Effects of Liquid Viscosity on Characteristics of Waves in Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow : Characteristics of Huge Waves and Disturbance Waves

In order to clarify the effects of liquid viscosity on the interfacial structure of the flow occurring in the transition region from plug flow to annular flow regimes, time-spatial measurements of liquid holdup were carried out using liquids with kinematic viscosity of 1×10^<-6>, 10×10^<-6> and 20×10^<-6>m^2 / s. Based on these measurements, time-spatial maps of wave behavior were produced and the probability distributions of wave width, wave velocity and wave height were also determined. Close inspection of these data revealed that there appeared two types of waves, namely huge waves and disturbance waves, even in cases where the liquids with the kinematic viscosity of 10×10^<-6> and 20×10^<-6>m^2 / s were used. Moreover, the differences between these waves became greater with an increase in the kinematic viscosity of liquid. Furthermore, it was also clarified that the region, where the gas-liquid interface was covered with ripple-like waves, became wider with an increase in the kinematic viscosity of liquid.