PIV in stratified gas-liquid flow in a horizontal pipe using water droplets as tracers in the gas-phase

TL;DR

This study demonstrates the use of water droplets as tracers in Particle Image Velocimetry to measure stratified turbulent air/water flow in a horizontal pipe, providing insights into interfacial turbulence and flow patterns.

Contribution

It introduces a novel seeding technique using water droplets for PIV in stratified gas-liquid flow, validated against DNS results and enabling detailed flow analysis.

Findings

Good agreement with DNS and single-phase measurements

Qualitative insights into interfacial turbulence behavior

Potential for improved modeling of stratified flow phenomena

Abstract

Simultaneous Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements of stratified turbulent air/water flow in a horizontal pipe have been performed using water droplets as tracers in the gas-phase. The use of water droplets as tracers ensures that the water surface tension remains unaffected and thus allows small-scale interfacial structures, such as capillary waves to occur naturally. Experiments have been conducted in a 31 m long, 100 mm diameter PVC pipe using air and water as test fluids. For the purpose of validation of the experimental set-up and the suggested seeding technique, single-phase measurements of both air and water were compared to each other and to DNS results from literature, showing very good agreement. The two-phase measurements are presented in terms of mean- and rms-profiles. These measurements offer a qualitative demonstration of the behavior of the interfacial turbulence and its correlation with the various interfacial flow patterns. The observations made in this paper are in agreement with the conclusions drawn from the DNS study of Lakehal et al. (2003). The present results may eventually provide a better explanation to many important phenomena related to the physical characteristics of stratified two-phase flow such as scalar mixing between phases, and to challenges related to its modeling.