Bubble lengths in the gas–liquid Taylor flow in microchannels

• Published in: Chemical engineering research & design Vol. 88; no. 3; pp. 263 - 269
• Main Authors: Sobieszuk, Paweł, Cygański, Paweł, Pohorecki, Ryszard
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01-03-2010; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Bubble length; Chemical engineering; Correlation; Cross sections; Ethyl alcohol; Exact sciences and technology; Hydrodynamics of contact apparatus; Liquid slug length; Liquids; Microchannels; Microreactor; Microreactors; Reactors; Slugs; Taylor flow; Liquid slug length; Microreactor; Taylor flow; Bubble length; Bubble; Correlation; Two phase flow; Correlation analysis; Prediction; Rectangular cross section; Glass; Slug flow
• ISSN: 0263-8762
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cherd.2009.07.007

Experimental results of measurements of the bubble and slug lengths in Taylor (slug) flow are presented. The experiments were carried out using 3 different straight microchannels (microreactor with square cross-section made of polydimethyloxosilane (PDMS); microreactor with circular cross-section made of glass; microreactor with rectangular cross-section made of polyethylene terephthalate modified by glycol (PETg)) and 4 different liquids (water, ethanol propanol and heptane). The results have been compared with the available literature correlations. It is concluded, that the values obtained from the correlation proposed by Laborie et al. [Laborie, S., Cabassud, C., Durant-Bourlier, L., Laine, J.M., 1999. Characterization of gas–liquid two-phase flow inside capillaries. Chem Eng Sci 54, 5723–5735] do not agree with the results of measurements, while the agreement of these results with the predictions obtained using the correlation proposed by Qian and Lawal [Qian, D., Lawal, A., 2006. Numerical study on gas and liquid slugs for Taylor flow in a T-junction microchannel. Chem Eng Sci 61, 7609–7625] is good. New, corrected values of the pre-exponential constant and the exponents in the Qian and Lawal [Qian, D., Lawal, A., 2006. Numerical study on gas and liquid slugs for Taylor flow in a T-junction microchannel. Chem Eng Sci 61, 7609–7625] correlation are proposed.