International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 49 (2006) 4220–4230

www.elsevier.com/locate/ijhmt

The effect of tube diameter on vertical two-phase

flow regimes in small tubes
L. Chen a, Y.S. Tian b, T.G. Karayiannis a,*

a
School of Engineering and Design, Brunel University, West London, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 3PH, UK
b
Aspentech Inc., 90 Milton Park, Abington, Oxfordshire OX14 4RY, UK

Received 5 July 2005

Available online 5 June 2006

Abstract

Flow boiling flow patterns in four circular tubes with internal diameters of 1.10, 2.01, 2.88 and 4.26 mm were investigated in the pres-
ent project. The experiments were conducted in vertical upward two-phase flow using R134a as the working fluid. The observed flow
patterns include dispersed bubble, bubbly, confined bubble, slug, churn, annular and mist flow. The flow characteristics in the 2.88
and 4.26 mm tubes are similar to those typically described in normal size tubes. The smaller diameter tubes, 1.10 and 2.01 mm, exhibit
strong ‘‘small tube characteristics’’ as described in earlier studies. The sketched flow maps show that the transition boundaries of slug-
churn and churn-annular depend strongly on diameter. On the contrary, the dispersed bubble to churn and bubbly to slug boundaries are
less affected. The transition boundaries are compared with existing models for normal size tubes showing poor agreement.
 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Flow patterns; Two-phase flow; Small diameter; Vertical

1. Introduction and Cornwell [1] reported that two-phase flow exhibits dif-
ferent flow and heat transfer characteristics when the con-
The literature review carried out as part of this project finement number, Co = (r/DqgD2)1/2, is greater than 0.5.
revealed that there are a number of vague statements and For instance, isolated bubbles prevail when Co > 0.5 and
discrepant results in the reported studies of two-phase flow form a typical flow regime in small tubes, i.e. confined bub-
regimes in small channels, which need further experimental ble flow. Brauner and Moalem-Maron [2] recommended
work and theoretical investigation. To start with, the clas- Eötvös number, defined as Eö = (2p)2r/DqgD2, as the crite-
sification of normal, small and microchannels is not as yet rion indicating confinement effects. They stated that sur-
well defined. Currently, the lack of general agreement on face tension dominates when Eö > 1 and this marks the
this issue makes the comparison between the experiments boundary for small passages. Triplett et al. [3] found that
difficult, especially when using different fluids or at different stratified flow became impossible when Eö > 100 in their
experimental conditions. Engineers used to regard tube experiments indicating size effects. Akbar et al. [4] summa-
diameters in the order of centimetre and millimetre as nor- rized the previous studies and concluded that the buoyancy
mal and small-scale tubes, respectively. Now many effect can be negligible when the Bond number,
researchers think the criterion ought to be based on the Bo = (DqgD2/r)1/2, is less than 0.3 for which condition
combination of channel size and fluid thermo-hydraulic the flow regimes are insensitive to the channel orientation.
properties rather than only on channel dimension. Kew In fact, all classification numbers, Co, Eö and Bo, consider
the effect of fluid density, surface tension and channel size
*
Corresponding author.
on two-phase flow. Table 1 illustrates the different results
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (Y.S. Tian), tassos. given by the above three criteria, i.e. the size of a tube that
[email protected] (T.G. Karayiannis). indicates deviation from normal size behaviour. The

0017-9310/$ - see front matter  2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2006.03.025
 L. Chen et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 49 (2006) 4220–4230 4221

Nomenclature
hqffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffii
Bo Bond number D2 gðql  qg Þ=r Subscripts
hqffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffii g saturated gas/vapour
Co Confinement number r=D2 gðql  qg Þ gs based on superficial gas velocity
D tube diameter, m l saturated liquid
Eö Eötvös number [(2p)2Co2] ls based on superficial liquid velocity
g gravitational acceleration, m/s2
u velocity, m/s
We Weber number [qDu2/r]

