Effect of pressure on annular flow pressure drop in a small pipe

摘要

New experimental data was obtained for pressure drop and entrainment for annular up-flow in a vertical pipe. The 9.5 mm. pipe has an L/D ratio of 440 to insure fully developed annular flow. The pressure ranged from 140 kPa to 660 kPa. Therefore the density ratio was varied by a factor of four approximately. This allows the investigation of the effect of pressure on the interfacial shear models. Gas superficial velocities between 25 and 126 m/s were tested. This extends the range of previous data to higher gas velocities. The data were compared with well known models for interfacial shear that represent the state of the art. Good results were obtained when the model by Asali, Hanratty and Andreussi was modified for the effect of pressure. Furthermore an equivalent model was obtained based on the mixing length theory for rough pipes. It correlates the equivalent roughness to the film thickness.