Chemical Engineering Science 54 (1999) 1101—1107

Dispersed bubble flow in horizontal pipes

Paolo Andreussi , Alessandro Paglianti
*, Florencio Sanchez Silva
Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale, Universita+ di Pisa, Via Risorgimento 35, 56126 Pisa, Italy

Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, Chimica Industriale e Scienza dei Materiali, Universita+ di Pisa, Via Diotisalvi 2, 56126 Pisa, Italy
Escuela Superior de Ingenieria Mecanica y Electrica, Instituto Politecnico National, Col Lindavista, 07738 Mexico D.F., Mexico
Received 13 January 1997; accepted 13 August 1998

Abstract

A set of experiments has been performed to analyse gas-phase distribution in horizontal bubble flow. The experimental data have
been obtained by means of conductance probes and include measurements of the local void fraction and the bubble diameter and
velocity. Present observations show large variations of the local void fraction and the bubble size moving from the top to the bottom
of the pipe, with local maxima located close to the upper pipe wall. Measurements also show that, at the boundary of the dispersed
bubble flow regime, the bubble size, and therefore the surface available for heat and mass transfer, changes abruptly for small
variations of the liquid or gas flowrate. This change allows the transition between the dispersed and the elongated bubble regimes to
be identified with good precision. Present data make it possible to develop a new correlation for the maximum bubble size in dispersed
bubble flow.  1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Two-phase flow; Dispersed bubble flow; Bubble size

1. Introduction which certainly cover the DB and B regimes, and pos-

Gas—liquid bubble flow is of great importance in the
chemical and process industry, where a number of con-
tacting devices operate under bubble flow conditions in
order to attain large interfacial areas for heat and mass
transfer. With respect to the vertical configuration,
horizontal bubble flow received less attention in the
literature, probably because this flow orientation is not
common in industrial applications. Experimental obser-
vations are also difficult in this case, as the migration of
dispersed bubbles towards the top of the pipe, due to
buoyancy, causes a highly non-symmetric void distribu-
tion in the pipe cross-section.
In the literature there is little agreement about the
definition of bubble flow: Barnea (1987), for instance,
considers two distinct flow patterns, dispersed bubble
(DB) flow, observed for the full range of pipe inclinations,
and bubble (B) flow, which is reported to occur in the
vertical or near-vertical configuration. Holmes and
Russel (1975) and Van Der Welle (1985) present data
*Corresponding author. Tel.: 0039 50 511225; fax: 0039 50 511266.
E-mail address: alesseandro.paglianti@ing.unipi.it (A.Paglianti).
sibly other regimes, without any further classification of
the observed flow patterns. The distinction between DB
and B flow made by Barnea (1987) appears useful, but not
sufficiently clear. For instance, it seems necessary to
consider slug (S) and plug (P) flow patterns in this classi-
fication along with DB and B flows, as all these regimes
are characterised by a continuous liquid phase and a gas
phase which displays various degrees of segregation in
the liquid.
In the present paper it is proposed that the flow pat-
terns so far considered be classified according to the
various shape regimes observed for the flow of a single
bubble in a liquid. In particular, the flow regime charac-
terised by the presence of only spherical or nearly spheri-
cal bubbles is defined as dispersed bubble (DB) flow. It is
assumed that in bubble (B) flow, the bubble shape is
ellipsoidal or pulsating. Plug (P) flow is characterised by
the presence of elongated or Benjamin (Benjamin, 1957)
bubbles, whereas slug (S) flow is characterised by the
presence of aerated liquid slugs. In this paper the atten-
tion is focused on the DB regime, and the slug, plug
and bubble regimes, where coalescence becomes the
dominant process, have been grouped and classified as
elongated bubble (EB) flow.

0009-2509/99/$ — see front matter  1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 0 0 9 - 2 5 0 9 ( 9 8 ) 0 0 2 8 9 - 9
1102 P. Andreussi et al. /Chemical Engineering Science 54 (1999) 1101—1107
An objective identification of the transition between
DB and EB flow is useful in order to predict the rates of
heat and mass transfer between the two phases or be-
tween the wall and the two-phase mixture. In these cases,
it is necessary to know bubble size distribution. In the
literature many studies, based on the theories developed
by Kolmogoroff (1949), Hinze (1955) and Levich (1962)
have been conducted to predict bubble size. These the-
ories are based on the hypothesis that if a Weber number,
defined as
q
¼e" A , (1)
p/d

where q is a characteristic pressure or shear stress acting
A mounted on the bench by precision supports. Liquid and
on the bubble, p the interfacial tension and d the
 gas enter the pipe through a T-section. At the inlet,
maximum bubble size, exceeds a critical value, ¼e ,
 
