate of gas phase has resulted in vertical annular flow pattern in where

there is a liquid layer along the pipe wall alongside a gaseous inner core In other

words as for the cases of horizontal and vertical flows the two different streams are

separated from each other yet travel along in the same medium due to the density and

mass flowrate differences respectively (Corradini 1998)

112 Gas-Liquid Flow

Gas-liquid flow is characterized with the flow of two phases in which one of

the phases is in gaseous form while the other is in liquid form This combination of

flows in pipes has resulted in various configurations or flow patterns ranging from

bubbly flow to annular flow There are several industries that utilize the application

of gas-liquid flow which include bubble columns the generation of small droplets

for combustion in power generation system as well as the formation of droplet for

spray forming especially in materials processing

113 Gas-Solid Flow

Flow of gas phase together with suspended solid particles best described gasshy

solid flow This type of flow has been widely used to many industrial applications

which include pneumatic transport pollution control and so on For pneumatic

3

Chapter 1 Introduction

transport it is the main method of transporting solid materials According to (Crowe

2011) in vertical up-flow orientation the velocity of the gas has to be greater than

the settling velocity of the particles in order to maintain the transport

114 Liquid-Solid Flow

Liquid-solid flow involves the flow of solid particles that are carried via the

liquid phase This type of flow can be classified under dispersed phase flow due to

the dispersion of solid particles within the continuous liquid phase The discrete

elements are conveyed through the channel by the drag and pressure forces exerted

by the liquid phase (Weber 2010) The distribution of solid particles in the flow is

dependent on several factors which involve the properties of solid and carrier liquid

parameters of the channel flow direction and many others Liquid-solid fluidization

sedimentation and filtration are some typical examples of liquid-solid flow Those

mentioned applications are mostly used in the industry for the purpose of separation

115 Three-Phase Flows

Other than gas-liquid gas-solid and liquid-solid flows three-phase flow is

another example of multi phase flows that is encountered in engineering applications

An example for three-phase flow is the occurrence of bubbles in slurry which in

returns have produced three-phase flows flowing together There are not much

literature or related materials on this type of flow yet this flow is identified to be

interesting branch of study for multiphase flows

4

Pusat Khidmat MaldumatAkademil Chapter 1 Ul1lElSm tAJAVSIA SARAWA Introduction

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow

As mentioned earlier multiphase fluid flows can be found in various

industrial processes or applications One of the most common examples is the

application of bubble column Bubble column device is where gas that is in the form

of bubbles come in contact with liquid with the main objective which is to mix the

liquid phase (Zehner and Kraume 2005) This device is commonly used as

multiphase contactors and reactors especially in chemical biochemical and

petrochemical industries since they offer several benefits during operation and

maintenance which include high heat and mass transfer rates compactness as well

as low operating and maintenance cost (Kantarci Borak and Ulgen 2004)

In bubble column the liquid may flow in either two ways which are coshy

current or counter-current to the gas flow direction An example of the simplest

bubble column is the one that consists of a vertical tube with no internals or in other

words the column is installed without any trays packings or shafts Besides for

simplest design of bubble column the gas is fed into the column at the bottom pass

through the liquid and later escaping from the upper surface If the released gas

contains high concentration of valuable reactants recycle design can be

implemented To date the simplest form of bubble column is rarely used since

numerous types of modifications are employed in order to achieve more efficient

design system

According to Kantarci et al (2004) there are three types of flow regimes that

are commonly found in bubbles columns that are bubbly flow churn-turbulent flow

and slug flow regime These flow regimes are determined according to the

superficial gas velocity applied in the column Based on the literature written by

5

Chapter 1 Introduction

previous authors bubbly flow regime is obtained at low superficial gas velocities

meanwhile churn-turbulent regime started to develop at higher superficial gas

velocities For slug flow regime it has been only conducted and observed in a smallshy

scale diameter laboratory columns at high gas flow rates (Hyndman and Larachi

1997)

13 Microchannel

Microchannel can be defined as channel with dimension that is less than 1

mm and greater than I micron (~) (Sharp et aI 2005) For other dimensions that are

above 1 mm the behaviors of the flow are observed to be the same as most

macroscopic flows Microchannel has gradually received attention due to the several

benefits offered which include high surface to volume ratio high throughput in

parallel processing reduction in the volume of sample required and many others

Greater surface to volume ratio has resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer or

in other words enhance the heat transfer rates (Kandlikar 2012 Qian and Lawai

2006) In returns micro device has become an excellent and preferable tool for heat

exchanger

As the dimension scale is reduced to micrometric scale surface to volume

ratio has become significantly important Surface tension as well as viscous force has

dominated the system as compared to gravitational force (Ahmed-Orner and Wirth

2008) In other words the flow regimes observed for two-phase flows in

microchannel are different from the regimes mapped in larger channels (Ventakesan

et aI 2010) Surface tension is originated from the intermolecular forces in which

this forces are generally negligible at macrometric scale (Bayraktar and Pidugu

6

415 Simulation 7

42 Discussion

Chapter 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

51 Conclusions

52 Recommendations

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

viii

53

55

57

58

59

68

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

I

20 Density and Surface Tension of Water Against Air at Various 14

Temperatures (Weast and Astle 1982)

30 Dimensions of Capillaries 35

31 Determination of Cell Quality 37

32 Details of Mesh 37

33 Material Properties 40

34 Problem Setup 40

40 Result for the Simulation 43

ix

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

21 Flow Regimes Map (Saisorn and Wongwises 2011) 16

Two-phase Flow Regimes Map for a 100 Jlm Microchannel 22 18

(Kawahara et aI 2002)

23 T - junctions

T - junction with gas and liquid inlet perpendicular to the 23a 20

main channel

T- junction with either gas or liquid inlet is in the direction 23b 20

of the main channel

24 y- junction 21

25 Cross- junction 21

26 Flow- focusing 21

27 Flow Patterns in Vertical Upflow (Azzopardi nd) 26

Steps Involved in Developing the Methodologies for the Design 31 28

Project

32 Subjects Reviewed in Literature Review 30

33 Steps Involved in Determining the Design Criteria 31

34 Steps Involved in Preparation of Complete Experimental Facility 32

35 Adjusted Design of the Microchannel 34

36 Final Design for the Microchannel 34

37 Overall Test Section 35

38 3D Domain(Bakker 2002) 36

39 Meshing for Air Capillary 38

310 Meshing for Water Capillary 38

311 Meshing for Multiphase Capillary 39

312 Steps Involved in Solver Setting 39

41 Contours of Volume Fraction (Air) for Simulation 3 44

42 Overall Figure for Simulation 3 45

x

43 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 3 46

44 Overall Figure for Simulation 4 47

45 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 4 48

46 Overall Figure for Simulation 5 49

47 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 5 50

48 Overall Figure for Simulation 6 51

49 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 6 52

410 Overall Figure for Simulation 7 53

411 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 7 54

412 Annular Flow (taken from Saisom and Wongwises 2011) 55

413 Annular Flow (Simulation 7) 55

xi

J

0

LIST OF SYMBOLS

D Diameter

jo Superficial velocity for gas

JL Superficial velocity for liquid

p Secondary phase

q Primary phase

Qo Volumetric flowrate for gas

QL Volumetric flowrate for liquid

Re Reynolds

St Stokes

va vp Velocity of gas

VL Vq Velocity of liquid

vqp Slip velocity

Degree

degc Degree Celsius

y Surface tension

(4) Velocity ratio

a Void fraction

xii

-----

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

3D 3-Dimensional

CFD Computational Fluid Dynamic

CMC Carboxymethyl Cellulose

SDS Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate

VOF Volume of Fluid

xiii

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE

abn Atmosphere

cm Centimeter

dynecm Dyne per centimeter

glcm3 Gram per cubic meter

JkgmiddotK Joule per kilogram kelvin

kglmmiddots Kilogram per meter second

kglm3 Kilogram per cubic meter

mm Millimeter

mls Meter per second

mls2 Meter per square second

Nm Newton per meter

WmmiddotK Watts per meter kelvin

J1 Micron

J1m Micrometer

xiv

CHAPTER

INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

A phase may refer to states of matter which include solid liquid and vapor

(Crowe and Michaelides 2006) Then a multiphase flow can be defined as the

simultaneous flow of a mixture of different states or phases such as gas-liquid gasshy

solid liquid-solid or gas-liquid-solid Multiphase flow specifically two-phase flows

are found in wide range of industrial applications which comprise power generation

hydrocarbon recovery and processing food manufacturing as well as in most aspects

of chemical engineering such as distillation absorption evaporation condensation

and many others As for the extraction and transportation of crude oil from the

reservoir up to the surface it involves various phases that are gas oil water and

solids Even more complex cases have been facing the industry as the formations of

hydrates and wax frequently occur in the production line

As mentioned previously there are several combinations of multi phase flows

For each combination that flows in a given channel various form of interfacial

distributions that are also called as flow patterns are observed Out of the four types

of flow that have been listed gas-liquid flow is identified as the most complex flow

due to the combination of characteristics that involve deformable interface and the

compressibility of one of the phases (Ghajar 2005 Rahman Heidrick and Fleck

Chapter 1 Introduction

2009) Besides classification of multiphase flow is not as simple as single-phase

flow since there is several other factors need to be considered in a multi scale

structured flow such as pressure drop geometry of the channel heat flux surface

tension and several others In single-phase flow the indication of flow characteristic

is basically based on the information that includes the type of flow which is either

laminar or turbulent as well as the existence of flow separation or secondary flows

In this paper an overvIew of gas-liquid flow in a circular cross section

microchannel is given Liquid and gas are mixed in the mixing chamber and entered

the multi phase micro-capillary hence produced several significance flow patterns

The flow morphologies of mixtures made of water and air produced at the

micrometer scale flowing in a channel of circular cross section are then studied

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows

According to Corradini (1998) there are two basic types of flow patterns that

have been identified which are dispersed and stratified Dispersed flow is a type of

flow in where one phase which is in the form of discrete element is dispersed or

distributed in the other continuous phase (Patel 2010) The discrete element may be

in the form of finite particles drops or bubbles There are few examples of flow that

can be used to explain dispersed phase As in the cases for gas-solid and liquid-solid

flows the discrete elements are always in the solid phase since solid particles are not

connected with each other Meanwhile the dispersed phase in gas-liquid flow is

primarily affected by the flow rates of both phases involved For instance bubbly

flow pattern is obtained as the flow rate of the gas is significantly lower than the

liquid flow rate In addition the shape or size of the dispersed phase is governed by

2

Chapter 1 Introduction

everal factors that include balance of buoyancy inertial and surface tension forces

(Corradini 1998)

Meanwhile stratified flow is a type of flow in where the two phases involved

are separated by a distinct line of contact (Patel 2010) In contrast with bubbly flow

greater flow rate of gas phase has resulted in vertical annular flow pattern in where

there is a liquid layer along the pipe wall alongside a gaseous inner core In other

words as for the cases of horizontal and vertical flows the two different streams are

separated from each other yet travel along in the same medium due to the density and

mass flowrate differences respectively (Corradini 1998)

112 Gas-Liquid Flow

Gas-liquid flow is characterized with the flow of two phases in which one of

the phases is in gaseous form while the other is in liquid form This combination of

flows in pipes has resulted in various configurations or flow patterns ranging from

bubbly flow to annular flow There are several industries that utilize the application

of gas-liquid flow which include bubble columns the generation of small droplets

for combustion in power generation system as well as the formation of droplet for

spray forming especially in materials processing

113 Gas-Solid Flow

Flow of gas phase together with suspended solid particles best described gasshy

solid flow This type of flow has been widely used to many industrial applications

which include pneumatic transport pollution control and so on For pneumatic

3

Chapter 1 Introduction

transport it is the main method of transporting solid materials According to (Crowe

2011) in vertical up-flow orientation the velocity of the gas has to be greater than

the settling velocity of the particles in order to maintain the transport

114 Liquid-Solid Flow

Liquid-solid flow involves the flow of solid particles that are carried via the

liquid phase This type of flow can be classified under dispersed phase flow due to

the dispersion of solid particles within the continuous liquid phase The discrete

elements are conveyed through the channel by the drag and pressure forces exerted

by the liquid phase (Weber 2010) The distribution of solid particles in the flow is

dependent on several factors which involve the properties of solid and carrier liquid

parameters of the channel flow direction and many others Liquid-solid fluidization

sedimentation and filtration are some typical examples of liquid-solid flow Those

mentioned applications are mostly used in the industry for the purpose of separation