Greek symbols
q density, kg/m3
r surface tension, N/m

Table 1 hima and Hibiki [9]. The disagreements are obvious. For
The different criteria for small tubes example, large differences exist at the transition boundaries
Parameters Air/water R134a of dispersed bubble (or bubble) flow to intermittent flow
Pressure (MPa) 0.10 0.60 1.00 1.40 and the transition boundary of intermittent to annular flow
Temperature (C) 25.0 21.6 39.4 52.5 predicted by Barnea et al. and the rest of the researchers.
Surface tension 7.20E02 8.39E03 6.15E03 4.61E03 Furthermore, the flow pattern descriptions presented by
Gas density 1.185 29.04 49.06 70.7
Liquid density 997.0 1218.2 1148.3 1090.2
different researchers show variations. Oya preferred a
Gravitational acceleration 9.81 9.81 9.81 9.81 detail classification. He reported simple bubble, granular-
lumpy bubble, simple slug, fish-scale type slug, piston, long
Critical diameter (mm)
piston, froth and annular in his experiments. From his
Criterion based on Eö = 1 17.1 5.3 4.7 4.3 description and sketch, simple bubble and granular-lumpy
Criterion based on Co = 0.5 5.4 1.7 1.5 1.4
Criterion based on Eö = 100 1.71 0.53 0.47 0.43
bubble are bubble flow and the other, except annular, are
Criterion based on Bo = 0.3 0.81 0.25 0.23 0.20 intermittent flow. In the flow map reported by Barnea
et al. the flow patterns were classed as dispersed bubble,
discrepancy is quite large especially if Eö = 1 is included. elongated bubble, slug, churn and annular. They grouped
For example, as seen in the table, for the air/water mixture
the criteria give a range from 0.81 to 17.1 mm. Note that
the diameter corresponding to Co = 0.5 is 6.66 times that
based on Bo = 0.3. Similarly the diameter is proportional
to Eö1/2 so changing the criterion Eö = 100 to Eö = 1
increase the critical diameter by a factor of 10. Therefore,
the need for further work to clarify and conclude on the
classification of normal and small size tubes is obvious.
The distinction between small diameter channels, mini-
channels and microchannels based on heat transfer results,
is not clearly established in the literature, Kandlikar [5]. He
reviewed the developments and application of flow boiling
in channels and summed up that: 3 mm may be the lower
limit for the hydraulic diameters of the conventional evap-
orator tubes; channels employing hydraulic diameter
between 200 and 3 mm maybe referred to as minichannels;
tubes with 10–200 lm hydraulic diameter could be consid-
ered as microchannels. This is of course a general classifica-
tion and further verification and adoption maybe needed.
In addition to the above, there is also inconsistency on
the identification of flow patterns. Some flow maps
sketched by different researchers may be dissimilar even
though they used similar tubes under similar conditions.
Fig. 1 compares the vertical upward flow maps by Oya Fig. 1. Comparison of the air–water vertical upward flow maps at room
[6], Barnea et al. [7], Fukano and Kariyasaki [8], and Mis- condition.
4222 L. Chen et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 49 (2006) 4220–4230

elongated bubble, slug and churn as intermittent flow. Mis-

hima and Hibiki’s classification is similar to that of Barnea
et al. They used bubbly flow instead of the dispersed flow
and elongated bubble in Barnea et al., Fukano and Kariya-
saki described only three flow patterns: dispersed bubble,
intermittent and annular flow. Therefore, the experimental
results can hardly be recognized or compared since there is
no accepted benchmark among these researchers.
The factors affecting flow patterns are numerous and
complex. In addition, the identification of flow patterns
maybe greatly affected by the observer’s subjectivity and
the experimental technique employed. The transition from
one flow pattern to another may be abrupt but in most
cases it is a gradual development process in which case
the transition boundary becomes a transition zone. Within
the transition zone the flow patterns possess characteristics
of more than one of the flow patterns. Although there are
arguments on the classification of flow patterns, most
Fig. 2. Comparison by Mishima and Hibiki [9] of their experimental
researchers agreed to categorise flow patterns into four
results for upward vertical flow with the model of Mishima-Ishii [12].
main classes: stratified flow, intermittent flow, annular flow
and bubble flow. Each main class could be subdivided into
normal size tubes and reported good agreement. Mishima
subclasses. Table 2 lists the typical descriptions for two-
and Hibiki [9] sketched air–water flow maps for 1–4 mm
phase flow patterns in normal and small tubes. Similar to
vertical tubes at atmospheric conditions based on their
normal size tubes, the observed flow patterns in small tubes
experiments. They found that the transition boundaries
in the earlier studies could be placed in the above-men-
were predicted well by the Mishima-Ishii’s model [12], as
tioned four main classes. However, on close observation,
seen in Fig. 2. However, most researchers came to a differ-
the flow patterns in small tubes exhibit different character-
ent conclusion because the existing models for normal
istics. For example, comparing with normal size tubes,
channels ignore the effect of surface tension. Therefore,
stratified smooth flow is hardly observed in small channels
any such comparison lacks theoretical foundation
whilst confined bubble flow emerges gradually in small
[11,10,3]. Fig. 3 is a comparative plot of the experimental
channels due to the enhanced effect of surface tension.
results of Damianides and Westwater [11] for air–water
There is also a ‘‘problematic’’ region near intermittent
in a 1 mm internal diameter tube with the models presented
and annular flow in small tubes. In this region the flow
was observed as either wavy annular [7,10] or pseudo-slug
[11], depending on the observers.
Although significant progress has been achieved and
numerous results are now available, the theoretical study
on small channel flow patterns is still at an early stage.
No general model or correlation for small channels is val-
idated or accepted widely. Some researchers tried to predict
flow patterns in small tubes by the models deduced from
Table 2
Classification and description of flow patterns
Main class Subclass for Subclass for
normal tubes small tubes
Stratified flow Stratified smooth Stratified wavy
Stratified wavy
Bubble flow Bubbly Bubbly
Dispersed bubble Dispersed bubble
Intermittent flow Plug Plug (confined bubble
or elongated bubble)
Slug (Taylor bubble) Slug (Taylor bubble)
Churn Churn
Pseudo-slug
(wavy annular)
Annular flow Annular Annular
Fig. 3. Comparison between the 1 mm horizontal air–water flow map at
Mist Mist
atmospheric condition from Damianides and Westwater [11] and the
Wispy annular
models from Taitel and Dukler [13] and Barnea et al. [7].
 L. Chen et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 49 (2006) 4220–4230 4223

