Effects of reduced surface tension on liquid film structure in vertical upward gas-liquid annular flows

The purpose of this study is to investigate experimentally the effects of reduced surface tension on the liquid film structure in vertical-upward air-liquid annular flows in a 19.2 mm i.d. and 5.4 m long circular tube. The test liquid was water and/or a dilute water solution of Polyoxyethylene-Lauryl-Ether, and the surface tension of these liquids ranged from 72 to 45 dyne/cm. The liquid film structure was observed by use of both the still photographs and the maps of time and spatial characteristics of peripheral-mean liquid film thickness detected with a series of 63 liquid holdup sensors each axially 15 mm apart in a constant current method. The parameters studied were the wave heights of the liquid film, the passing frequencies of the waves, the mean value and the standard deviation of the wave velocities, each determined from the liquid film thickness signals through a computer program of signal processing. From the observations of still photographs and the maps of time and spatial characteristics of peripheral-mean liquid film thickness, it was cleared that the liquid film structure depends strongly on the surface tension, i.e., the reduction of surface tension makes the passing of the large waves decrease remarkably, the wave height of the large waves lower like small waves, the passing of the small waves more frequent, and the small wave velocity faster. (author)