115 Three-Phase Flows

Other than gas-liquid gas-solid and liquid-solid flows three-phase flow is

another example of multi phase flows that is encountered in engineering applications

An example for three-phase flow is the occurrence of bubbles in slurry which in

returns have produced three-phase flows flowing together There are not much

literature or related materials on this type of flow yet this flow is identified to be

interesting branch of study for multiphase flows

4

Pusat Khidmat MaldumatAkademil Chapter 1 Ul1lElSm tAJAVSIA SARAWA Introduction

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow

As mentioned earlier multiphase fluid flows can be found in various

industrial processes or applications One of the most common examples is the

application of bubble column Bubble column device is where gas that is in the form

of bubbles come in contact with liquid with the main objective which is to mix the

liquid phase (Zehner and Kraume 2005) This device is commonly used as

multiphase contactors and reactors especially in chemical biochemical and

petrochemical industries since they offer several benefits during operation and

maintenance which include high heat and mass transfer rates compactness as well

as low operating and maintenance cost (Kantarci Borak and Ulgen 2004)

In bubble column the liquid may flow in either two ways which are coshy

current or counter-current to the gas flow direction An example of the simplest

bubble column is the one that consists of a vertical tube with no internals or in other

words the column is installed without any trays packings or shafts Besides for

simplest design of bubble column the gas is fed into the column at the bottom pass

through the liquid and later escaping from the upper surface If the released gas

contains high concentration of valuable reactants recycle design can be

implemented To date the simplest form of bubble column is rarely used since

numerous types of modifications are employed in order to achieve more efficient

design system

According to Kantarci et al (2004) there are three types of flow regimes that

are commonly found in bubbles columns that are bubbly flow churn-turbulent flow

and slug flow regime These flow regimes are determined according to the

superficial gas velocity applied in the column Based on the literature written by

5

Chapter 1 Introduction

previous authors bubbly flow regime is obtained at low superficial gas velocities

meanwhile churn-turbulent regime started to develop at higher superficial gas

velocities For slug flow regime it has been only conducted and observed in a smallshy

scale diameter laboratory columns at high gas flow rates (Hyndman and Larachi

1997)

13 Microchannel

Microchannel can be defined as channel with dimension that is less than 1

mm and greater than I micron (~) (Sharp et aI 2005) For other dimensions that are

above 1 mm the behaviors of the flow are observed to be the same as most

macroscopic flows Microchannel has gradually received attention due to the several

benefits offered which include high surface to volume ratio high throughput in

parallel processing reduction in the volume of sample required and many others

Greater surface to volume ratio has resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer or

in other words enhance the heat transfer rates (Kandlikar 2012 Qian and Lawai

2006) In returns micro device has become an excellent and preferable tool for heat

exchanger

As the dimension scale is reduced to micrometric scale surface to volume

ratio has become significantly important Surface tension as well as viscous force has

dominated the system as compared to gravitational force (Ahmed-Orner and Wirth

2008) In other words the flow regimes observed for two-phase flows in

microchannel are different from the regimes mapped in larger channels (Ventakesan

et aI 2010) Surface tension is originated from the intermolecular forces in which

this forces are generally negligible at macrometric scale (Bayraktar and Pidugu

6

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

I

20 Density and Surface Tension of Water Against Air at Various 14

Temperatures (Weast and Astle 1982)

30 Dimensions of Capillaries 35

31 Determination of Cell Quality 37

32 Details of Mesh 37

33 Material Properties 40

34 Problem Setup 40

40 Result for the Simulation 43

ix

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

21 Flow Regimes Map (Saisorn and Wongwises 2011) 16

Two-phase Flow Regimes Map for a 100 Jlm Microchannel 22 18

(Kawahara et aI 2002)

23 T - junctions

T - junction with gas and liquid inlet perpendicular to the 23a 20

main channel

T- junction with either gas or liquid inlet is in the direction 23b 20

of the main channel

24 y- junction 21

25 Cross- junction 21

26 Flow- focusing 21

27 Flow Patterns in Vertical Upflow (Azzopardi nd) 26

Steps Involved in Developing the Methodologies for the Design 31 28

Project

32 Subjects Reviewed in Literature Review 30

33 Steps Involved in Determining the Design Criteria 31

34 Steps Involved in Preparation of Complete Experimental Facility 32

35 Adjusted Design of the Microchannel 34

36 Final Design for the Microchannel 34

37 Overall Test Section 35

38 3D Domain(Bakker 2002) 36

39 Meshing for Air Capillary 38

310 Meshing for Water Capillary 38

311 Meshing for Multiphase Capillary 39

312 Steps Involved in Solver Setting 39

41 Contours of Volume Fraction (Air) for Simulation 3 44

42 Overall Figure for Simulation 3 45

x

43 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 3 46

44 Overall Figure for Simulation 4 47

45 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 4 48

46 Overall Figure for Simulation 5 49

47 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 5 50

48 Overall Figure for Simulation 6 51

49 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 6 52

410 Overall Figure for Simulation 7 53

411 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 7 54

412 Annular Flow (taken from Saisom and Wongwises 2011) 55

413 Annular Flow (Simulation 7) 55

xi

J

0

LIST OF SYMBOLS

D Diameter

jo Superficial velocity for gas

JL Superficial velocity for liquid

p Secondary phase

q Primary phase

Qo Volumetric flowrate for gas

QL Volumetric flowrate for liquid

Re Reynolds

St Stokes

va vp Velocity of gas

VL Vq Velocity of liquid

vqp Slip velocity

Degree

degc Degree Celsius

y Surface tension

(4) Velocity ratio

a Void fraction

xii

-----

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

3D 3-Dimensional

CFD Computational Fluid Dynamic

CMC Carboxymethyl Cellulose

SDS Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate

VOF Volume of Fluid

xiii

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE

abn Atmosphere

cm Centimeter

dynecm Dyne per centimeter

glcm3 Gram per cubic meter

JkgmiddotK Joule per kilogram kelvin

kglmmiddots Kilogram per meter second

kglm3 Kilogram per cubic meter

mm Millimeter

mls Meter per second

mls2 Meter per square second

Nm Newton per meter

WmmiddotK Watts per meter kelvin

J1 Micron

J1m Micrometer

xiv

CHAPTER

INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

A phase may refer to states of matter which include solid liquid and vapor

(Crowe and Michaelides 2006) Then a multiphase flow can be defined as the

simultaneous flow of a mixture of different states or phases such as gas-liquid gasshy

solid liquid-solid or gas-liquid-solid Multiphase flow specifically two-phase flows

are found in wide range of industrial applications which comprise power generation

hydrocarbon recovery and processing food manufacturing as well as in most aspects

of chemical engineering such as distillation absorption evaporation condensation

and many others As for the extraction and transportation of crude oil from the

reservoir up to the surface it involves various phases that are gas oil water and

solids Even more complex cases have been facing the industry as the formations of

hydrates and wax frequently occur in the production line

As mentioned previously there are several combinations of multi phase flows

For each combination that flows in a given channel various form of interfacial

distributions that are also called as flow patterns are observed Out of the four types

of flow that have been listed gas-liquid flow is identified as the most complex flow

due to the combination of characteristics that involve deformable interface and the

compressibility of one of the phases (Ghajar 2005 Rahman Heidrick and Fleck

Chapter 1 Introduction

2009) Besides classification of multiphase flow is not as simple as single-phase

flow since there is several other factors need to be considered in a multi scale

structured flow such as pressure drop geometry of the channel heat flux surface

tension and several others In single-phase flow the indication of flow characteristic

is basically based on the information that includes the type of flow which is either

laminar or turbulent as well as the existence of flow separation or secondary flows

In this paper an overvIew of gas-liquid flow in a circular cross section

microchannel is given Liquid and gas are mixed in the mixing chamber and entered

the multi phase micro-capillary hence produced several significance flow patterns

The flow morphologies of mixtures made of water and air produced at the

micrometer scale flowing in a channel of circular cross section are then studied

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows

According to Corradini (1998) there are two basic types of flow patterns that

have been identified which are dispersed and stratified Dispersed flow is a type of

flow in where one phase which is in the form of discrete element is dispersed or

distributed in the other continuous phase (Patel 2010) The discrete element may be

in the form of finite particles drops or bubbles There are few examples of flow that

can be used to explain dispersed phase As in the cases for gas-solid and liquid-solid

flows the discrete elements are always in the solid phase since solid particles are not

connected with each other Meanwhile the dispersed phase in gas-liquid flow is

primarily affected by the flow rates of both phases involved For instance bubbly

flow pattern is obtained as the flow rate of the gas is significantly lower than the

liquid flow rate In addition the shape or size of the dispersed phase is governed by

2

Chapter 1 Introduction

everal factors that include balance of buoyancy inertial and surface tension forces

(Corradini 1998)

Meanwhile stratified flow is a type of flow in where the two phases involved

are separated by a distinct line of contact (Patel 2010) In contrast with bubbly flow

greater flow rate of gas phase has resulted in vertical annular flow pattern in where

there is a liquid layer along the pipe wall alongside a gaseous inner core In other

words as for the cases of horizontal and vertical flows the two different streams are

separated from each other yet travel along in the same medium due to the density and

mass flowrate differences respectively (Corradini 1998)

112 Gas-Liquid Flow

Gas-liquid flow is characterized with the flow of two phases in which one of

the phases is in gaseous form while the other is in liquid form This combination of

flows in pipes has resulted in various configurations or flow patterns ranging from

bubbly flow to annular flow There are several industries that utilize the application

of gas-liquid flow which include bubble columns the generation of small droplets

for combustion in power generation system as well as the formation of droplet for

spray forming especially in materials processing

113 Gas-Solid Flow

Flow of gas phase together with suspended solid particles best described gasshy

solid flow This type of flow has been widely used to many industrial applications

which include pneumatic transport pollution control and so on For pneumatic

3

Chapter 1 Introduction

transport it is the main method of transporting solid materials According to (Crowe

2011) in vertical up-flow orientation the velocity of the gas has to be greater than

the settling velocity of the particles in order to maintain the transport

114 Liquid-Solid Flow

Liquid-solid flow involves the flow of solid particles that are carried via the

liquid phase This type of flow can be classified under dispersed phase flow due to

the dispersion of solid particles within the continuous liquid phase The discrete

elements are conveyed through the channel by the drag and pressure forces exerted

by the liquid phase (Weber 2010) The distribution of solid particles in the flow is

dependent on several factors which involve the properties of solid and carrier liquid

parameters of the channel flow direction and many others Liquid-solid fluidization

sedimentation and filtration are some typical examples of liquid-solid flow Those

mentioned applications are mostly used in the industry for the purpose of separation

115 Three-Phase Flows

Other than gas-liquid gas-solid and liquid-solid flows three-phase flow is

another example of multi phase flows that is encountered in engineering applications

An example for three-phase flow is the occurrence of bubbles in slurry which in

returns have produced three-phase flows flowing together There are not much

literature or related materials on this type of flow yet this flow is identified to be

interesting branch of study for multiphase flows

4

Pusat Khidmat MaldumatAkademil Chapter 1 Ul1lElSm tAJAVSIA SARAWA Introduction

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow

As mentioned earlier multiphase fluid flows can be found in various

industrial processes or applications One of the most common examples is the

application of bubble column Bubble column device is where gas that is in the form

of bubbles come in contact with liquid with the main objective which is to mix the

liquid phase (Zehner and Kraume 2005) This device is commonly used as

multiphase contactors and reactors especially in chemical biochemical and

petrochemical industries since they offer several benefits during operation and

maintenance which include high heat and mass transfer rates compactness as well

as low operating and maintenance cost (Kantarci Borak and Ulgen 2004)

In bubble column the liquid may flow in either two ways which are coshy

current or counter-current to the gas flow direction An example of the simplest

bubble column is the one that consists of a vertical tube with no internals or in other

words the column is installed without any trays packings or shafts Besides for

simplest design of bubble column the gas is fed into the column at the bottom pass

through the liquid and later escaping from the upper surface If the released gas

contains high concentration of valuable reactants recycle design can be

implemented To date the simplest form of bubble column is rarely used since

numerous types of modifications are employed in order to achieve more efficient

design system

According to Kantarci et al (2004) there are three types of flow regimes that

are commonly found in bubbles columns that are bubbly flow churn-turbulent flow

and slug flow regime These flow regimes are determined according to the

superficial gas velocity applied in the column Based on the literature written by