in Taitel and Dukler [13] and Barnea et al. [7]. The figure et al. [14]. The results are compared in Fig. 4. The authors
shows clearly that not only the stratified flow did not suggested that the general applicability of the correlation
appear in the 1 mm horizontal tube but also all transition needed further validation.
boundaries cannot be predicted properly by the Taitel– The actual effect of diameter on the flow regimes is also a
Dukler model [13] and the Taitel modified model [7]. current topic of debate. Theoretically, flow patterns are less
In traditional flow maps the transition boundaries are affected by channel orientation in small channels due to the
identified based on the gas–liquid interface configuration. relatively reduced effect of gravity as compared with large
However, a few flow regimes for small tubes as well as in tubes. Therefore, the effect of channel dimension on the
experiments in microgravity were depicted based on force transition boundaries should be similar whether in vertical
analysis in recent reports. Akbar et al. [4] divided the entire or in horizontal flow. However, researchers could not reach
flow map for small tubes into four regions: (1) surface ten- agreement on it. Damianides and Westwater [11] studied the
sion-dominated region, which included bubbly, plug and flow regimes using air–water in horizontal tubes for the
slug; (2) inertia-dominated zone 1, which included annular range of inside diameters 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 mm. They reported
and wavy-annular regimes; (3) inertia-dominated zone 2, that surface tension becomes a very important factor when
for the dispersed flow regime; (4) transition zone. They pro- the tube diameter is less than 5 mm at the experimental
posed semi-experimental correlations for regime predic- conditions (10–25 C and atmospheric pressure). Some
tions based on the above criteria and the previous common tendencies of the transition boundaries were dis-
experimental data in small channels, see Table 3. The cor- covered in their studies. For instance, the intermittent-dis-
relations use the Weber number, Wels ¼ ql u2ls D=r and persed bubble transition boundary moves to the region of
Wegs ¼ qg u2gs D=r, see also nomenclature, as the reference lower liquid flow rate with decreasing tube diameter; the
parameter which represents the ratio of surface tension intermittent-annular transition boundary moves to regions
and inertial force. The sketched transition boundaries of higher gas flow rate with decreasing tube diameter, the
agreed with the relevant data for air–water like fluid in cir- stratified flow region gradually shrinks with decreasing tube
cular and near-circular small tubes with 1 mm hydraulic diameter until it vanishes completely in the 1 mm tube.
diameter at room conditions except the data of Mishima However, Coleman and Garimella [10] reported opposite
trends. They too studied air–water in horizontal tubes of
Table 3 diameters 1.3, 1.75, 2.6 and 5.5 mm at atmospheric condi-
The semi-experiential correlations for small tubes [4]
tions. The results show clearly that the tube diameter has
Flow regime Conditions and equations a significant effect on the transition boundaries. For exam-
Surface tension dominated zone Wegs 6 0:11We0:315
ls (Wels 6 3.0) ple, the transition boundary of intermittent to dispersed
Wegs 6 1.0 (Wels > 3.0) bubble flow changes significantly as the tube diameter
Inertia dominated zone 1 Wegs P 11:0Wels0:14
changes from 5.50 to 1.30 mm. However, the tendency of
(annular flow zone) Wels 6 3.0
Inertia dominated zone 2 Wegs > 1.0 intermittent-dispersed bubble boundary to move to higher
(froth-dispersed flow zone) Wels > 3.0 liquid flow rates with decreasing diameter contradicts the
results of Damianides and Westwater [11]. For vertical tubes
similar disagreements were reported. For example, Lin et al.
[16] studied air–water flow patterns in 0.5–4.0 mm diameter
tubes at the condition of 20 C and 1 bar. They observed
that the transition boundaries for slug to churn and churn
to annular shift towards the region of lower gas flow rate
as the tube diameter decreases. However, contradictory con-
clusions were reported by Zhao and Bi [17]. They experi-
mentally investigated the characteristics of co-current
upward air–water two-phase flow patterns in vertical equi-
lateral triangular channels with hydraulic diameters of
2.886, 1.443 and 0.866 mm. They reported that dispersed
bubbly flow shifted to higher liquid superficial velocity
whilst churn and annular flow occurred at higher gas super-
ficial velocity as the channel size was reduced. This tendency
contradicts completely that reported by Lin et al. [16]. The
results described above are summarized in Table 4.
In this study, accurate flow visualization experiments on
adiabatic R134a flow patterns in small tubes were carried
out. The main objectives of the work include: (i) obtain
Fig. 4. The comparison between the correlations proposed by Akbar et al. flow pattern maps, (ii) identify the critical diameter at the
[4] and the experimental data for circular and near-circular channels with current experimental conditions, (iii) compare flow pat-
1 mm diameter. See also Refs. [3,4,11,14,15]. terns with existing models and (iv) verify the effect of tube
4224 L. Chen et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 49 (2006) 4220–4230

