Identification of two-phase flow regimes under variable gravity conditions

Full text of publication follows: Two-phase flow is becoming increasingly important as we move into new and more aggressive technologies in the twenty-first century. Some of its many applications include the design of efficient heat transport systems, the transfer and storage of cryogenic fluids, and condensation and flow boiling processes in heat exchangers and energy transport systems. Two-phase flow has many applications in reduced gravity environments experienced in orbiting spacecraft and earth observation satellites. Examples are heat transport systems, the transfer and storage of cryogenic fluids, and condensation and flow boiling processes in heat exchangers. A concave parallel plate capacitance sensor has been developed to measure void fraction for the purpose of objectively identifying flow regimes. The sensor has been used to collect void-fraction data at microgravity conditions aboard the NASA and ESA zero-gravity aircraft. It is shown that the flow regimes can be objectively determined from the probability density functions of the void fraction signals. It was shown that under microgravity conditions four flow regimes exist: bubbly flow, characterized by discrete gas bubbles flowing in the liquid; slug flow, consisting of Taylor bubbles separated by liquid slugs which may or may not contain several small gas bubbles; transitional flow, characterized by the liquid flowing as a film at the tube wall, and the gas phase flowing in the center with the frequent appearance of chaotic, unstable slugs; and annular flow in which the liquid flows as a film along the tube wall and the gas flows uninterrupted through the center. Since many two-phase flow models are flow regime dependent, a method that can accurately and objectively determine flow regimes is required. (authors)