5

Chapter 1 Introduction

previous authors bubbly flow regime is obtained at low superficial gas velocities

meanwhile churn-turbulent regime started to develop at higher superficial gas

velocities For slug flow regime it has been only conducted and observed in a smallshy

scale diameter laboratory columns at high gas flow rates (Hyndman and Larachi

1997)

13 Microchannel

Microchannel can be defined as channel with dimension that is less than 1

mm and greater than I micron (~) (Sharp et aI 2005) For other dimensions that are

above 1 mm the behaviors of the flow are observed to be the same as most

macroscopic flows Microchannel has gradually received attention due to the several

benefits offered which include high surface to volume ratio high throughput in

parallel processing reduction in the volume of sample required and many others

Greater surface to volume ratio has resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer or

in other words enhance the heat transfer rates (Kandlikar 2012 Qian and Lawai

2006) In returns micro device has become an excellent and preferable tool for heat

exchanger

As the dimension scale is reduced to micrometric scale surface to volume

ratio has become significantly important Surface tension as well as viscous force has

dominated the system as compared to gravitational force (Ahmed-Orner and Wirth

2008) In other words the flow regimes observed for two-phase flows in

microchannel are different from the regimes mapped in larger channels (Ventakesan

et aI 2010) Surface tension is originated from the intermolecular forces in which

this forces are generally negligible at macrometric scale (Bayraktar and Pidugu

6

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

21 Flow Regimes Map (Saisorn and Wongwises 2011) 16

Two-phase Flow Regimes Map for a 100 Jlm Microchannel 22 18

(Kawahara et aI 2002)

23 T - junctions

T - junction with gas and liquid inlet perpendicular to the 23a 20

main channel

T- junction with either gas or liquid inlet is in the direction 23b 20

of the main channel

24 y- junction 21

25 Cross- junction 21

26 Flow- focusing 21

27 Flow Patterns in Vertical Upflow (Azzopardi nd) 26

Steps Involved in Developing the Methodologies for the Design 31 28

Project

32 Subjects Reviewed in Literature Review 30

33 Steps Involved in Determining the Design Criteria 31

34 Steps Involved in Preparation of Complete Experimental Facility 32

35 Adjusted Design of the Microchannel 34

36 Final Design for the Microchannel 34

37 Overall Test Section 35

38 3D Domain(Bakker 2002) 36

39 Meshing for Air Capillary 38

310 Meshing for Water Capillary 38

311 Meshing for Multiphase Capillary 39

312 Steps Involved in Solver Setting 39

41 Contours of Volume Fraction (Air) for Simulation 3 44

42 Overall Figure for Simulation 3 45

x

43 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 3 46

44 Overall Figure for Simulation 4 47

45 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 4 48

46 Overall Figure for Simulation 5 49

47 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 5 50

48 Overall Figure for Simulation 6 51

49 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 6 52

410 Overall Figure for Simulation 7 53

411 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 7 54

412 Annular Flow (taken from Saisom and Wongwises 2011) 55

413 Annular Flow (Simulation 7) 55

xi

J

0

LIST OF SYMBOLS

D Diameter

jo Superficial velocity for gas

JL Superficial velocity for liquid

p Secondary phase

q Primary phase

Qo Volumetric flowrate for gas

QL Volumetric flowrate for liquid

Re Reynolds

St Stokes

va vp Velocity of gas

VL Vq Velocity of liquid

vqp Slip velocity

Degree

degc Degree Celsius

y Surface tension

(4) Velocity ratio

a Void fraction

xii

-----

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

3D 3-Dimensional

CFD Computational Fluid Dynamic

CMC Carboxymethyl Cellulose

SDS Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate

VOF Volume of Fluid

xiii

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE

abn Atmosphere

cm Centimeter

dynecm Dyne per centimeter

glcm3 Gram per cubic meter

JkgmiddotK Joule per kilogram kelvin

kglmmiddots Kilogram per meter second

kglm3 Kilogram per cubic meter

mm Millimeter

mls Meter per second

mls2 Meter per square second

Nm Newton per meter

WmmiddotK Watts per meter kelvin

J1 Micron

J1m Micrometer

xiv

CHAPTER

INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

A phase may refer to states of matter which include solid liquid and vapor

(Crowe and Michaelides 2006) Then a multiphase flow can be defined as the

simultaneous flow of a mixture of different states or phases such as gas-liquid gasshy

solid liquid-solid or gas-liquid-solid Multiphase flow specifically two-phase flows

are found in wide range of industrial applications which comprise power generation

hydrocarbon recovery and processing food manufacturing as well as in most aspects

of chemical engineering such as distillation absorption evaporation condensation

and many others As for the extraction and transportation of crude oil from the

reservoir up to the surface it involves various phases that are gas oil water and

solids Even more complex cases have been facing the industry as the formations of

hydrates and wax frequently occur in the production line

As mentioned previously there are several combinations of multi phase flows

For each combination that flows in a given channel various form of interfacial

distributions that are also called as flow patterns are observed Out of the four types

of flow that have been listed gas-liquid flow is identified as the most complex flow

due to the combination of characteristics that involve deformable interface and the

compressibility of one of the phases (Ghajar 2005 Rahman Heidrick and Fleck

Chapter 1 Introduction

2009) Besides classification of multiphase flow is not as simple as single-phase

flow since there is several other factors need to be considered in a multi scale

structured flow such as pressure drop geometry of the channel heat flux surface

tension and several others In single-phase flow the indication of flow characteristic

is basically based on the information that includes the type of flow which is either

laminar or turbulent as well as the existence of flow separation or secondary flows

In this paper an overvIew of gas-liquid flow in a circular cross section

microchannel is given Liquid and gas are mixed in the mixing chamber and entered

the multi phase micro-capillary hence produced several significance flow patterns

The flow morphologies of mixtures made of water and air produced at the

micrometer scale flowing in a channel of circular cross section are then studied

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows

According to Corradini (1998) there are two basic types of flow patterns that

have been identified which are dispersed and stratified Dispersed flow is a type of

flow in where one phase which is in the form of discrete element is dispersed or

distributed in the other continuous phase (Patel 2010) The discrete element may be

in the form of finite particles drops or bubbles There are few examples of flow that

can be used to explain dispersed phase As in the cases for gas-solid and liquid-solid

flows the discrete elements are always in the solid phase since solid particles are not

connected with each other Meanwhile the dispersed phase in gas-liquid flow is

primarily affected by the flow rates of both phases involved For instance bubbly

flow pattern is obtained as the flow rate of the gas is significantly lower than the

liquid flow rate In addition the shape or size of the dispersed phase is governed by

2

Chapter 1 Introduction

everal factors that include balance of buoyancy inertial and surface tension forces

(Corradini 1998)

Meanwhile stratified flow is a type of flow in where the two phases involved

are separated by a distinct line of contact (Patel 2010) In contrast with bubbly flow

greater flow rate of gas phase has resulted in vertical annular flow pattern in where

there is a liquid layer along the pipe wall alongside a gaseous inner core In other

words as for the cases of horizontal and vertical flows the two different streams are

separated from each other yet travel along in the same medium due to the density and

mass flowrate differences respectively (Corradini 1998)

112 Gas-Liquid Flow

Gas-liquid flow is characterized with the flow of two phases in which one of

the phases is in gaseous form while the other is in liquid form This combination of

flows in pipes has resulted in various configurations or flow patterns ranging from

bubbly flow to annular flow There are several industries that utilize the application

of gas-liquid flow which include bubble columns the generation of small droplets

for combustion in power generation system as well as the formation of droplet for

spray forming especially in materials processing

113 Gas-Solid Flow

Flow of gas phase together with suspended solid particles best described gasshy

solid flow This type of flow has been widely used to many industrial applications

which include pneumatic transport pollution control and so on For pneumatic

3

Chapter 1 Introduction

transport it is the main method of transporting solid materials According to (Crowe

2011) in vertical up-flow orientation the velocity of the gas has to be greater than

the settling velocity of the particles in order to maintain the transport

114 Liquid-Solid Flow

Liquid-solid flow involves the flow of solid particles that are carried via the

liquid phase This type of flow can be classified under dispersed phase flow due to

the dispersion of solid particles within the continuous liquid phase The discrete

elements are conveyed through the channel by the drag and pressure forces exerted

by the liquid phase (Weber 2010) The distribution of solid particles in the flow is

dependent on several factors which involve the properties of solid and carrier liquid

parameters of the channel flow direction and many others Liquid-solid fluidization

sedimentation and filtration are some typical examples of liquid-solid flow Those

mentioned applications are mostly used in the industry for the purpose of separation

115 Three-Phase Flows

Other than gas-liquid gas-solid and liquid-solid flows three-phase flow is

another example of multi phase flows that is encountered in engineering applications

An example for three-phase flow is the occurrence of bubbles in slurry which in

returns have produced three-phase flows flowing together There are not much

literature or related materials on this type of flow yet this flow is identified to be

interesting branch of study for multiphase flows

4

Pusat Khidmat MaldumatAkademil Chapter 1 Ul1lElSm tAJAVSIA SARAWA Introduction

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow

As mentioned earlier multiphase fluid flows can be found in various

industrial processes or applications One of the most common examples is the

application of bubble column Bubble column device is where gas that is in the form

of bubbles come in contact with liquid with the main objective which is to mix the

liquid phase (Zehner and Kraume 2005) This device is commonly used as

multiphase contactors and reactors especially in chemical biochemical and

petrochemical industries since they offer several benefits during operation and

maintenance which include high heat and mass transfer rates compactness as well

as low operating and maintenance cost (Kantarci Borak and Ulgen 2004)

In bubble column the liquid may flow in either two ways which are coshy

current or counter-current to the gas flow direction An example of the simplest

bubble column is the one that consists of a vertical tube with no internals or in other

words the column is installed without any trays packings or shafts Besides for

simplest design of bubble column the gas is fed into the column at the bottom pass

through the liquid and later escaping from the upper surface If the released gas

contains high concentration of valuable reactants recycle design can be

implemented To date the simplest form of bubble column is rarely used since

numerous types of modifications are employed in order to achieve more efficient

design system

According to Kantarci et al (2004) there are three types of flow regimes that

are commonly found in bubbles columns that are bubbly flow churn-turbulent flow

and slug flow regime These flow regimes are determined according to the

superficial gas velocity applied in the column Based on the literature written by

5

Chapter 1 Introduction

previous authors bubbly flow regime is obtained at low superficial gas velocities

meanwhile churn-turbulent regime started to develop at higher superficial gas

velocities For slug flow regime it has been only conducted and observed in a smallshy

scale diameter laboratory columns at high gas flow rates (Hyndman and Larachi

1997)

