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Updated: May 4, 2026

Measurements of Local Instantaneous Convective Heat Transfer in a Pipe - Single and Two-phase Flow
Published on: April 30, 2018
On the prediction of the phase distribution of bubbly flow in a horizontal pipe
G H Yeoh1, Sherman C P Cheung2, J Y Tu2
1Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), PMB 1, Menai, NSW 2234, Australia ; School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia.
Abstract:
Horizontal bubbly flow is widely encountered in various industrial systems because of its ability to provide large interfacial areas for heat and mass transfer. Nonetheless, this particular flow orientation has received less attention when compared to vertical bubbly flow. Owing to the strong influence due to buoyancy, the migration of dispersed bubbles towards the top wall of the horizontal pipe generally causes a highly asymmetrical internal phase distributions, which are not experienced in vertical bubbly flow. In this study, the internal phase distribution of air-water bubbly flow in a long horizontal pipe with an inner diameter of 50.3 mm has been predicted using the population balance model based on direct quadrature method of moments (DQMOM) and multiple-size group (MUSIG) model. The predicted local radial distributions of gas void fraction, liquid velocity and interfacial area concentration have been validated against the experimental data of Kocamustafaogullari and Huang (1994). In general, satisfactory agreements between predicted and measured results were achieved. The numerical results indicated that the gas void fraction and interfacial area concentration have a unique internal structure with a prevailing maximum peak near the top wall of the pipe due to buoyancy effect.
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