a bubble of diameter larger than d breaks up due to
 which separates the liquid from the gas inlet.
the effect of turbulent velocity fluctuations.
The present work proposes a new correlation of
bubble size based on the Kolmogoroff—Hinze theory. The
experimental observations make it possible both to pre-
dict the maximum size of bubbles flowing in dispersed
bubbles regime and to identify the range of existence of
this flow pattern.
The present investigation has been carried out using
conductance probes (Andreussi et al., 1991) for the
measurements of bubble size, diameter and concentra-
tion. This technique, also adopted by Kocamustafaogul-
lari and Wang (1991), offers many advantages over other
methods, such as photography, light attenuation, ultra-
sonic attenuation or chemical absorption. To give an
example, Fig. 1 illustrates the local void fraction profile
along the vertical diameter determined with a local con-
ductance probe. As shown in this figure bubbles tend to
migrate toward the upper wall because of the influence of
buoyancy and a well-defined peak of the local void frac-
tion can be observed at a distance of 2—3 mm from the
upper pipe wall.
2. Experimental set-up
The experiments have been performed in the atmo-
spheric loop schematically shown in Fig. 2. Working
fluids are water and air. The liquid is circulated by two
centrifugal pumps of different size, while air is supplied
from a high-pressure line. Both streams are metered by
two sets of rotameters placed before the mixing section.
The pipe is mounted on an inclinable bench 17 m long,
the slope of which can be varied continuously in a range
of $3° by means of a motorised support. The test
sections consist of transparent Plexiglas tubes with inner
diameters of 18 and 50 mm, and the maximum length
equal to the length of the bench. The tubes are made of
carefully flanged, 2 m long, interchangeable sections
Fig. 1. Local void fraction along the vertical diameter.
stratified flow conditions are created by a thin diaphragm
The tube is equipped with differential pressure trans-
ducers to measure pressure drops, and with an absolute
transducer to determine the gas density. The cross-sec-
tion mean void fraction has been measured by the con-
ductance probe method (two-ring probe) described by
Andreussi et al. (1988). The test section used for the
measurement of the local void fraction and bubble size is
located 12 m far from the inlet section and about 5 m
from the outlet. These distances make it possible to
obtain a fully developed dispersed bubble regime.
Measurements of the local bubble concentration have
been performed by means of the conductance probe,
schematically shown in Fig. 3a. The probe is made of
a thin copper wire, 0.3 mm in diameter, mounted inside
a stainless steel tube, 1.0 mm OD. The copper wire is
electrically insulated, except for the tip, and faces the flow
with a sharpened section 0.5 mm long. The presence of
gas bubbles at the tip can be detected by the drop of the
electrical conductance between the copper wire and the
stainless-steel tube. The distance between the tip and
the tube is less than 1 mm. Considering the size of the
probe, it can be assumed that measurements of bubble size
and local void become reliable when the typical bubble
size is above 2 mm. In this range of bubble sizes, a com-
parison between the mean void fractions, measured with
the two-ring probe (Andreussi et al., 1988), and evaluated
from the measurements taken with the local probe, gave
satisfactory results, with a difference between the two
values of less than 20%. Considering that local probe
measurements, on a pipe cross-section, were only taken
along four diameters (see Fig. 4) and that in this example
a significant fraction of small bubbles was present, the
agreement between these values appears to be acceptable.
The analog signal from the local conductance
probe was converted into a digital signal and stored in
the transient recorder of a Lecroy 9400 Digital Oscil-
loscope. Each sequence of data was transferred to a PC and
analysed. This procedure was followed in order to use
 P. Andreussi et al. /Chemical Engineering Science 54 (1999) 1101—1107 1103

Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of the experimental set-up.

Fig. 3. Conductance probes for local void measurements (a), and for bubble velocity measurements (b).

large sampling frequencies. Considering that the transit
time of a bubble 2 mm in diameter moving at 5 m/s is
0.4 ms, an acceptable sampling frequency in these experi-
ments has been estimated to be of the order of 25 kHz.
An even larger sampling frequency on two channels is
required in order to obtain a good measurement of the
transit time of a bubble between the two-tip probe used
for velocity measurements. Bubble size has been derived
from the transit time, as the product between transit time
and bubble velocity. Bubble velocity has been assumed to
be given by the 1/7 power law relative to single phase
turbulent flow in a pipe. In order to check this assump-
tion bubble velocity has also been measured with the
probe shown in Fig. 3b. The distance between the two
tips is 4.1 mm, and as can be seen, the two-tip probe is
normal to the flow direction rather than parallel, as the
single-tip probe. Considering the short distance be-
tween the electrodes and the large sampling frequency,
the measurements of the local velocity are fairly accu-
rate. Andreussi et al. (1991) have shown that these
1104 P. Andreussi et al. /Chemical Engineering Science 54 (1999) 1101—1107

Fig. 4. Local void along on different pipe diameters. Inclination meas- Fig. 5. Experimental value of d plotted against the superficial mix-
ured with respect to the horizontal. (D"50 mm, v "0.2 m/s, 
 ture velocity.
v "4.4 m/s).