Table 4
The direction of boundary shift with reducing channel dimensions
Researcher Orientation Diameter (mm) Fluid Intermittent/dispersed Intermittent/annular Stratified flow
Damianides and Westwater [11] Horizontal 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Air–water Lower uls Higher ugs Lower ugs lower uls
Coleman and Garimella [10] Horizontal 1.3, 1.75, 2.6, 5.5 Air–water Higher uls Higher ugs Lower ugs lower uls
To dispersed bubble Slug/churn To annular
Lin et al. [16] Vertical 0.5–4 Air–water Lower ugs Lower ugs
Zhao and Bi [17] Vertical 0.87, 1.44, 2.89 Air–water Higher uls Higher ugs Higher ugs
Intermittent flow: plug or slug for horizontal tube and bubbly or slug for vertical tube.

diameter on flow patterns. Four different size tubes were flow is formed in the calming section. Two-phase flow is
studies, 1.10, 2.01, 2.88 and 4.26 mm which are expected created by supplying electric current directly onto the
to cover the range from normal to small size tubes. thin-wall steal tube – the heating section. The observation
section, a Pyrex glass tube with the same internal diameter
2. Experimental facility as the steel heating tube, is directly connected to the outlet
of the heating section. Flow patterns were observed and
The experimental facility comprises three parts, i.e. the recorded by a high-speed digital camera (Phantom V4 B/
R22 cooling system, the R134a experimental system, and W, 512 · 512 pixels resolution, 1000 pictures/s with full
the control and data acquisition system. Fig. 5 shows the resolution and maximum 32,000 pictures/s with reduced
R134a experimental system. The facility is made of stain- resolution, minimum 10 ls exposure time).
less steel, which is also suitable for a wide range of fluids The vital measurements in the flow pattern experiments
including water. The liquid and vapour superficial velocity are the temperatures (T3), the pressures (P3, P4, P0), the
of R134a can reach 5 and 10 m/s, respectively. Details of flow rate (F1 or F2) and the heating power (DPM2) in the
the experimental system can be found in Chen et al. [18]. test section, see Figs. 5 and 6. The thermocouple T3 uses
Four test sections, see Fig. 6, with internal diameter of the water triple point as a reference so as to improve the
1.10, 2.01, 2.88 and 4.26 mm were examined. A test section measuring accuracy. The same experimental facility was
is composed of a calming section, a heating section and an used for a parallel heat transfer study [19]. Hence more ther-
observation section. Fully-developed single-phase liquid mocouples were included in the rig and test section, e.g.

12 V8

T p
V9
T0 P0 V18
11 15
T4 P4
V21 13 p

RRCS
T
TT(n) 7
RRCS

V17 V16
V21
TT(i)
V19 V20 V13 DPM2
RRCS R22 refrigeration cooling system 10
DPM Digital power meter V6
V15 TT(3)
H Heater V10 TT(2) T2 T p P2
T5 P5 TT(1)
LH High Level indicator
T p T p
LL Low Level indicator V12 V11 T3 P3
9
Heating power supplier T6 T Test Section DPM1
8
T1~Tn Thermocouple probe number
V23 LH V7
T Thermocouple probe 1
RRCS

14 T7 T
V14
TT1~TTn Thermocouple wire number P1 p
V22 2 V2 V3 5 F1 V4
Thermocouple wire LL H

P1~Pn Pressure transducer number 3 4 T1 T

6 F2 V5
p Pressure transducer
V1
V1~Vn Valve number
Valve
Ball valve 1. R134a tank 2. R134a pump 3. Filter dryer 4. Sight glass
Needle valve 5. Small Coriolis flow meter 6. Big Coriolis flow meter 7. Chiller 8. Preheater
3-way ball valve 9. Calming section 10. Heating section 11. Observation section 12. Separator
Safety valve 13. R134a condenser 14. Small R134a condenser 15. High speed camera