13 Microchannel

Microchannel can be defined as channel with dimension that is less than 1

mm and greater than I micron (~) (Sharp et aI 2005) For other dimensions that are

above 1 mm the behaviors of the flow are observed to be the same as most

macroscopic flows Microchannel has gradually received attention due to the several

benefits offered which include high surface to volume ratio high throughput in

parallel processing reduction in the volume of sample required and many others

Greater surface to volume ratio has resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer or

in other words enhance the heat transfer rates (Kandlikar 2012 Qian and Lawai

2006) In returns micro device has become an excellent and preferable tool for heat

exchanger

As the dimension scale is reduced to micrometric scale surface to volume

ratio has become significantly important Surface tension as well as viscous force has

dominated the system as compared to gravitational force (Ahmed-Orner and Wirth

2008) In other words the flow regimes observed for two-phase flows in

microchannel are different from the regimes mapped in larger channels (Ventakesan

et aI 2010) Surface tension is originated from the intermolecular forces in which

this forces are generally negligible at macrometric scale (Bayraktar and Pidugu

6

43 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 3 46

44 Overall Figure for Simulation 4 47

45 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 4 48

46 Overall Figure for Simulation 5 49

47 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 5 50

48 Overall Figure for Simulation 6 51

49 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 6 52

410 Overall Figure for Simulation 7 53

411 Multiphase Micro-Capillary for Simulation 7 54

412 Annular Flow (taken from Saisom and Wongwises 2011) 55

413 Annular Flow (Simulation 7) 55

xi

J

0

LIST OF SYMBOLS

D Diameter

jo Superficial velocity for gas

JL Superficial velocity for liquid

p Secondary phase

q Primary phase

Qo Volumetric flowrate for gas

QL Volumetric flowrate for liquid

Re Reynolds

St Stokes

va vp Velocity of gas

VL Vq Velocity of liquid

vqp Slip velocity

Degree

degc Degree Celsius

y Surface tension

(4) Velocity ratio

a Void fraction

xii

-----

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

3D 3-Dimensional

CFD Computational Fluid Dynamic

CMC Carboxymethyl Cellulose

SDS Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate

VOF Volume of Fluid

xiii

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE

abn Atmosphere

cm Centimeter

dynecm Dyne per centimeter

glcm3 Gram per cubic meter

JkgmiddotK Joule per kilogram kelvin

kglmmiddots Kilogram per meter second

kglm3 Kilogram per cubic meter

mm Millimeter

mls Meter per second

mls2 Meter per square second

Nm Newton per meter

WmmiddotK Watts per meter kelvin

J1 Micron

J1m Micrometer

xiv

CHAPTER

INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

A phase may refer to states of matter which include solid liquid and vapor

(Crowe and Michaelides 2006) Then a multiphase flow can be defined as the

simultaneous flow of a mixture of different states or phases such as gas-liquid gasshy

solid liquid-solid or gas-liquid-solid Multiphase flow specifically two-phase flows

are found in wide range of industrial applications which comprise power generation

hydrocarbon recovery and processing food manufacturing as well as in most aspects

of chemical engineering such as distillation absorption evaporation condensation

and many others As for the extraction and transportation of crude oil from the

reservoir up to the surface it involves various phases that are gas oil water and

solids Even more complex cases have been facing the industry as the formations of

hydrates and wax frequently occur in the production line

As mentioned previously there are several combinations of multi phase flows

For each combination that flows in a given channel various form of interfacial

distributions that are also called as flow patterns are observed Out of the four types

of flow that have been listed gas-liquid flow is identified as the most complex flow

due to the combination of characteristics that involve deformable interface and the

compressibility of one of the phases (Ghajar 2005 Rahman Heidrick and Fleck

Chapter 1 Introduction

2009) Besides classification of multiphase flow is not as simple as single-phase

flow since there is several other factors need to be considered in a multi scale

structured flow such as pressure drop geometry of the channel heat flux surface

tension and several others In single-phase flow the indication of flow characteristic

is basically based on the information that includes the type of flow which is either

laminar or turbulent as well as the existence of flow separation or secondary flows

In this paper an overvIew of gas-liquid flow in a circular cross section

microchannel is given Liquid and gas are mixed in the mixing chamber and entered

the multi phase micro-capillary hence produced several significance flow patterns

The flow morphologies of mixtures made of water and air produced at the

micrometer scale flowing in a channel of circular cross section are then studied

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows

According to Corradini (1998) there are two basic types of flow patterns that

have been identified which are dispersed and stratified Dispersed flow is a type of

flow in where one phase which is in the form of discrete element is dispersed or

distributed in the other continuous phase (Patel 2010) The discrete element may be

in the form of finite particles drops or bubbles There are few examples of flow that

can be used to explain dispersed phase As in the cases for gas-solid and liquid-solid

flows the discrete elements are always in the solid phase since solid particles are not

connected with each other Meanwhile the dispersed phase in gas-liquid flow is

primarily affected by the flow rates of both phases involved For instance bubbly

flow pattern is obtained as the flow rate of the gas is significantly lower than the

liquid flow rate In addition the shape or size of the dispersed phase is governed by

2

Chapter 1 Introduction

everal factors that include balance of buoyancy inertial and surface tension forces

(Corradini 1998)

Meanwhile stratified flow is a type of flow in where the two phases involved

are separated by a distinct line of contact (Patel 2010) In contrast with bubbly flow

greater flow rate of gas phase has resulted in vertical annular flow pattern in where

there is a liquid layer along the pipe wall alongside a gaseous inner core In other

words as for the cases of horizontal and vertical flows the two different streams are

separated from each other yet travel along in the same medium due to the density and

mass flowrate differences respectively (Corradini 1998)

112 Gas-Liquid Flow

Gas-liquid flow is characterized with the flow of two phases in which one of

the phases is in gaseous form while the other is in liquid form This combination of

flows in pipes has resulted in various configurations or flow patterns ranging from

bubbly flow to annular flow There are several industries that utilize the application

of gas-liquid flow which include bubble columns the generation of small droplets

for combustion in power generation system as well as the formation of droplet for

spray forming especially in materials processing

113 Gas-Solid Flow

Flow of gas phase together with suspended solid particles best described gasshy

solid flow This type of flow has been widely used to many industrial applications

which include pneumatic transport pollution control and so on For pneumatic

3

Chapter 1 Introduction

transport it is the main method of transporting solid materials According to (Crowe

2011) in vertical up-flow orientation the velocity of the gas has to be greater than

the settling velocity of the particles in order to maintain the transport

114 Liquid-Solid Flow

Liquid-solid flow involves the flow of solid particles that are carried via the

liquid phase This type of flow can be classified under dispersed phase flow due to

the dispersion of solid particles within the continuous liquid phase The discrete

elements are conveyed through the channel by the drag and pressure forces exerted

by the liquid phase (Weber 2010) The distribution of solid particles in the flow is

dependent on several factors which involve the properties of solid and carrier liquid

parameters of the channel flow direction and many others Liquid-solid fluidization

sedimentation and filtration are some typical examples of liquid-solid flow Those

mentioned applications are mostly used in the industry for the purpose of separation

115 Three-Phase Flows

Other than gas-liquid gas-solid and liquid-solid flows three-phase flow is

another example of multi phase flows that is encountered in engineering applications

An example for three-phase flow is the occurrence of bubbles in slurry which in

returns have produced three-phase flows flowing together There are not much

literature or related materials on this type of flow yet this flow is identified to be

interesting branch of study for multiphase flows

4

Pusat Khidmat MaldumatAkademil Chapter 1 Ul1lElSm tAJAVSIA SARAWA Introduction

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow

As mentioned earlier multiphase fluid flows can be found in various

industrial processes or applications One of the most common examples is the

application of bubble column Bubble column device is where gas that is in the form

of bubbles come in contact with liquid with the main objective which is to mix the

liquid phase (Zehner and Kraume 2005) This device is commonly used as

multiphase contactors and reactors especially in chemical biochemical and

petrochemical industries since they offer several benefits during operation and

maintenance which include high heat and mass transfer rates compactness as well

as low operating and maintenance cost (Kantarci Borak and Ulgen 2004)

In bubble column the liquid may flow in either two ways which are coshy

current or counter-current to the gas flow direction An example of the simplest

bubble column is the one that consists of a vertical tube with no internals or in other

words the column is installed without any trays packings or shafts Besides for

simplest design of bubble column the gas is fed into the column at the bottom pass

through the liquid and later escaping from the upper surface If the released gas

contains high concentration of valuable reactants recycle design can be

implemented To date the simplest form of bubble column is rarely used since

numerous types of modifications are employed in order to achieve more efficient

design system

According to Kantarci et al (2004) there are three types of flow regimes that

are commonly found in bubbles columns that are bubbly flow churn-turbulent flow

and slug flow regime These flow regimes are determined according to the

superficial gas velocity applied in the column Based on the literature written by

5

Chapter 1 Introduction

previous authors bubbly flow regime is obtained at low superficial gas velocities

meanwhile churn-turbulent regime started to develop at higher superficial gas

velocities For slug flow regime it has been only conducted and observed in a smallshy

scale diameter laboratory columns at high gas flow rates (Hyndman and Larachi

1997)

13 Microchannel

Microchannel can be defined as channel with dimension that is less than 1

mm and greater than I micron (~) (Sharp et aI 2005) For other dimensions that are

above 1 mm the behaviors of the flow are observed to be the same as most

macroscopic flows Microchannel has gradually received attention due to the several

benefits offered which include high surface to volume ratio high throughput in

parallel processing reduction in the volume of sample required and many others

Greater surface to volume ratio has resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer or

in other words enhance the heat transfer rates (Kandlikar 2012 Qian and Lawai

2006) In returns micro device has become an excellent and preferable tool for heat

exchanger

As the dimension scale is reduced to micrometric scale surface to volume

ratio has become significantly important Surface tension as well as viscous force has

dominated the system as compared to gravitational force (Ahmed-Orner and Wirth

2008) In other words the flow regimes observed for two-phase flows in

microchannel are different from the regimes mapped in larger channels (Ventakesan

et aI 2010) Surface tension is originated from the intermolecular forces in which

this forces are generally negligible at macrometric scale (Bayraktar and Pidugu

6

0

LIST OF SYMBOLS

D Diameter

jo Superficial velocity for gas

JL Superficial velocity for liquid

p Secondary phase

q Primary phase

Qo Volumetric flowrate for gas

QL Volumetric flowrate for liquid

Re Reynolds

St Stokes

va vp Velocity of gas

VL Vq Velocity of liquid

vqp Slip velocity

Degree

degc Degree Celsius

y Surface tension

(4) Velocity ratio

a Void fraction

xii

-----

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

3D 3-Dimensional

CFD Computational Fluid Dynamic

CMC Carboxymethyl Cellulose

SDS Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate

VOF Volume of Fluid

xiii

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE

abn Atmosphere

cm Centimeter

dynecm Dyne per centimeter

glcm3 Gram per cubic meter

JkgmiddotK Joule per kilogram kelvin

kglmmiddots Kilogram per meter second

kglm3 Kilogram per cubic meter

mm Millimeter

mls Meter per second

mls2 Meter per square second

Nm Newton per meter

WmmiddotK Watts per meter kelvin

J1 Micron

J1m Micrometer

xiv

CHAPTER

INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

A phase may refer to states of matter which include solid liquid and vapor

(Crowe and Michaelides 2006) Then a multiphase flow can be defined as the

simultaneous flow of a mixture of different states or phases such as gas-liquid gasshy

solid liquid-solid or gas-liquid-solid Multiphase flow specifically two-phase flows

are found in wide range of industrial applications which comprise power generation

hydrocarbon recovery and processing food manufacturing as well as in most aspects

of chemical engineering such as distillation absorption evaporation condensation

and many others As for the extraction and transportation of crude oil from the

reservoir up to the surface it involves various phases that are gas oil water and

solids Even more complex cases have been facing the industry as the formations of

hydrates and wax frequently occur in the production line

As mentioned previously there are several combinations of multi phase flows

For each combination that flows in a given channel various form of interfacial

distributions that are also called as flow patterns are observed Out of the four types

of flow that have been listed gas-liquid flow is identified as the most complex flow

due to the combination of characteristics that involve deformable interface and the

compressibility of one of the phases (Ghajar 2005 Rahman Heidrick and Fleck

Chapter 1 Introduction

2009) Besides classification of multiphase flow is not as simple as single-phase

flow since there is several other factors need to be considered in a multi scale

structured flow such as pressure drop geometry of the channel heat flux surface

tension and several others In single-phase flow the indication of flow characteristic

is basically based on the information that includes the type of flow which is either

laminar or turbulent as well as the existence of flow separation or secondary flows

In this paper an overvIew of gas-liquid flow in a circular cross section

microchannel is given Liquid and gas are mixed in the mixing chamber and entered

the multi phase micro-capillary hence produced several significance flow patterns

The flow morphologies of mixtures made of water and air produced at the

micrometer scale flowing in a channel of circular cross section are then studied

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows

According to Corradini (1998) there are two basic types of flow patterns that

have been identified which are dispersed and stratified Dispersed flow is a type of

flow in where one phase which is in the form of discrete element is dispersed or

distributed in the other continuous phase (Patel 2010) The discrete element may be

in the form of finite particles drops or bubbles There are few examples of flow that

can be used to explain dispersed phase As in the cases for gas-solid and liquid-solid

flows the discrete elements are always in the solid phase since solid particles are not

connected with each other Meanwhile the dispersed phase in gas-liquid flow is

primarily affected by the flow rates of both phases involved For instance bubbly

flow pattern is obtained as the flow rate of the gas is significantly lower than the

liquid flow rate In addition the shape or size of the dispersed phase is governed by

