Drift-flux correlation for bubbly to annular two-phase flows under microgravity conditions

Abstract

In light of the substantial importance of accurate void fraction predictions for the engineering design and safety evaluation of two-phase systems utilized in space-related applications, this study is dedicated to the investigation of the drift-flux correlation specifically for microgravity conditions. The present study has collected 458 experimental void fraction data taken in microgravity bubbly to annular flows. The analysis of the collected experimental data evident that (1) the distribution parameters vary with the flow conditions, and (2) the drift velocities under microgravity conditions are exceedingly small. However, the distribution parameter models of the reviewed existing drift-flux correlations fail to accurately capture the variation of distribution parameters with flow conditions under microgravity conditions. Moreover, there is a lack of a simple yet effective way to model the drift velocity of microgravity two-phase flow. To overcome the above weaknesses, a new drift-flux correlation has been proposed by (1) taking the flow condition effect on the variation of asymptotic distribution parameters into consideration, and (2) employing the concept of effective body acceleration and considering the decay of drift velocity in annular flow. The newly proposed drift-flux correlation has been evaluated by checking against the collected data and shows good predictive ability.