International Journal of Multiphase Flow, Vol.23, No.1, 37-54, 1997
Local and Mean Heat-Transfer Coefficients in Bubbly and Slug Flows Under Microgravity Conditions
Experimental local heat transfer data were collected on-board NASA’s KC-135 reduced gravity aircraft for two-phase, air-water flow in vertical, upward, co-current flow through a 9.53 mm circular tube. It was found that in the bubbly and slug flow regimes (surface tension dominated regimes) reduced gravity has a tendency to lower the heat transfer coefficient by as much as 50% at the lowest gas qualities. As the gas-quality increases (transition to annular flow), the difference between the 1 - G and mu - G heat transfer coefficients is much less : significant. Due to minimal slip between the two-phases at mu - G conditions and a thermal entry length heat transfer coefficient profile similar to that for single-phase flows, it is proposed to predict the two-phase heat transfer coefficients with analytical single-phase thermal entry length solutions. This method was found to predict coefficients within +/-26% for bubbly and slug flow regimes for 3000 < Re-TP < 10,000 using superficial liquid Reynolds numbers. For Re-TP > 10,000, empirical single-phase turbulent correlations provide a reasonable match to the experimental data.