Welcome to Journal of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Today is

›› 2017, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (2): 153-159.DOI: 10.7523/j.issn.2095-6134.2017.02.005

• Research Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Instability mechanism of interfacial waves in swirling annular gas-liquid flow

LIU Li, BAI Bofeng   

  1. State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China
  • Received:2016-04-25 Revised:2016-05-20 Online:2017-03-15

Abstract: To reveal the mechanism of interfacial wave instability in swirling annular gas-liquid flow, a theoretical model for interfacial waves is established based on the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability theory and the two-fluid model. The dispersion equation is derived, and the interfacial stability criterion is obtained and verified analytically. Results indicate that the interplay of aerodynamic, centrifugal, and surface tension forces gives rise to interfacial instability. Specially, the centrifugal force acting on the interface has triple effects on the stability, depending on the relative magnitudes of gas/liquid dynamic pressures. Effects of gas velocity, swirl intensity, and cylinder curvature on the growth characteristics of the interfacial waves are examined in detail.

Key words: swirling annular flow, interfacial wave, K-H instability, stability criterion

CLC Number: