Co-Current Gas-Liquid Smooth-Stratified Flow in a Horizontal Reduced T-Junction Including Wavy and Slug Regime Transition Boundaries

Abstract

Experiments were performed in a horizontal reduced T-junction using a branch diameter of 6.35 mm and an inlet pipe diameter of 50.8 mm. The inlet length was 1.8 m and three branch orientations were tested at 0, 45, and 90 degrees down from the horizontal. Water and air, operating at 206 kPa, were used to provide an adiabatic two-phase environment. Both fluids flowed co-currently within the inlet towards the branch in the smooth-stratified regime. Results demonstrate the relationship between the interface height and the inlet and branch two-phase quantities, including the inlet superficial liquid and gas velocities, and branch two-phase mass flow rate and quality. In certain instances transitions to wavy-stratified or slug regimes were observed and these limits are quantified for each branch orientation. Flow visualization was used to identify the initiation of two-phase flow in the branch, including the onsets of gas and liquid entrainment. The critical height at the onset of gas entrainment was quantified as a function of the single phase liquid branch Froude number for the 45 and 90 degree branches, respectively. The branch quality results were scaled using the critical height and showed good agreement with selected models.