Fig. 5. Schematic diagram of the flow patterns experimental system (the R22 cooling system is not shown).
 L. Chen et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 49 (2006) 4220–4230 4225

Table 5
Summary of the uncertainty of the key experimental parameters

Flange Item Measurement Uncertainty

range range
Heating section 1.10 mm 1.31%
Pressure (stainless ID tube
Thermocouple (T0)
transducer (P0) steel tube) 2.01 mm 0.59%
ID tube
ID 2.01 mm 2.88 mm 0.38%
Observation section ID tube
(glass tube) 4.26 mm 0.26%
ID tube

Thermocouple (T4) Observation 1.10 mm 0.36%

Pressure section ID tube
transducer (P4) Electrode (direct heating) (glass tube) 2.01 mm 0.17%
ID tube
2.88 mm 0.06%
Flow direction

ID tube
Heating section 4.26 mm 0.11%
(steel tube) ID tube
ID 2.01 mm
Pressure P3 6–14 bar 0.42%
Electrode P4 6–14 bar 0.26%
Pressure P0 6–14 bar 0.26%
transducer (P3) Thermocouple (T3)
Temperature T3, T4, T0 20–55 C 0.16 K
Calming section ID 2.01 mm TT1  TT15 >20 C 0.16 K
Flow rate Small meter 0.5–25 kg/h 0.15–0.54%
CMF010
Large meter 25–500 kg/h 0.15–0.22%
Flange CMF025
Heating power Test section 2.68–1640 W 0.10–0.49%
Differential 24% full scale 0–0.0608 bar 21.16 Pa
Fig. 6. Schematic diagram of the 2.01 mm test section.
pressure 100% full scale 0.0608–0.2491 bar 77.43 Pa
Quality 1.10 mm 0–100% 0.14–1.37%
TT(1)  TT(n). In the present study they were used to esti- (absolute test section
mate the heat loss and verify the condition at point 4, see error) 2.01 mm 0–100% 0.14–2.88%
Fig. 5. This data was also used to estimate the heat loss in test section
2.88 mm 0–100% 0.14–3.33%
the observation section. The system pressure is controlled test section
through a heater in the R134a tank. The heater power is 4.26 mm 0–100% 0.14–3.21%
automatically adjusted by a PID controller based on the sig- test section
nal of the pressure at the exit of the observation section (P0). Gas superficial 1.10 mm 0.01–10 m/s 0.011–0.41 m/s
All the instruments were carefully calibrated. Table 5 velocity 2.01 mm 0.01–10 m/s 0.006–0.34 m/s
summarizes the uncertainties of the key parameters in the 2.88 mm 0.01–10 m/s 0.004–0.32 m/s
current experiments. The overall system performance was 4.26 mm 0.01–10 m/s 0.002–0.32 m/s
validated through single-phase experiments, e.g. the turbu- Liquid 1.10 mm 0.04–5 m/s 0.0009–0.15 m/s
lent experimental friction factor agreed with the Blasius superficial 2.01 mm 0.04–5 m/s 0.0003–0.07 m/s
equation within ±5% over the Reynolds range of 4000– velocity 2.88 mm 0.04–5 m/s 0.0002–0.05 m/s
4.26 mm 0.04–5 m/s 0.0001–0.03 m/s
110,000. The experimental parameters at the observation
point in the two-phase flow patterns experiments were
deduced from the inlet and outlet saturated pressures and 3. Experimental results
the assumption that the pressure drop along the observation
section was linear. The liquid and vapour superficial veloc- Dispersed bubble, bubbly, slug, churn and annular flow
ities were varied and calculated for each diameter and pres- were observed in all four test sections. Occasionally mist
sure by changing the flow rate and heating power, see [18]. flow was observed in the bigger tubes at very high vapour
The number of data points near the transition boundaries velocity whilst confined bubble flow was found in smaller
was higher than that at other conditions in order to get tubes at lower vapour and liquid velocity. The above-men-
more details at that zone. All the recorded data were taken tioned seven flow patterns are defined as follows:
at steady state conditions. This was verified by plotting the
temperature and pressure at the inlet and exit of the test sec- Dispersed bubble: numerous small bubbles float in a
tion against time and ensuring that they were steady. continuous liquid phase.
4226 L. Chen et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 49 (2006) 4220–4230

