Chapter 2

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Basic Definitions of Two-Phase Flow Parameters

In this chapter, some of the most common flow parameters are defined. For pipe flow,
one is usually interested in local properties and in cross-sectional average properties.

1. Void Fraction
One of the most important properties in two-phase flow is the void fraction. The
void fraction α, is a measure of the relative volume of gas in a volume element.
In principle, the void fraction at an infinitesimal volume is either 1 for gas or 0
for liquid. However, the local value of α is usually given as a time average. For
steady state conditions, this time average can be performed over a long period. For
transient conditions, the average is taken during a short time period τ, where τ
is sufficiently short relative to the transient changes and sufficiently long to get a
meaningful average value; thus the local temporal void fraction is defined as:
+τ/2
tZ
1
r , t) ≡
α(E r , t ′ )dt ′
αt (E (1)
τ
t −τ/2

where αt , the temporal local void fraction is 0 or 1 during the time interval t − τ/2
and t + τ/2. For pipe flow the local temporal void fraction α is specified at an axial
position z along the pipe and x and y, or r and ϕ in the pipe cross-sectional area A,
α = α (z, x, y, t).
For flow in pipes, one is usually interested in the average value across an area A.
Thus, the average void fraction in a cross-section A is:
Z
1
α(z, t) = α(z, r, ϕ, t)d A (2)
A
A

9
 10 Modeling of Gas Liquid Flow in Pipes

2. Density
The local density depends on the local density of the gas ρG , the local density of the
liquid ρL , and the local void fraction, thus

ρ = αρG + (1 − α)ρL (3)

For the case, where the gas and the liquid densities are considered constant
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within a particular cross-sectional area, the average cross-sectional density is

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ρ = αρG + (1 − α)ρL (4)

where α is defined by (2).

3. Mass Concentration
The void fraction α, is a volume concentration, while C and C are the local and the
cross-sectional average mass concentration, respectively:
αρG αρG
C= and C = (5)
ρ ρ
The density can be calculated based on α (Eqs. (3) and (4)) or on the gas mass
concentration C, namely:

1 C 1−C 1 C 1−C
= + , = + (6)
ρ ρG ρL ρ ρG ρL

4. Superficial Velocity, Volumetric Flux

The local z-component of the flow rate per unit area (superficial velocity) is
calculated by:
d QL d QG d(Q G + Q L )
ULS = , UGS = , US = (7)
dA dA dA
where d Q L is the infinitesimal liquid flow rate across a small area d A, ULS is the
superficial velocity of the liquid, UGS is the superficial velocity of the gas and US is
the total mixture volumetric flux (total superficial velocity).
The average liquid superficial velocity in the cross-sectional area is:
ZZ ZZ
QL 1 d QL 1
U LS = = dA = ULS d A (8)
A A dA A
A A

Q L is the total liquid volumetric flow rate at a specific cross-sectional area.

 Basic Definitions of Two-Phase Flow Parameters 11

5. Mass Flux
The local z component of the mass flow rate per unit area (mass flux) is calculated by:
dW L dW G d(WG + WL )
GL = , GG = , G= (9)
dA dA dA
where dW L is the infinitesimal mass liquid flow rate across a small area d A, G L is
the mass flux of the liquid, G G is the mass flux of the gas and G is the total mixture
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mass flux.
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The average cross-sectional liquid mass flux G L , is:

ZZ ZZ
WL 1 dW L 1
GL = = dA = GL d A (10)
A A dA A
A A

G G and G are obtained similarly.

6. Velocity
The local velocity of gas or liquid equals the local superficial velocity divided by
the local void fraction
ULS UGS
UL = , UG = (11)
1−α α
The average velocity in a cross-section is:
U LS U GS
UL = , UG = (12)
1−α α
Note that the average gas and liquid velocities are not calculated using a standard
average operator, namely
ZZ
1
U G 6= UG d A (13)
A
A

7. Relative or Slip Velocity

The slip velocity is defined as the difference between the gas and liquid velocities:
VGL = UG − UL = −VLG , V GL = U G − U L = −V LG (14)

8. Slip Ratio
The slip velocity ratio is the ratio of the gas velocity to the liquid velocity
UG UG
SG = , SG = (15)
UL UL
 12 Modeling of Gas Liquid Flow in Pipes

9. Drift Velocity
The local drift velocity is defined as the velocity of the gas (or liquid) relative to the
mixture velocity:

VGD = UG − US (16)