2

Chapter 1 Introduction

everal factors that include balance of buoyancy inertial and surface tension forces

(Corradini 1998)

Meanwhile stratified flow is a type of flow in where the two phases involved

are separated by a distinct line of contact (Patel 2010) In contrast with bubbly flow

greater flow rate of gas phase has resulted in vertical annular flow pattern in where

there is a liquid layer along the pipe wall alongside a gaseous inner core In other

words as for the cases of horizontal and vertical flows the two different streams are

separated from each other yet travel along in the same medium due to the density and

mass flowrate differences respectively (Corradini 1998)

112 Gas-Liquid Flow

Gas-liquid flow is characterized with the flow of two phases in which one of

the phases is in gaseous form while the other is in liquid form This combination of

flows in pipes has resulted in various configurations or flow patterns ranging from

bubbly flow to annular flow There are several industries that utilize the application

of gas-liquid flow which include bubble columns the generation of small droplets

for combustion in power generation system as well as the formation of droplet for

spray forming especially in materials processing

113 Gas-Solid Flow

Flow of gas phase together with suspended solid particles best described gasshy

solid flow This type of flow has been widely used to many industrial applications

which include pneumatic transport pollution control and so on For pneumatic

3

Chapter 1 Introduction

transport it is the main method of transporting solid materials According to (Crowe

2011) in vertical up-flow orientation the velocity of the gas has to be greater than

the settling velocity of the particles in order to maintain the transport

114 Liquid-Solid Flow

Liquid-solid flow involves the flow of solid particles that are carried via the

liquid phase This type of flow can be classified under dispersed phase flow due to

the dispersion of solid particles within the continuous liquid phase The discrete

elements are conveyed through the channel by the drag and pressure forces exerted

by the liquid phase (Weber 2010) The distribution of solid particles in the flow is

dependent on several factors which involve the properties of solid and carrier liquid

parameters of the channel flow direction and many others Liquid-solid fluidization

sedimentation and filtration are some typical examples of liquid-solid flow Those

mentioned applications are mostly used in the industry for the purpose of separation

115 Three-Phase Flows

Other than gas-liquid gas-solid and liquid-solid flows three-phase flow is

another example of multi phase flows that is encountered in engineering applications

An example for three-phase flow is the occurrence of bubbles in slurry which in

returns have produced three-phase flows flowing together There are not much

literature or related materials on this type of flow yet this flow is identified to be

interesting branch of study for multiphase flows

4

Pusat Khidmat MaldumatAkademil Chapter 1 Ul1lElSm tAJAVSIA SARAWA Introduction

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow

As mentioned earlier multiphase fluid flows can be found in various

industrial processes or applications One of the most common examples is the

application of bubble column Bubble column device is where gas that is in the form

of bubbles come in contact with liquid with the main objective which is to mix the

liquid phase (Zehner and Kraume 2005) This device is commonly used as

multiphase contactors and reactors especially in chemical biochemical and

petrochemical industries since they offer several benefits during operation and

maintenance which include high heat and mass transfer rates compactness as well

as low operating and maintenance cost (Kantarci Borak and Ulgen 2004)

In bubble column the liquid may flow in either two ways which are coshy

current or counter-current to the gas flow direction An example of the simplest

bubble column is the one that consists of a vertical tube with no internals or in other

words the column is installed without any trays packings or shafts Besides for

simplest design of bubble column the gas is fed into the column at the bottom pass

through the liquid and later escaping from the upper surface If the released gas

contains high concentration of valuable reactants recycle design can be

implemented To date the simplest form of bubble column is rarely used since

numerous types of modifications are employed in order to achieve more efficient

design system

According to Kantarci et al (2004) there are three types of flow regimes that

are commonly found in bubbles columns that are bubbly flow churn-turbulent flow

and slug flow regime These flow regimes are determined according to the

superficial gas velocity applied in the column Based on the literature written by

5

Chapter 1 Introduction

previous authors bubbly flow regime is obtained at low superficial gas velocities

meanwhile churn-turbulent regime started to develop at higher superficial gas

velocities For slug flow regime it has been only conducted and observed in a smallshy

scale diameter laboratory columns at high gas flow rates (Hyndman and Larachi

1997)

13 Microchannel

Microchannel can be defined as channel with dimension that is less than 1

mm and greater than I micron (~) (Sharp et aI 2005) For other dimensions that are

above 1 mm the behaviors of the flow are observed to be the same as most

macroscopic flows Microchannel has gradually received attention due to the several

benefits offered which include high surface to volume ratio high throughput in

parallel processing reduction in the volume of sample required and many others

Greater surface to volume ratio has resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer or

in other words enhance the heat transfer rates (Kandlikar 2012 Qian and Lawai

2006) In returns micro device has become an excellent and preferable tool for heat

exchanger

As the dimension scale is reduced to micrometric scale surface to volume

ratio has become significantly important Surface tension as well as viscous force has

dominated the system as compared to gravitational force (Ahmed-Orner and Wirth

2008) In other words the flow regimes observed for two-phase flows in

microchannel are different from the regimes mapped in larger channels (Ventakesan

et aI 2010) Surface tension is originated from the intermolecular forces in which

this forces are generally negligible at macrometric scale (Bayraktar and Pidugu

6

-----

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

3D 3-Dimensional

CFD Computational Fluid Dynamic

CMC Carboxymethyl Cellulose

SDS Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate

VOF Volume of Fluid

xiii

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE

abn Atmosphere

cm Centimeter

dynecm Dyne per centimeter

glcm3 Gram per cubic meter

JkgmiddotK Joule per kilogram kelvin

kglmmiddots Kilogram per meter second

kglm3 Kilogram per cubic meter

mm Millimeter

mls Meter per second

mls2 Meter per square second

Nm Newton per meter

WmmiddotK Watts per meter kelvin

J1 Micron

J1m Micrometer

xiv

CHAPTER

INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

A phase may refer to states of matter which include solid liquid and vapor

(Crowe and Michaelides 2006) Then a multiphase flow can be defined as the

simultaneous flow of a mixture of different states or phases such as gas-liquid gasshy

solid liquid-solid or gas-liquid-solid Multiphase flow specifically two-phase flows

are found in wide range of industrial applications which comprise power generation

hydrocarbon recovery and processing food manufacturing as well as in most aspects

of chemical engineering such as distillation absorption evaporation condensation

and many others As for the extraction and transportation of crude oil from the

reservoir up to the surface it involves various phases that are gas oil water and

solids Even more complex cases have been facing the industry as the formations of

hydrates and wax frequently occur in the production line

As mentioned previously there are several combinations of multi phase flows

For each combination that flows in a given channel various form of interfacial

distributions that are also called as flow patterns are observed Out of the four types

of flow that have been listed gas-liquid flow is identified as the most complex flow

due to the combination of characteristics that involve deformable interface and the

compressibility of one of the phases (Ghajar 2005 Rahman Heidrick and Fleck

Chapter 1 Introduction

2009) Besides classification of multiphase flow is not as simple as single-phase

flow since there is several other factors need to be considered in a multi scale

structured flow such as pressure drop geometry of the channel heat flux surface

tension and several others In single-phase flow the indication of flow characteristic

is basically based on the information that includes the type of flow which is either

laminar or turbulent as well as the existence of flow separation or secondary flows

In this paper an overvIew of gas-liquid flow in a circular cross section

microchannel is given Liquid and gas are mixed in the mixing chamber and entered

the multi phase micro-capillary hence produced several significance flow patterns

The flow morphologies of mixtures made of water and air produced at the

micrometer scale flowing in a channel of circular cross section are then studied

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows

According to Corradini (1998) there are two basic types of flow patterns that

have been identified which are dispersed and stratified Dispersed flow is a type of

flow in where one phase which is in the form of discrete element is dispersed or

distributed in the other continuous phase (Patel 2010) The discrete element may be

in the form of finite particles drops or bubbles There are few examples of flow that

can be used to explain dispersed phase As in the cases for gas-solid and liquid-solid

flows the discrete elements are always in the solid phase since solid particles are not

connected with each other Meanwhile the dispersed phase in gas-liquid flow is

primarily affected by the flow rates of both phases involved For instance bubbly

flow pattern is obtained as the flow rate of the gas is significantly lower than the

liquid flow rate In addition the shape or size of the dispersed phase is governed by

2

Chapter 1 Introduction

everal factors that include balance of buoyancy inertial and surface tension forces

(Corradini 1998)

Meanwhile stratified flow is a type of flow in where the two phases involved

are separated by a distinct line of contact (Patel 2010) In contrast with bubbly flow

greater flow rate of gas phase has resulted in vertical annular flow pattern in where

there is a liquid layer along the pipe wall alongside a gaseous inner core In other

words as for the cases of horizontal and vertical flows the two different streams are

separated from each other yet travel along in the same medium due to the density and

mass flowrate differences respectively (Corradini 1998)

112 Gas-Liquid Flow

Gas-liquid flow is characterized with the flow of two phases in which one of

the phases is in gaseous form while the other is in liquid form This combination of

flows in pipes has resulted in various configurations or flow patterns ranging from

bubbly flow to annular flow There are several industries that utilize the application

of gas-liquid flow which include bubble columns the generation of small droplets

for combustion in power generation system as well as the formation of droplet for

spray forming especially in materials processing

113 Gas-Solid Flow

Flow of gas phase together with suspended solid particles best described gasshy

solid flow This type of flow has been widely used to many industrial applications

which include pneumatic transport pollution control and so on For pneumatic

3

Chapter 1 Introduction

transport it is the main method of transporting solid materials According to (Crowe

2011) in vertical up-flow orientation the velocity of the gas has to be greater than

the settling velocity of the particles in order to maintain the transport

114 Liquid-Solid Flow

Liquid-solid flow involves the flow of solid particles that are carried via the

liquid phase This type of flow can be classified under dispersed phase flow due to

the dispersion of solid particles within the continuous liquid phase The discrete

elements are conveyed through the channel by the drag and pressure forces exerted

by the liquid phase (Weber 2010) The distribution of solid particles in the flow is

dependent on several factors which involve the properties of solid and carrier liquid

parameters of the channel flow direction and many others Liquid-solid fluidization

sedimentation and filtration are some typical examples of liquid-solid flow Those

mentioned applications are mostly used in the industry for the purpose of separation

115 Three-Phase Flows

Other than gas-liquid gas-solid and liquid-solid flows three-phase flow is

another example of multi phase flows that is encountered in engineering applications

An example for three-phase flow is the occurrence of bubbles in slurry which in

returns have produced three-phase flows flowing together There are not much

literature or related materials on this type of flow yet this flow is identified to be

interesting branch of study for multiphase flows

4

Pusat Khidmat MaldumatAkademil Chapter 1 Ul1lElSm tAJAVSIA SARAWA Introduction

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow

As mentioned earlier multiphase fluid flows can be found in various

industrial processes or applications One of the most common examples is the

application of bubble column Bubble column device is where gas that is in the form

of bubbles come in contact with liquid with the main objective which is to mix the

liquid phase (Zehner and Kraume 2005) This device is commonly used as

multiphase contactors and reactors especially in chemical biochemical and

petrochemical industries since they offer several benefits during operation and

maintenance which include high heat and mass transfer rates compactness as well

as low operating and maintenance cost (Kantarci Borak and Ulgen 2004)

In bubble column the liquid may flow in either two ways which are coshy

current or counter-current to the gas flow direction An example of the simplest

bubble column is the one that consists of a vertical tube with no internals or in other

words the column is installed without any trays packings or shafts Besides for

simplest design of bubble column the gas is fed into the column at the bottom pass

through the liquid and later escaping from the upper surface If the released gas

contains high concentration of valuable reactants recycle design can be

implemented To date the simplest form of bubble column is rarely used since

numerous types of modifications are employed in order to achieve more efficient

design system

According to Kantarci et al (2004) there are three types of flow regimes that

are commonly found in bubbles columns that are bubbly flow churn-turbulent flow

and slug flow regime These flow regimes are determined according to the

superficial gas velocity applied in the column Based on the literature written by

