Abstract
To evaluate the effect of surface wettability in pipe wall on flow characteristics in a vertical upward gas-liquid two-phase flow, visualization study was performed using three test pipes, namely an acrylic pipe, a hydrophilic pipe, a hydrophobic pipe. Such basic flow characteristics as flow patterns and void fraction were investigated in these three pipes. In the hydrophilic pipe, the slug flow-to-churn flow transition boundary was shifted to higher gas velocity condition at a given liquid velocity, whereas the churn flow-to-annular flow transition boundary was shifted to lower gas velocity condition at a given liquid velocity. In the hydrophobic pipe, the inverted-churn flow regime was observed in the region where the churn flow regime was observed in the acrylic pipe, whereas the droplet flow regime was observed in the region where the annular flow regime was observed in the acrylic pipe. At high-gas flow rate condition, the mean void fraction in the hydrophobic pipe took relatively higher value to that in the acrylic pipe.
