Interfacial Area Transport of Bubbly Flow in a Small Diameter Pipe

In relation to the development of the interfacial area transport equation, this study focused on modeling of the interfacial area transport mechanism of vertical adiabatic air-water bubbly flows in a relatively small diameter pipe where the bubble size-to-pipe diameter ratio was relatively high and the radial motion of bubbles was restricted by the presence of the pipe wall. The sink term of the interfacial area concentration was modeled by considering wake en-trainment as a possible bubble coalescence mechanism, whereas the source term was neglected by assuming negligibly small bubble breakup for low liquid velocity conditions based on visual observation. One-dimensional interfacial area transport equation with the derived sink term was evaluated by using five datasets of vertical adiabatic air-water bubbly flows measured in a 9.0mm-diameter pipe (superficial gas velocity: 0.013–0.052 m/s, superficial liquid velocity: 0.58–1.0m/s). The modeled interfacial area transport equation could reproduce the proper trend of the axial interfacial area transport and predict the measured interfacial area concentrations within an average relative deviation of 1±11.1%. It was recognized that the present model would be promising for predicting the interfacial area transport of the examined bubbly flows. © 2001 Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.