Bubbly: bubble size is comparable to but not as large as tently. This discontinuous liquid droplet flow may be the
the tube diameter. result of the collapse of liquid slug in churn flow in the
Confined bubble: bubble size reaches the diameter of the heating section. The high velocity vapour current breaks
tube and is confined by the tube wall. They have regular up the liquid bridges and creates numerous liquid droplets.
vapour-liquid interface and spherical cap and bottom. After that, the experiments were stopped in the 2.01 and
Slug: bubbles develop into bullet shape due to the tube 2.88 mm tubes before reaching critical heat flux. The
wall restriction. Sometimes the bullet bubble is followed 1.10 mm tube was not tested under very high fluid velocity
by a stream of small bubbles creating a trail. because the resulting excessive pressure drop caused system
Churn: bullet bubbles start to distort and small bubbles unsteadiness. Similar results were obtained at the 6 and
in liquid slug coalesce into gas clump with increase of 14 bar pressures. As stated before, all the flow patterns
gas velocity – a highly oscillatory flow with chaotic observed in the four tubes could be categorized in the
interface. above typical regimes. However, on close observation,
Annular: gas phase becomes a continuous flow in the there are some differences among these tubes. Confined
core of tube. bubble flow, similar to slug flow but with elongated spher-
Mist: liquid film is blown away from tube wall and ical top and bottom bubbles, was only observed in the
numerous liquid droplets float in high-speed vapour 1.10 mm tube at 6.0–14.0 bar and the 2.01 mm tube at
flow. 6.0 bar. It indicates that surface tension was grown into
the dominant force in the smaller tubes at the lower fluid
Figs. 7–10 show the above flow patterns at 10 bar pres- velocities. With the increase of fluid velocities, as shown
sure. The flow patterns in 2.01 and 4.26 were first reported in Fig. 7, the gas–liquid interface became irregular and cha-
in Chen et al. [18] but are included here for completeness. otic. Inertial force and friction gradually replace surface
Overall the flow patterns in the four tubes are similar and tension to become the important factors in flow pattern
could be grouped into the above seven typical patterns – transition.
note that pure mist flow was obtained in the 4.26 mm tube The flow patterns in the 2.88 and 4.26 mm tubes do not
only. Annular-mist transition flow was observed in the exhibit any common characteristics of the flow patterns in
2.01, 2.88 and 4.26 mm tubes, i.e. liquid film sticks on the small tubes. Comparatively, the flow patterns in the
tube wall whilst the liquid droplets pass through intermit- 2.01 mm tube show some ‘‘small tube characteristics’’,

Fig. 7. Flow patterns observed in the 1.10 mm internal diameter tube at 10 bar.

Fig. 8. Flow patterns observed in the 2.01 mm internal diameter tube at 10 bar.
 L. Chen et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 49 (2006) 4220–4230 4227

Fig. 9. Flow patterns observed in the 2.88 mm internal diameter tube at 10 bar.

Fig. 10. Flow patterns observed in the 4.26 mm internal diameter tube at 10 bar.

which indicates the increasing action of surface tension and maps for the 1.10 and 2.88 mm tubes cannot be predicted
tube confinement, e.g. the appearance of the confined bub- by the models and the discrepancy is higher in the smaller
ble flow, the slimmer vapour slug, the thinner liquid film tubes. For example, the shaded region in which the pre-
around the vapour slug, and the less chaotic vapour–liquid dicted annular flow falls into the region of slug flow
interface in churn flow. When tube diameter decreases to increases and the disagreement on the transition boundary
1.10 mm, the full small tube characteristics, as also of dispersed bubble to slug flow between our data and the
described in the previous studies [6,11,8,9,3,16], are exhib- predictions increases as the diameter gets smaller.
ited. Therefore, the 2.01 mm tube possesses both character- The effect of diameter on flow pattern transition bound-
istics of normal size and small size tube. From this point of aries is depicted in Figs. 15 and 16. Reducing the diameter
view, a tube diameter around 2.0 mm can be regarded as shifts the transition boundaries of slug-churn and churn-
the critical diameter for refrigerant R134a at the current annular to higher vapour velocities. This result is in agree-
experimental conditions. This result agrees with the crite- ment with the experiments of Zhao and Bi [17], Coleman
rion by Kew and Cornwell [1], e.g. 1.7–1.4 mm at 6–14 bar. and Garimella [10] and Damianides and Westwater [11]
Twelve flow pattern maps were generated based on all but contrary to the results of Lin et al. [16]. Also, the dis-
the results obtained for the 1.10, 2.01, 2.88 and 4.26 mm persed bubble–bubbly boundary shifts to higher liquid
tubes at 6, 10 and 14 bar pressure. The flow pattern maps velocity with a reduction in the diameter, which agrees with
for the 2.01 and 4.26 mm tubes were compared with the Zhao and Bi [17] and Coleman and Garimella [10] but is in
existing models for vertical upward flow in normal size disagreement with the report of Damianides and West-
tubes and showed poor agreement in Chen et al. [18]. water [11], see Table 4. There seems to be no change for
The models included the unified model summarized by Tai- these four diameters at the boundaries of dispersed bub-
tel [20] and the models given by Taitel et al. [21], Mishima ble-churn and bubbly-slug flow. The trends are similar
and Ishii [12] and McQuilian and Whalley [22]. Compara- for P = 10 bar.
tively the unified model matched the experimental data bet- The suitability of number of different parameters (17 in
ter for the 4.26 mm tube than the other models. Therefore, total listed in Chen [23]), as coordinates in addition to the
Figs. 11–14 depict the comparison of the experimental flow superficial velocities, were also examined in the present pro-
maps for the 1.10–4.26 mm tubes with the unified model ject. An interim conclusion reached is that the use of the
summarized by Taitel [20] to investigate its applicability Weber number may be a good choice, see Figs. 17 and 18.
for the smaller tubes. As expected, the newly obtained flow As seen in the figures, almost all transition boundaries,
4228 L. Chen et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 49 (2006) 4220–4230