5

Chapter 1 Introduction

previous authors bubbly flow regime is obtained at low superficial gas velocities

meanwhile churn-turbulent regime started to develop at higher superficial gas

velocities For slug flow regime it has been only conducted and observed in a smallshy

scale diameter laboratory columns at high gas flow rates (Hyndman and Larachi

1997)

13 Microchannel

Microchannel can be defined as channel with dimension that is less than 1

mm and greater than I micron (~) (Sharp et aI 2005) For other dimensions that are

above 1 mm the behaviors of the flow are observed to be the same as most

macroscopic flows Microchannel has gradually received attention due to the several

benefits offered which include high surface to volume ratio high throughput in

parallel processing reduction in the volume of sample required and many others

Greater surface to volume ratio has resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer or

in other words enhance the heat transfer rates (Kandlikar 2012 Qian and Lawai

2006) In returns micro device has become an excellent and preferable tool for heat

exchanger

As the dimension scale is reduced to micrometric scale surface to volume

ratio has become significantly important Surface tension as well as viscous force has

dominated the system as compared to gravitational force (Ahmed-Orner and Wirth

2008) In other words the flow regimes observed for two-phase flows in

microchannel are different from the regimes mapped in larger channels (Ventakesan

et aI 2010) Surface tension is originated from the intermolecular forces in which

this forces are generally negligible at macrometric scale (Bayraktar and Pidugu

6

LIST OF NOMENCLATURE

abn Atmosphere

cm Centimeter

dynecm Dyne per centimeter

glcm3 Gram per cubic meter

JkgmiddotK Joule per kilogram kelvin

kglmmiddots Kilogram per meter second

kglm3 Kilogram per cubic meter

mm Millimeter

mls Meter per second

mls2 Meter per square second

Nm Newton per meter

WmmiddotK Watts per meter kelvin

J1 Micron

J1m Micrometer

xiv

CHAPTER

INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

A phase may refer to states of matter which include solid liquid and vapor

(Crowe and Michaelides 2006) Then a multiphase flow can be defined as the

simultaneous flow of a mixture of different states or phases such as gas-liquid gasshy

solid liquid-solid or gas-liquid-solid Multiphase flow specifically two-phase flows

are found in wide range of industrial applications which comprise power generation

hydrocarbon recovery and processing food manufacturing as well as in most aspects

of chemical engineering such as distillation absorption evaporation condensation

and many others As for the extraction and transportation of crude oil from the

reservoir up to the surface it involves various phases that are gas oil water and

solids Even more complex cases have been facing the industry as the formations of

hydrates and wax frequently occur in the production line

As mentioned previously there are several combinations of multi phase flows

For each combination that flows in a given channel various form of interfacial

distributions that are also called as flow patterns are observed Out of the four types

of flow that have been listed gas-liquid flow is identified as the most complex flow

due to the combination of characteristics that involve deformable interface and the

compressibility of one of the phases (Ghajar 2005 Rahman Heidrick and Fleck

Chapter 1 Introduction

2009) Besides classification of multiphase flow is not as simple as single-phase

flow since there is several other factors need to be considered in a multi scale

structured flow such as pressure drop geometry of the channel heat flux surface

tension and several others In single-phase flow the indication of flow characteristic

is basically based on the information that includes the type of flow which is either

laminar or turbulent as well as the existence of flow separation or secondary flows

In this paper an overvIew of gas-liquid flow in a circular cross section

microchannel is given Liquid and gas are mixed in the mixing chamber and entered

the multi phase micro-capillary hence produced several significance flow patterns

The flow morphologies of mixtures made of water and air produced at the

micrometer scale flowing in a channel of circular cross section are then studied

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows

According to Corradini (1998) there are two basic types of flow patterns that

have been identified which are dispersed and stratified Dispersed flow is a type of

flow in where one phase which is in the form of discrete element is dispersed or

distributed in the other continuous phase (Patel 2010) The discrete element may be

in the form of finite particles drops or bubbles There are few examples of flow that

can be used to explain dispersed phase As in the cases for gas-solid and liquid-solid

flows the discrete elements are always in the solid phase since solid particles are not

connected with each other Meanwhile the dispersed phase in gas-liquid flow is

primarily affected by the flow rates of both phases involved For instance bubbly

flow pattern is obtained as the flow rate of the gas is significantly lower than the

liquid flow rate In addition the shape or size of the dispersed phase is governed by

2

Chapter 1 Introduction

everal factors that include balance of buoyancy inertial and surface tension forces

(Corradini 1998)

Meanwhile stratified flow is a type of flow in where the two phases involved

are separated by a distinct line of contact (Patel 2010) In contrast with bubbly flow

greater flow rate of gas phase has resulted in vertical annular flow pattern in where

there is a liquid layer along the pipe wall alongside a gaseous inner core In other

words as for the cases of horizontal and vertical flows the two different streams are

separated from each other yet travel along in the same medium due to the density and

mass flowrate differences respectively (Corradini 1998)

112 Gas-Liquid Flow

Gas-liquid flow is characterized with the flow of two phases in which one of

the phases is in gaseous form while the other is in liquid form This combination of

flows in pipes has resulted in various configurations or flow patterns ranging from

bubbly flow to annular flow There are several industries that utilize the application

of gas-liquid flow which include bubble columns the generation of small droplets

for combustion in power generation system as well as the formation of droplet for

spray forming especially in materials processing

113 Gas-Solid Flow

Flow of gas phase together with suspended solid particles best described gasshy

solid flow This type of flow has been widely used to many industrial applications

which include pneumatic transport pollution control and so on For pneumatic

3

Chapter 1 Introduction

transport it is the main method of transporting solid materials According to (Crowe

2011) in vertical up-flow orientation the velocity of the gas has to be greater than

the settling velocity of the particles in order to maintain the transport

114 Liquid-Solid Flow

Liquid-solid flow involves the flow of solid particles that are carried via the

liquid phase This type of flow can be classified under dispersed phase flow due to

the dispersion of solid particles within the continuous liquid phase The discrete

elements are conveyed through the channel by the drag and pressure forces exerted

by the liquid phase (Weber 2010) The distribution of solid particles in the flow is

dependent on several factors which involve the properties of solid and carrier liquid

parameters of the channel flow direction and many others Liquid-solid fluidization

sedimentation and filtration are some typical examples of liquid-solid flow Those

mentioned applications are mostly used in the industry for the purpose of separation

115 Three-Phase Flows

Other than gas-liquid gas-solid and liquid-solid flows three-phase flow is

another example of multi phase flows that is encountered in engineering applications

An example for three-phase flow is the occurrence of bubbles in slurry which in

returns have produced three-phase flows flowing together There are not much

literature or related materials on this type of flow yet this flow is identified to be

interesting branch of study for multiphase flows

4

Pusat Khidmat MaldumatAkademil Chapter 1 Ul1lElSm tAJAVSIA SARAWA Introduction

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow

As mentioned earlier multiphase fluid flows can be found in various

industrial processes or applications One of the most common examples is the

application of bubble column Bubble column device is where gas that is in the form

of bubbles come in contact with liquid with the main objective which is to mix the

liquid phase (Zehner and Kraume 2005) This device is commonly used as

multiphase contactors and reactors especially in chemical biochemical and

petrochemical industries since they offer several benefits during operation and

maintenance which include high heat and mass transfer rates compactness as well

as low operating and maintenance cost (Kantarci Borak and Ulgen 2004)

In bubble column the liquid may flow in either two ways which are coshy

current or counter-current to the gas flow direction An example of the simplest

bubble column is the one that consists of a vertical tube with no internals or in other

words the column is installed without any trays packings or shafts Besides for

simplest design of bubble column the gas is fed into the column at the bottom pass

through the liquid and later escaping from the upper surface If the released gas

contains high concentration of valuable reactants recycle design can be

implemented To date the simplest form of bubble column is rarely used since

numerous types of modifications are employed in order to achieve more efficient

design system

According to Kantarci et al (2004) there are three types of flow regimes that

are commonly found in bubbles columns that are bubbly flow churn-turbulent flow

and slug flow regime These flow regimes are determined according to the

superficial gas velocity applied in the column Based on the literature written by

5

Chapter 1 Introduction

previous authors bubbly flow regime is obtained at low superficial gas velocities

meanwhile churn-turbulent regime started to develop at higher superficial gas

velocities For slug flow regime it has been only conducted and observed in a smallshy

scale diameter laboratory columns at high gas flow rates (Hyndman and Larachi

1997)

13 Microchannel

Microchannel can be defined as channel with dimension that is less than 1

mm and greater than I micron (~) (Sharp et aI 2005) For other dimensions that are

above 1 mm the behaviors of the flow are observed to be the same as most

macroscopic flows Microchannel has gradually received attention due to the several

benefits offered which include high surface to volume ratio high throughput in

parallel processing reduction in the volume of sample required and many others

Greater surface to volume ratio has resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer or

in other words enhance the heat transfer rates (Kandlikar 2012 Qian and Lawai

2006) In returns micro device has become an excellent and preferable tool for heat

exchanger

As the dimension scale is reduced to micrometric scale surface to volume

ratio has become significantly important Surface tension as well as viscous force has

dominated the system as compared to gravitational force (Ahmed-Orner and Wirth

2008) In other words the flow regimes observed for two-phase flows in

microchannel are different from the regimes mapped in larger channels (Ventakesan

et aI 2010) Surface tension is originated from the intermolecular forces in which

this forces are generally negligible at macrometric scale (Bayraktar and Pidugu

6

CHAPTER

INTRODUCTION

11 Multiphase Flow

A phase may refer to states of matter which include solid liquid and vapor

(Crowe and Michaelides 2006) Then a multiphase flow can be defined as the

simultaneous flow of a mixture of different states or phases such as gas-liquid gasshy

solid liquid-solid or gas-liquid-solid Multiphase flow specifically two-phase flows

are found in wide range of industrial applications which comprise power generation

hydrocarbon recovery and processing food manufacturing as well as in most aspects

of chemical engineering such as distillation absorption evaporation condensation

and many others As for the extraction and transportation of crude oil from the

reservoir up to the surface it involves various phases that are gas oil water and

solids Even more complex cases have been facing the industry as the formations of

hydrates and wax frequently occur in the production line

As mentioned previously there are several combinations of multi phase flows

For each combination that flows in a given channel various form of interfacial

distributions that are also called as flow patterns are observed Out of the four types

of flow that have been listed gas-liquid flow is identified as the most complex flow

due to the combination of characteristics that involve deformable interface and the

compressibility of one of the phases (Ghajar 2005 Rahman Heidrick and Fleck

Chapter 1 Introduction

2009) Besides classification of multiphase flow is not as simple as single-phase

flow since there is several other factors need to be considered in a multi scale

structured flow such as pressure drop geometry of the channel heat flux surface

tension and several others In single-phase flow the indication of flow characteristic

is basically based on the information that includes the type of flow which is either

laminar or turbulent as well as the existence of flow separation or secondary flows

In this paper an overvIew of gas-liquid flow in a circular cross section

microchannel is given Liquid and gas are mixed in the mixing chamber and entered

the multi phase micro-capillary hence produced several significance flow patterns

The flow morphologies of mixtures made of water and air produced at the

micrometer scale flowing in a channel of circular cross section are then studied

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows

According to Corradini (1998) there are two basic types of flow patterns that

have been identified which are dispersed and stratified Dispersed flow is a type of

flow in where one phase which is in the form of discrete element is dispersed or

distributed in the other continuous phase (Patel 2010) The discrete element may be

in the form of finite particles drops or bubbles There are few examples of flow that

can be used to explain dispersed phase As in the cases for gas-solid and liquid-solid

flows the discrete elements are always in the solid phase since solid particles are not

connected with each other Meanwhile the dispersed phase in gas-liquid flow is

primarily affected by the flow rates of both phases involved For instance bubbly

flow pattern is obtained as the flow rate of the gas is significantly lower than the

liquid flow rate In addition the shape or size of the dispersed phase is governed by

2

Chapter 1 Introduction

everal factors that include balance of buoyancy inertial and surface tension forces

(Corradini 1998)

Meanwhile stratified flow is a type of flow in where the two phases involved

are separated by a distinct line of contact (Patel 2010) In contrast with bubbly flow

greater flow rate of gas phase has resulted in vertical annular flow pattern in where

there is a liquid layer along the pipe wall alongside a gaseous inner core In other

words as for the cases of horizontal and vertical flows the two different streams are

separated from each other yet travel along in the same medium due to the density and

mass flowrate differences respectively (Corradini 1998)

