Numerical study of liquid slug stability during adiabatic two phase flow inside a minichannel

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

1-1-2007

Abstract

Copyright © 2007 by ASME. The present study is performed to analyze stability of a liquid meniscus inside a microchannel. A liquid plug is placed inside a microchannel and the shape and stability of upstream and downstream interfaces have been studied for different airflow rates. The thickness of the liquid plug and the contact angle has been varied systematically. In the numerical model the complete Navier-Stokes equations along with continuity equation are solved using the SIMPLER method. The liquid vapor interface is captured using the level set technique. The liquid plug is seen to move downstream along with the air and surface instabilities are noted at the upstream and downstream interfaces. At low contact angle, water is found to accumulate at the channel corners due to capillary forces causing the slug to disintegrate. The numerical results are found to be qualitatively similar to experimental data.

Publication Title

ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Proceedings (IMECE)

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