The cross-sectional average drift velocity is

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αV GD
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V GD = (17)
α
where the over-bar indicate conventional cross-sectional averaging
ZZ
1
αV GD = αVGD d A (18)
A
A

One can show (see Zuber–Findlay, Section 14) that

V GD = U G − C0 U S 6 = U G − U S (19)

where C0 is termed the distribution parameter

αU S
C0 = (20)
αU S

10. Drift Flux

The drift flux of the gas or the liquid is the local flow rate per unit area of each phase
relative to the local mixture velocity (can be considered as the superficial velocity
of each phase in a coordinate system attached to the mixture velocity), thus

VGS = α(UG − US ), VLS = (1 − α)(UL − US ) (21)

The cross-sectional average gas drift velocity is

V GS = α(U G − C0 U S ) (22)

11. Diffusion Velocity

Similar to the definition of the drift velocity, the diffusion velocity is relative to the
mass flow rate (velocity of the center of mass),

G G
VGm = UG − , V Gm = U G − (23)
ρ ρ
 Basic Definitions of Two-Phase Flow Parameters 13

12. Quality
The local gas mass flux (Eq. (9)) divided by the local total mass flux is defined as
the local quality X,

dW G /d A WG
X= , X= (24)
d(WG + WL )/d A WG + WL
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Note that the gas mass concentration C (Eq. (5)) is the in situ concentration,
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whereas the quality is the mass flow rate ratio. For a homogeneous mixture, both
phases have the same velocity and the quality is identical to the mass concentration.

13. Some Relations

Many useful relations can be derived based on the above definitions. Some examples
are given below. The derivations are left as an exercise for the reader.
Liquid velocity in terms of mass flux and diffusion velocity:

G ρG α
UL = − V Gm (25)
ρ ρL (1 − α)

Superficial mixture velocity:

G ρC(ρL − ρG )
US = + V Gm (26)
ρ ρL ρG

The diffusion velocity as a function of the drift velocity:

ρL  
V Gm = V GD + (C0 − 1)U S (27)
ρ
" #
ρG + C(ρL − ρG ) G
V Gm = V GD + (C0 − 1) (28)
ρG + C(ρL − ρG )(1 − C0 ) ρ

Gas and Liquid momentum flux may be presented in terms of the mass flux and
the diffusion velocity,
2
2 2 G 2 C
U L ρL (1 − α) + U G ρG α = + V Gm ρ (29)
ρ 1−C
Defining the mixture enthalpy as ρH = ρL αL HL + ρG αG HG , the following
relation is valid:

ρL αL UL HL + ρG αG UG HG = GH + VGm ρC(HG − HL ) (30)

 14 Modeling of Gas Liquid Flow in Pipes

14. Zuber–Findlay Distribution Parameter

Zuber and Findlay (1965) calculated the average gas and liquid velocities, in terms
of the average mixture superficial velocity and the average drift velocity.
The local gas superficial velocity is
UGS = UG α = α(US + VGD ) (31)
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The average over a cross-sectional area A yields

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U GS = αU S + αV GD (32)
Using the definition of the average gas velocity (Eq. (12)) yields
U GS αU S αV GS
UG = = US + (33)
α αU S α
or
U G = C0 U S + V GD (34)
C0 is the distribution parameter. Unlike the local gas velocity, which is the sum
of the local superficial mixture velocity plus the local drift velocity (Eq. (16)),
the calculation of the cross-sectional average gas velocity requires to include the
distribution parameter to the average superficial mixture velocity. Note that C0 is
different than 1, when both the cross-sectional velocity distribution as well as the
void fraction distribution are not uniform.
For example, consider two-phase flow with quadratic velocity profiles and a
quadratic void fraction profile,
  r 2    r 2    r 2 
UG = UGC 1 − , UL = ULC 1 − , α = αC 1 −
R R R
(35)
If UGC = 2 m/s, ULC = 1.5 m/s and αC = 0.5, the calculation yields the
following values:
α = 0.25, U G = 1.333 m/s, U L = 0.667 m/s, U GS = 0.333 m/s, U LS = 0.5 m/s,
C0 = 1.35 and V GD = 0.208 m/s
We may note that during most of the following text, we refer to the pipe cross-
sectional average variables. Thus for simplicity the over-bar that indicates average
values is usually omitted.

Reference
Zuber, N. and Findlay, J.A. (1965). Average volumetric concentration in two-phase flow
systems. J. Heat Transfer 87(4), pp. 453–468.