112 Gas-Liquid Flow

Gas-liquid flow is characterized with the flow of two phases in which one of

the phases is in gaseous form while the other is in liquid form This combination of

flows in pipes has resulted in various configurations or flow patterns ranging from

bubbly flow to annular flow There are several industries that utilize the application

of gas-liquid flow which include bubble columns the generation of small droplets

for combustion in power generation system as well as the formation of droplet for

spray forming especially in materials processing

113 Gas-Solid Flow

Flow of gas phase together with suspended solid particles best described gasshy

solid flow This type of flow has been widely used to many industrial applications

which include pneumatic transport pollution control and so on For pneumatic

3

Chapter 1 Introduction

transport it is the main method of transporting solid materials According to (Crowe

2011) in vertical up-flow orientation the velocity of the gas has to be greater than

the settling velocity of the particles in order to maintain the transport

114 Liquid-Solid Flow

Liquid-solid flow involves the flow of solid particles that are carried via the

liquid phase This type of flow can be classified under dispersed phase flow due to

the dispersion of solid particles within the continuous liquid phase The discrete

elements are conveyed through the channel by the drag and pressure forces exerted

by the liquid phase (Weber 2010) The distribution of solid particles in the flow is

dependent on several factors which involve the properties of solid and carrier liquid

parameters of the channel flow direction and many others Liquid-solid fluidization

sedimentation and filtration are some typical examples of liquid-solid flow Those

mentioned applications are mostly used in the industry for the purpose of separation

115 Three-Phase Flows

Other than gas-liquid gas-solid and liquid-solid flows three-phase flow is

another example of multi phase flows that is encountered in engineering applications

An example for three-phase flow is the occurrence of bubbles in slurry which in

returns have produced three-phase flows flowing together There are not much

literature or related materials on this type of flow yet this flow is identified to be

interesting branch of study for multiphase flows

4

Pusat Khidmat MaldumatAkademil Chapter 1 Ul1lElSm tAJAVSIA SARAWA Introduction

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow

As mentioned earlier multiphase fluid flows can be found in various

industrial processes or applications One of the most common examples is the

application of bubble column Bubble column device is where gas that is in the form

of bubbles come in contact with liquid with the main objective which is to mix the

liquid phase (Zehner and Kraume 2005) This device is commonly used as

multiphase contactors and reactors especially in chemical biochemical and

petrochemical industries since they offer several benefits during operation and

maintenance which include high heat and mass transfer rates compactness as well

as low operating and maintenance cost (Kantarci Borak and Ulgen 2004)

In bubble column the liquid may flow in either two ways which are coshy

current or counter-current to the gas flow direction An example of the simplest

bubble column is the one that consists of a vertical tube with no internals or in other

words the column is installed without any trays packings or shafts Besides for

simplest design of bubble column the gas is fed into the column at the bottom pass

through the liquid and later escaping from the upper surface If the released gas

contains high concentration of valuable reactants recycle design can be

implemented To date the simplest form of bubble column is rarely used since

numerous types of modifications are employed in order to achieve more efficient

design system

According to Kantarci et al (2004) there are three types of flow regimes that

are commonly found in bubbles columns that are bubbly flow churn-turbulent flow

and slug flow regime These flow regimes are determined according to the

superficial gas velocity applied in the column Based on the literature written by

5

Chapter 1 Introduction

previous authors bubbly flow regime is obtained at low superficial gas velocities

meanwhile churn-turbulent regime started to develop at higher superficial gas

velocities For slug flow regime it has been only conducted and observed in a smallshy

scale diameter laboratory columns at high gas flow rates (Hyndman and Larachi

1997)

13 Microchannel

Microchannel can be defined as channel with dimension that is less than 1

mm and greater than I micron (~) (Sharp et aI 2005) For other dimensions that are

above 1 mm the behaviors of the flow are observed to be the same as most

macroscopic flows Microchannel has gradually received attention due to the several

benefits offered which include high surface to volume ratio high throughput in

parallel processing reduction in the volume of sample required and many others

Greater surface to volume ratio has resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer or

in other words enhance the heat transfer rates (Kandlikar 2012 Qian and Lawai

2006) In returns micro device has become an excellent and preferable tool for heat

exchanger

As the dimension scale is reduced to micrometric scale surface to volume

ratio has become significantly important Surface tension as well as viscous force has

dominated the system as compared to gravitational force (Ahmed-Orner and Wirth

2008) In other words the flow regimes observed for two-phase flows in

microchannel are different from the regimes mapped in larger channels (Ventakesan

et aI 2010) Surface tension is originated from the intermolecular forces in which

this forces are generally negligible at macrometric scale (Bayraktar and Pidugu

6

Chapter 1 Introduction

2009) Besides classification of multiphase flow is not as simple as single-phase

flow since there is several other factors need to be considered in a multi scale

structured flow such as pressure drop geometry of the channel heat flux surface

tension and several others In single-phase flow the indication of flow characteristic

is basically based on the information that includes the type of flow which is either

laminar or turbulent as well as the existence of flow separation or secondary flows

In this paper an overvIew of gas-liquid flow in a circular cross section

microchannel is given Liquid and gas are mixed in the mixing chamber and entered

the multi phase micro-capillary hence produced several significance flow patterns

The flow morphologies of mixtures made of water and air produced at the

micrometer scale flowing in a channel of circular cross section are then studied

111 Dispersed Phase and Separated Flows

According to Corradini (1998) there are two basic types of flow patterns that

have been identified which are dispersed and stratified Dispersed flow is a type of

flow in where one phase which is in the form of discrete element is dispersed or

distributed in the other continuous phase (Patel 2010) The discrete element may be

in the form of finite particles drops or bubbles There are few examples of flow that

can be used to explain dispersed phase As in the cases for gas-solid and liquid-solid

flows the discrete elements are always in the solid phase since solid particles are not

connected with each other Meanwhile the dispersed phase in gas-liquid flow is

primarily affected by the flow rates of both phases involved For instance bubbly

flow pattern is obtained as the flow rate of the gas is significantly lower than the

liquid flow rate In addition the shape or size of the dispersed phase is governed by

2

Chapter 1 Introduction

everal factors that include balance of buoyancy inertial and surface tension forces

(Corradini 1998)

Meanwhile stratified flow is a type of flow in where the two phases involved

are separated by a distinct line of contact (Patel 2010) In contrast with bubbly flow

greater flow rate of gas phase has resulted in vertical annular flow pattern in where

there is a liquid layer along the pipe wall alongside a gaseous inner core In other

words as for the cases of horizontal and vertical flows the two different streams are

separated from each other yet travel along in the same medium due to the density and

mass flowrate differences respectively (Corradini 1998)

112 Gas-Liquid Flow

Gas-liquid flow is characterized with the flow of two phases in which one of

the phases is in gaseous form while the other is in liquid form This combination of

flows in pipes has resulted in various configurations or flow patterns ranging from

bubbly flow to annular flow There are several industries that utilize the application

of gas-liquid flow which include bubble columns the generation of small droplets

for combustion in power generation system as well as the formation of droplet for

spray forming especially in materials processing

113 Gas-Solid Flow

Flow of gas phase together with suspended solid particles best described gasshy

solid flow This type of flow has been widely used to many industrial applications

which include pneumatic transport pollution control and so on For pneumatic

3

Chapter 1 Introduction

transport it is the main method of transporting solid materials According to (Crowe

2011) in vertical up-flow orientation the velocity of the gas has to be greater than

the settling velocity of the particles in order to maintain the transport

114 Liquid-Solid Flow

Liquid-solid flow involves the flow of solid particles that are carried via the

liquid phase This type of flow can be classified under dispersed phase flow due to

the dispersion of solid particles within the continuous liquid phase The discrete

elements are conveyed through the channel by the drag and pressure forces exerted

by the liquid phase (Weber 2010) The distribution of solid particles in the flow is

dependent on several factors which involve the properties of solid and carrier liquid

parameters of the channel flow direction and many others Liquid-solid fluidization

sedimentation and filtration are some typical examples of liquid-solid flow Those

mentioned applications are mostly used in the industry for the purpose of separation

115 Three-Phase Flows

Other than gas-liquid gas-solid and liquid-solid flows three-phase flow is

another example of multi phase flows that is encountered in engineering applications

An example for three-phase flow is the occurrence of bubbles in slurry which in

returns have produced three-phase flows flowing together There are not much

literature or related materials on this type of flow yet this flow is identified to be

interesting branch of study for multiphase flows

4

Pusat Khidmat MaldumatAkademil Chapter 1 Ul1lElSm tAJAVSIA SARAWA Introduction

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow

As mentioned earlier multiphase fluid flows can be found in various

industrial processes or applications One of the most common examples is the

application of bubble column Bubble column device is where gas that is in the form

of bubbles come in contact with liquid with the main objective which is to mix the

liquid phase (Zehner and Kraume 2005) This device is commonly used as

multiphase contactors and reactors especially in chemical biochemical and

petrochemical industries since they offer several benefits during operation and

maintenance which include high heat and mass transfer rates compactness as well

as low operating and maintenance cost (Kantarci Borak and Ulgen 2004)

In bubble column the liquid may flow in either two ways which are coshy

current or counter-current to the gas flow direction An example of the simplest

bubble column is the one that consists of a vertical tube with no internals or in other

words the column is installed without any trays packings or shafts Besides for

simplest design of bubble column the gas is fed into the column at the bottom pass

through the liquid and later escaping from the upper surface If the released gas

contains high concentration of valuable reactants recycle design can be

implemented To date the simplest form of bubble column is rarely used since

numerous types of modifications are employed in order to achieve more efficient

design system

According to Kantarci et al (2004) there are three types of flow regimes that

are commonly found in bubbles columns that are bubbly flow churn-turbulent flow

and slug flow regime These flow regimes are determined according to the

superficial gas velocity applied in the column Based on the literature written by

5

Chapter 1 Introduction

previous authors bubbly flow regime is obtained at low superficial gas velocities

meanwhile churn-turbulent regime started to develop at higher superficial gas

velocities For slug flow regime it has been only conducted and observed in a smallshy

scale diameter laboratory columns at high gas flow rates (Hyndman and Larachi

1997)

13 Microchannel

Microchannel can be defined as channel with dimension that is less than 1

mm and greater than I micron (~) (Sharp et aI 2005) For other dimensions that are

above 1 mm the behaviors of the flow are observed to be the same as most

macroscopic flows Microchannel has gradually received attention due to the several

benefits offered which include high surface to volume ratio high throughput in

parallel processing reduction in the volume of sample required and many others

Greater surface to volume ratio has resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer or

in other words enhance the heat transfer rates (Kandlikar 2012 Qian and Lawai

2006) In returns micro device has become an excellent and preferable tool for heat

exchanger

As the dimension scale is reduced to micrometric scale surface to volume

ratio has become significantly important Surface tension as well as viscous force has

dominated the system as compared to gravitational force (Ahmed-Orner and Wirth

2008) In other words the flow regimes observed for two-phase flows in

microchannel are different from the regimes mapped in larger channels (Ventakesan

et aI 2010) Surface tension is originated from the intermolecular forces in which

this forces are generally negligible at macrometric scale (Bayraktar and Pidugu

6

Chapter 1 Introduction

everal factors that include balance of buoyancy inertial and surface tension forces

(Corradini 1998)

Meanwhile stratified flow is a type of flow in where the two phases involved

are separated by a distinct line of contact (Patel 2010) In contrast with bubbly flow

greater flow rate of gas phase has resulted in vertical annular flow pattern in where

there is a liquid layer along the pipe wall alongside a gaseous inner core In other

words as for the cases of horizontal and vertical flows the two different streams are

separated from each other yet travel along in the same medium due to the density and

mass flowrate differences respectively (Corradini 1998)

112 Gas-Liquid Flow

Gas-liquid flow is characterized with the flow of two phases in which one of

the phases is in gaseous form while the other is in liquid form This combination of

flows in pipes has resulted in various configurations or flow patterns ranging from

bubbly flow to annular flow There are several industries that utilize the application

of gas-liquid flow which include bubble columns the generation of small droplets

for combustion in power generation system as well as the formation of droplet for

spray forming especially in materials processing

113 Gas-Solid Flow

Flow of gas phase together with suspended solid particles best described gasshy

solid flow This type of flow has been widely used to many industrial applications

which include pneumatic transport pollution control and so on For pneumatic

3

Chapter 1 Introduction

transport it is the main method of transporting solid materials According to (Crowe

