Drift-flux correlation for upward two-phase flow in inclined pipes

In view of the practical importance of the drift-flux model to predict void fraction for gas-liquid flow in various engineering fields including chemical engineering, this study aims at developing a drift-flux correlation with a wide range of applicability for upward two-phase flows in inclined pipes. Firstly, over 3000 experimental data of void fraction were collected from 14 sources. Then, the correlations of distribution parameter and void-fraction-weighted-mean drift velocity were established. The comparison between the collected database and correlations indicated none of the existing correlations could predict the whole database satisfactorily. Therefore, the dependence of drift-flux parameters on inclination angles was comprehensively analysed, and a new drift-flux correlation was developed. The newly-developed drift-flux correlation demonstrated superior performance to existing correlations. More than 95% of the predicted void fraction were predicted within ±20% error. In summary, the newly-developed drift-flux correlation is useful to predict void fraction in various engineering fields including chemical engineering.