Fig. 11. Flow pattern map for R134a in the 4.26 mm tube at 10 bar and Fig. 13. Flow pattern map for R134a in the 2.01 mm tube at 10 bar and
comparison with the unified model [20]. comparison with the unified model [20].

Fig. 12. Flow pattern map for R134a in the 2.88 mm tube at 10 bar and Fig. 14. Flow pattern map for R134a in the 1.10 mm tube at 10 bar and
comparison with the unified model [20]. comparison with the unified model [20].

except bubble-dispersed bubble and slug-churn at the lower the flow patterns at the current experimental conditions
uls region, are superimposed. There seems to be a perfect are predicted well. The same conclusion was obtained when
match for these transition boundaries for all pressures. It the experimental results for 6 and 14 bar were compared
seems to indicate that the effect of channel size is to a great with the correlation of Akbar et al. The possible explana-
extend correctly represented by the Weber number and may tion to such discrepancy is (1) the proposed correlations
be useful in deducing the flow regimes for different size were based on the experimental data using air–water in
tubes from such maps. However, this needs further study horizontal tubes, (2) Akbar et al. suggested Bo = 0.3 as
and validation. the criterion to define a small tube, i.e. the corresponding
Fig. 19 compares the present experimental data at critical diameter is less than 0.25 mm at the present exper-
10 bar and the semi-experimental correlation for small imental conditions, see Table 1. Therefore, the correlations
tubes [4]. Obviously the results show poor agreement. proposed by Akbar et al. [4] may not be applicable in this
The transition boundaries predicted by the correlations case. The development of a general set of correlation equa-
(see Table 3) are sketched in solid lines and the current tions needed to cover the range of small to microdiameters
observed flow patterns are labelled in brackets. None of calls for further research work.
 L. Chen et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 49 (2006) 4220–4230 4229

Fig. 15. Effect of diameter on transition boundaries at 6 bar. Fig. 17. R134a flow map in We coordinate system at 6 bar.

Fig. 18. R134a flow map in We coordinate system at 14 bar.

Fig. 16. Effect of diameter on transition boundaries at 14 bar.

the above observations and is about 2 mm for the current

4. Conclusions experimental conditions. Twelve flow pattern maps were
drawn and compared with the existing models for normal
Seven typical flow patterns were observed in the present size tubes indicating significant differences in the 4.26 mm
experimental conditions, i.e. dispersed bubble, bubbly, con- tube and more so for the smaller tubes. The boundaries
fined bubble, slug, churn, annular and mist. The experi- of slug to churn and churn to annular moved to higher
mental results indicate that the flow patterns for the vapour velocity whilst the dispersed bubble to bubbly
larger diameters (2.88 and 4.26 mm) strongly resemble flow boundary moved to higher liquid velocity when the diame-
pattern characteristics found in normal size tubes. When ter changed from 4.26 to 1.10 mm. The diameter does not
the tube diameter was reduced to 2.01 mm, the flow pat- seem to affect the dispersed bubble to churn and bubbly
terns exhibit some ‘‘small tube characteristics’’ until the to slug. The current research and experimental data indi-
confined bubble flow appears in the 1.10 mm tube at all cates that the Weber number may be the right parameter
experimental pressures which indicates that surface tension to deduce general correlations to predict the transition
became the dominant force. The critical diameter used to boundaries that include the effect of diameter. This can
distinguish small and normal pipes could be deduced from form the basis or subject for further research in this area.
4230 L. Chen et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 49 (2006) 4220–4230