2011) in vertical up-flow orientation the velocity of the gas has to be greater than

the settling velocity of the particles in order to maintain the transport

114 Liquid-Solid Flow

Liquid-solid flow involves the flow of solid particles that are carried via the

liquid phase This type of flow can be classified under dispersed phase flow due to

the dispersion of solid particles within the continuous liquid phase The discrete

elements are conveyed through the channel by the drag and pressure forces exerted

by the liquid phase (Weber 2010) The distribution of solid particles in the flow is

dependent on several factors which involve the properties of solid and carrier liquid

parameters of the channel flow direction and many others Liquid-solid fluidization

sedimentation and filtration are some typical examples of liquid-solid flow Those

mentioned applications are mostly used in the industry for the purpose of separation

115 Three-Phase Flows

Other than gas-liquid gas-solid and liquid-solid flows three-phase flow is

another example of multi phase flows that is encountered in engineering applications

An example for three-phase flow is the occurrence of bubbles in slurry which in

returns have produced three-phase flows flowing together There are not much

literature or related materials on this type of flow yet this flow is identified to be

interesting branch of study for multiphase flows

4

Pusat Khidmat MaldumatAkademil Chapter 1 Ul1lElSm tAJAVSIA SARAWA Introduction

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow

As mentioned earlier multiphase fluid flows can be found in various

industrial processes or applications One of the most common examples is the

application of bubble column Bubble column device is where gas that is in the form

of bubbles come in contact with liquid with the main objective which is to mix the

liquid phase (Zehner and Kraume 2005) This device is commonly used as

multiphase contactors and reactors especially in chemical biochemical and

petrochemical industries since they offer several benefits during operation and

maintenance which include high heat and mass transfer rates compactness as well

as low operating and maintenance cost (Kantarci Borak and Ulgen 2004)

In bubble column the liquid may flow in either two ways which are coshy

current or counter-current to the gas flow direction An example of the simplest

bubble column is the one that consists of a vertical tube with no internals or in other

words the column is installed without any trays packings or shafts Besides for

simplest design of bubble column the gas is fed into the column at the bottom pass

through the liquid and later escaping from the upper surface If the released gas

contains high concentration of valuable reactants recycle design can be

implemented To date the simplest form of bubble column is rarely used since

numerous types of modifications are employed in order to achieve more efficient

design system

According to Kantarci et al (2004) there are three types of flow regimes that

are commonly found in bubbles columns that are bubbly flow churn-turbulent flow

and slug flow regime These flow regimes are determined according to the

superficial gas velocity applied in the column Based on the literature written by

5

Chapter 1 Introduction

previous authors bubbly flow regime is obtained at low superficial gas velocities

meanwhile churn-turbulent regime started to develop at higher superficial gas

velocities For slug flow regime it has been only conducted and observed in a smallshy

scale diameter laboratory columns at high gas flow rates (Hyndman and Larachi

1997)

13 Microchannel

Microchannel can be defined as channel with dimension that is less than 1

mm and greater than I micron (~) (Sharp et aI 2005) For other dimensions that are

above 1 mm the behaviors of the flow are observed to be the same as most

macroscopic flows Microchannel has gradually received attention due to the several

benefits offered which include high surface to volume ratio high throughput in

parallel processing reduction in the volume of sample required and many others

Greater surface to volume ratio has resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer or

in other words enhance the heat transfer rates (Kandlikar 2012 Qian and Lawai

2006) In returns micro device has become an excellent and preferable tool for heat

exchanger

As the dimension scale is reduced to micrometric scale surface to volume

ratio has become significantly important Surface tension as well as viscous force has

dominated the system as compared to gravitational force (Ahmed-Orner and Wirth

2008) In other words the flow regimes observed for two-phase flows in

microchannel are different from the regimes mapped in larger channels (Ventakesan

et aI 2010) Surface tension is originated from the intermolecular forces in which

this forces are generally negligible at macrometric scale (Bayraktar and Pidugu

6

Chapter 1 Introduction

transport it is the main method of transporting solid materials According to (Crowe

2011) in vertical up-flow orientation the velocity of the gas has to be greater than

the settling velocity of the particles in order to maintain the transport

114 Liquid-Solid Flow

Liquid-solid flow involves the flow of solid particles that are carried via the

liquid phase This type of flow can be classified under dispersed phase flow due to

the dispersion of solid particles within the continuous liquid phase The discrete

elements are conveyed through the channel by the drag and pressure forces exerted

by the liquid phase (Weber 2010) The distribution of solid particles in the flow is

dependent on several factors which involve the properties of solid and carrier liquid

parameters of the channel flow direction and many others Liquid-solid fluidization

sedimentation and filtration are some typical examples of liquid-solid flow Those

mentioned applications are mostly used in the industry for the purpose of separation

115 Three-Phase Flows

Other than gas-liquid gas-solid and liquid-solid flows three-phase flow is

another example of multi phase flows that is encountered in engineering applications

An example for three-phase flow is the occurrence of bubbles in slurry which in

returns have produced three-phase flows flowing together There are not much

literature or related materials on this type of flow yet this flow is identified to be

interesting branch of study for multiphase flows

4

Pusat Khidmat MaldumatAkademil Chapter 1 Ul1lElSm tAJAVSIA SARAWA Introduction

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow

As mentioned earlier multiphase fluid flows can be found in various

industrial processes or applications One of the most common examples is the

application of bubble column Bubble column device is where gas that is in the form

of bubbles come in contact with liquid with the main objective which is to mix the

liquid phase (Zehner and Kraume 2005) This device is commonly used as

multiphase contactors and reactors especially in chemical biochemical and

petrochemical industries since they offer several benefits during operation and

maintenance which include high heat and mass transfer rates compactness as well

as low operating and maintenance cost (Kantarci Borak and Ulgen 2004)

In bubble column the liquid may flow in either two ways which are coshy

current or counter-current to the gas flow direction An example of the simplest

bubble column is the one that consists of a vertical tube with no internals or in other

words the column is installed without any trays packings or shafts Besides for

simplest design of bubble column the gas is fed into the column at the bottom pass

through the liquid and later escaping from the upper surface If the released gas

contains high concentration of valuable reactants recycle design can be

implemented To date the simplest form of bubble column is rarely used since

numerous types of modifications are employed in order to achieve more efficient

design system

According to Kantarci et al (2004) there are three types of flow regimes that

are commonly found in bubbles columns that are bubbly flow churn-turbulent flow

and slug flow regime These flow regimes are determined according to the

superficial gas velocity applied in the column Based on the literature written by

5

Chapter 1 Introduction

previous authors bubbly flow regime is obtained at low superficial gas velocities

meanwhile churn-turbulent regime started to develop at higher superficial gas

velocities For slug flow regime it has been only conducted and observed in a smallshy

scale diameter laboratory columns at high gas flow rates (Hyndman and Larachi

1997)

13 Microchannel

Microchannel can be defined as channel with dimension that is less than 1

mm and greater than I micron (~) (Sharp et aI 2005) For other dimensions that are

above 1 mm the behaviors of the flow are observed to be the same as most

macroscopic flows Microchannel has gradually received attention due to the several

benefits offered which include high surface to volume ratio high throughput in

parallel processing reduction in the volume of sample required and many others

Greater surface to volume ratio has resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer or

in other words enhance the heat transfer rates (Kandlikar 2012 Qian and Lawai

2006) In returns micro device has become an excellent and preferable tool for heat

exchanger

As the dimension scale is reduced to micrometric scale surface to volume

ratio has become significantly important Surface tension as well as viscous force has

dominated the system as compared to gravitational force (Ahmed-Orner and Wirth

2008) In other words the flow regimes observed for two-phase flows in

microchannel are different from the regimes mapped in larger channels (Ventakesan

et aI 2010) Surface tension is originated from the intermolecular forces in which

this forces are generally negligible at macrometric scale (Bayraktar and Pidugu

6

Pusat Khidmat MaldumatAkademil Chapter 1 Ul1lElSm tAJAVSIA SARAWA Introduction

12 Industrial Application Involving Multiphase Flow

As mentioned earlier multiphase fluid flows can be found in various

industrial processes or applications One of the most common examples is the

application of bubble column Bubble column device is where gas that is in the form

of bubbles come in contact with liquid with the main objective which is to mix the

liquid phase (Zehner and Kraume 2005) This device is commonly used as

multiphase contactors and reactors especially in chemical biochemical and

petrochemical industries since they offer several benefits during operation and

maintenance which include high heat and mass transfer rates compactness as well

as low operating and maintenance cost (Kantarci Borak and Ulgen 2004)

In bubble column the liquid may flow in either two ways which are coshy

current or counter-current to the gas flow direction An example of the simplest

bubble column is the one that consists of a vertical tube with no internals or in other

words the column is installed without any trays packings or shafts Besides for

simplest design of bubble column the gas is fed into the column at the bottom pass

through the liquid and later escaping from the upper surface If the released gas

contains high concentration of valuable reactants recycle design can be

implemented To date the simplest form of bubble column is rarely used since

numerous types of modifications are employed in order to achieve more efficient

design system

According to Kantarci et al (2004) there are three types of flow regimes that

are commonly found in bubbles columns that are bubbly flow churn-turbulent flow

and slug flow regime These flow regimes are determined according to the

superficial gas velocity applied in the column Based on the literature written by

5

Chapter 1 Introduction

previous authors bubbly flow regime is obtained at low superficial gas velocities

meanwhile churn-turbulent regime started to develop at higher superficial gas

velocities For slug flow regime it has been only conducted and observed in a smallshy

scale diameter laboratory columns at high gas flow rates (Hyndman and Larachi

1997)

13 Microchannel

Microchannel can be defined as channel with dimension that is less than 1

mm and greater than I micron (~) (Sharp et aI 2005) For other dimensions that are

above 1 mm the behaviors of the flow are observed to be the same as most

macroscopic flows Microchannel has gradually received attention due to the several

benefits offered which include high surface to volume ratio high throughput in

parallel processing reduction in the volume of sample required and many others

Greater surface to volume ratio has resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer or

in other words enhance the heat transfer rates (Kandlikar 2012 Qian and Lawai

2006) In returns micro device has become an excellent and preferable tool for heat

exchanger

As the dimension scale is reduced to micrometric scale surface to volume

ratio has become significantly important Surface tension as well as viscous force has

dominated the system as compared to gravitational force (Ahmed-Orner and Wirth

2008) In other words the flow regimes observed for two-phase flows in

microchannel are different from the regimes mapped in larger channels (Ventakesan

et aI 2010) Surface tension is originated from the intermolecular forces in which

this forces are generally negligible at macrometric scale (Bayraktar and Pidugu

6

Chapter 1 Introduction

previous authors bubbly flow regime is obtained at low superficial gas velocities

meanwhile churn-turbulent regime started to develop at higher superficial gas

velocities For slug flow regime it has been only conducted and observed in a smallshy

scale diameter laboratory columns at high gas flow rates (Hyndman and Larachi

1997)

13 Microchannel

Microchannel can be defined as channel with dimension that is less than 1

mm and greater than I micron (~) (Sharp et aI 2005) For other dimensions that are

above 1 mm the behaviors of the flow are observed to be the same as most

macroscopic flows Microchannel has gradually received attention due to the several

benefits offered which include high surface to volume ratio high throughput in

parallel processing reduction in the volume of sample required and many others

Greater surface to volume ratio has resulted in high rate of heat and mass transfer or

in other words enhance the heat transfer rates (Kandlikar 2012 Qian and Lawai

2006) In returns micro device has become an excellent and preferable tool for heat

exchanger

As the dimension scale is reduced to micrometric scale surface to volume

ratio has become significantly important Surface tension as well as viscous force has

dominated the system as compared to gravitational force (Ahmed-Orner and Wirth

2008) In other words the flow regimes observed for two-phase flows in

microchannel are different from the regimes mapped in larger channels (Ventakesan

et aI 2010) Surface tension is originated from the intermolecular forces in which

this forces are generally negligible at macrometric scale (Bayraktar and Pidugu

6