Experimental investigation of gas-liquid flow characteristics in slit rectangular and circular channels

This paper aims at the experimental study of the flow characteristics of the ethanol- nitrogen mixture in vertical and horizontal channels. The 95% ethanol and nitrogen were used as working liquid and gas accordingly in slit rectangular microchannel with cross-section of 200 × 2000 μm and in a circular channel with ID=2.2 mm. The hydraulic focusing and T-shape mixers were used for gas-liquid flow formation. Experimental data were obtained using highspeed visualization, laser scanning, μLIF, and PLIF methods. Using method μLIF the nonuniform thickness of the liquid film was obtained at the cross-section of the rectangular microchannel. For the circular channel, the measurements of the local film thickness using the PLIF method confirmed accordance of the experimental data with Taylor law. (paper)