[8] T. Fukano, A. Kariyasaki, Characteristics of gas–liquid two-

phase flow in a capillary tube, Nucl. Eng. Des. 141 (1993) 59–
68.
[9] K. Mishima, T. Hibiki, Some characteristics of air–water two-phase
flow in small diameter vertical tubes, Int. J. Multiphase flow 22 (4)
(1996) 703–712.
[10] J.W. Coleman, S. Garimella, Characterization of two-phase flow
patterns in small diameter round and rectangular tubes, Int. J. Heat
Mass Transfer 42 (1999) 2869–2881.
[11] D.A. Damianides, J.W. Westwater, Two-phase flow patterns in a
compact heat exchanger and in small tubes, in: Second UK National
Conference on Heat Transfer, vol. 11 Sessions 4A–6C, 1988, pp.
1257–1268.
[12] K. Mishima, M. Ishii, Flow regime transition criteria for upward two-
phase flow in vertical tubes, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 27 (5) (1984)
723–737.
[13] Y. Taitel, A.E. Dukler, A model for predicting flow regime
transitions in horizontal and near-horizontal flow, AIChE 22 (1976)
47–55.
[14] K. Mishima, T. Hibiki, H. Nishihara, Some characteristics of air–
water two-phase flow in small diameter tubes, in: Proceedings of the
2nd International Conference Multiphase Flow, vol. 4, April 3–7,
Fig. 19. The comparison between the correlations proposed by Akbar Tokyo, Japan, 1995, pp. 39–46.
et al. [4] and the present experimental data at 10 bar. [15] C.Y. Yang, C.C. Shieh, Flow pattern of air–water and two-phase R-
134a in small circular tubes, Int. J. Multiphase Flow 27 (2001) 1163–
1177.
References [16] S. Lin, P.A. Kew, K. Cornwell, Two-phase flow regimes and heat
transfer in small tubes and channels, in: Heat Transfer1998,
[1] P.A. Kew, K. Cornwell, Correlations for the prediction of boiling Proceedings of 11th IHTC, vol. 2, August 23–28, Kyongju, Korea,
heat transfer in small-diameter channels, Appl. Therm. Eng. 17 (8–10) 1998, pp. 450–500.
(1997) 705–715. [17] T.S. Zhao, Q.C. Bi, Co-current air–water two-phase flow patterns
[2] N. Brauner, D. Moalem-Maron, Identification of the range of small invertical triangular microchannels, Int. J. Multiphase Flow 27 (2001)
diameter conduits, regarding two-phase flow pattern transitions, Int. 765–782.
Commun. Heat Mass Transfer 19 (1992) 29–39. [18] L. Chen, Y.S. Tian, T.G. Karayiannis, R134a Flow patterns in small
[3] K.A. Triplett, S.M. Ghiaasiaan, S.I. Abdel-Khalik, D.L. Sadowski, diameter tubes, J. Process Mech. Eng., Proc. Inst. of Mech. Engrs.,
Gas–liquid two-phase flow in microchannels, Part I: Two-phase flow Part E 219 (2005) 167–181.
patterns, Int. J. Multiphase Flow 25 (1999) 377–394. [19] X. Huo, Y.S. Tian, T.G. Karayiannis, R134a flow boiling
[4] M.K. Akbar, D.A. Plummer, S.M. Ghiaasiaan, On gas–liquid two- heat transfer in small diameter tubes, Int. J. Heat Exchangers, in
phase flow regimes in microchannels, Int. J. Multiphase Flow 29 press.
(2003) 855–865. [20] Y. Taitel, Flow pattern transition in two phase flow, Keynote lecture,
[5] S.G. Kandlikav, Fundamental issues related to flow boiling in in: 9th International Heat Transfer Conference, Jerusalem, Israel, 19–
minichannels and microchannels, Exp. Therm. Fluid Sci. 26 (2002) 24 August, 1990, pp. 237–254.
389–407. [21] Y. Taitel, D. Barnea, A.E. Dukler, Modelling flow pattern transitions
[6] T. Oya, Upward liquid flow in small tube into which air streams (1st for steady upward gas–liquid flow in vertical tubes, AIChE 26 (1980)
report, Experimental apparatus and flow patterns), vol. 14, no. 78, 345–354.
1971, pp. 1320–1329. [22] K.W. McQuillan, P.B. Whalley, Flow patterns in vertical two-phase
[7] D. Barnea, Y. Luninski, Y. Taitel, Flow pattern in horizontal and flow, Int. J. Multiphase Flow 11 (2) (1985) 161–175.
vertical two phase flow in small diameter pipes, Can. J. Chem. Eng. 61 [23] L. Chen, Flow patterns in upward two-phase flow in small diameter
(5) (1983) 617–620. tubes, Ph.D. thesis, Burnel University, UK, submitted.