Visualization Study in the Transition Flow Pattern of Stratified to Slug Flow of Air-Water Two Phase Flow in a Horizontal Pipe.

Slug is one of the most avoided flows in the piping system network. The high pressure fluctuations can cause damage to the pipes. Therefore, prevention of the slug flow is very important. To understand the phenomenon, an experimental study to investigate the pattern of stratified to slug flow transition has been examined. The present work was conducted on a 26 mm diameter acrylic horizontal pipe with the length of 10 m. Air and water are used as working fluids. Visual image capture is done using Phantom Miro M310 High speed camera on L/D 180-210 from inlet. As a supporting visual observation result, CECM method is also used to measure liquid holdup of fluid flow. The onset of slugging mechanism due to change of both gas and liquid superficial velocity will be discussed. As a result, it is found that the slug formation from stratified flow is at least divided into two basic mechanisms. At low gas velocity, the slug stability condition is created by wave growth mechanism. The increase of JG resulted in the increase of aeration and the of the liquid slug length. When the gas velocity is above 3 m/s, wave coalescence and large disturbance waves initiated the onset of slugging. The Increase of JL on the high JG makes the roll waves higher to create a pseudo slug. In addition, it is found that the formation of high aeration slug is seen at JL = 0.3 m/s when JG is maintained at 3.77 m/s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]