measurements are consistent with other experimental stable bubble size in the DB regime considering only data
observations made at the University of Pisa and that, as relative to d (6 mm.

a first approximation, the bubble velocity profile is close According to the Kolmogoroff—Hinze theory, d can

to the turbulent velocity profile relative to single phase be determined from Eq. (1), where the value of ¼e has
 
flow in a pipe. an order of magnitude
1. In the analysis of present
In the following, the maximum bubble size has been measurements it is necessary to assess the effect of coales-
defined, as suggested by Hesketh et al. (1987), as the cence on d , as the Kolmogoroff—Hinze theory was

diameter that is larger than 99% of all the diameters in developed for single bubble flow in a turbulent liquid
the distribution. This approach allows reliable data on stream. It is also necessary to define the characteristic
the maximum bubble size to be obtained. shear stress to be used in the definition of ¼e . A few
 
authors, Barnea (1986), Thomas (1981) and Hesketh et al.
(1987), following the Kolmogoroff—Hinze theory, as-
3. Analysis of measurements sumed that q scales as
A
q " o v , (2)
3.1. Maximum bubble size in the DB regime A  J A
where the characteristic velocity v is defined as
A
It is assumed that dispersed bubble (DB) flow is char-
acterised by the presence of spherical bubbles of small v "(2(ed ). (3)
A 
size (a few millimeters) flowing in the pipe. When bubbles In this equation, d is the maximum bubble size that
lose their spherical shape, coalesce with other bubbles 
can exist when a single bubble flows in a full liquid pipe,
sharply increases and elongated bubble (EB) flow is ap- e is the energy dissipation due to turbulence
proached. This hypothesis is confirmed by present
measurements of bubble size. Fig. 5 represents the max- 2fv
e" AN , (4)
imum bubble size, d (evaluated as d ), as a function of D
 
the superficial mixture velocity. This figure shows that
and v is the velocity of the continuous phase, equal to
two regions exist and that the transition between them AN
the mixture velocity, v .
occurs at an approximately constant value, d ,
6 mm,
  K
According to this hypothesis, d can be estimated as
of the maximum bubble size, independently of the super- 

ficial gas or liquid velocity and of the pipe diameter. At
the transition between DB and EB regimes, the max-
   o
imum bubble size and therefore, the area available for
heat and mass transfer change abruptly, for instance, at
v "0.2 m/s, D"50 mm, d is 6 mm for v "3.8 m/s

 K
and is 30 mm for v "3.4 m/s.
K E J
Present observations have been interpreted assuming
that the maximum bubble size in dispersed bubble flow
depends on a critical Weber number and that, at the
transition to EB, bubble size increases without bond.
Present data show that this happens for d '6 mm. It

is then possible to develop a correlation for the maximum


p 
d "¼e e\. (5)
J
Eq. (1) has been modified by Levich (1962), who included
in the definition of the critical Weber number the density
ratio o /o raised to 1/3 power. Recently, Hesketh et al.
(1987) were able to interpret available data relative to the
flow of gas—liquid, and also liquid—liquid dispersions on
the basis of the theory developed by Levich.
Present experiments do not allow the effect of density
ratio on bubble size to be detected, but according to the
theories developed by Kolmogoroff, Hinze and Levich, it
 P. Andreussi et al. /Chemical Engineering Science 54 (1999) 1101—1107 1105

can be assumed to be equal to the non-slip void fraction

a , defined as a "v /(v #v ).
 A· E "¼e "¼e (1#aaN L),
Fig. 6. Local void fraction (a) and local d
 tained for ¼e taking into account the effect of coales-
diameter (D"50 mm, v "0.15 m/s, v "4.53 m/s).
K K   
In conclusion, the maximum bubble size observed in
DB flow can be correlated by the equation


d q o 
(7)
p o    
J
where the parameters ¼e , a and n can be evaluated by
 
a best fit procedure, and q is defined as in Eq. (2). In
A
Eq. (7) the Weber number has been multiplied by the
density ratio raised to 1/3 power, as proposed by Levich
(1962) in order to make a comparison between present
data and the correlation proposed by Hesketh et al.
(1987). The results obtained are reported in Fig. 7a, which
shows the experimental values of ¼e plotted against
 
the mean void fraction. As can be noticed from this
figure, the scatter is appreciable. On the other hand, the
value found for the critical Weber number at zero void,
¼e "1.05, is very close to the value determined by
 
Hesketh et al. (1987), ¼e "1.1, on the basis of a wider
 
set of experimental conditions. The final correlation ob-
(b) along the vertical
 
). (8)
can be expected that the Weber number, as defined in
Eq. (1) be a constant. This is approximately true for low
void fractions, but is definitely incorrect at increasing
values of the gas to liquid ratio.
The effect of void fraction on bubble size is apparent
from data relative to bubble size along the vertical dia-
meter. These data are plotted in Fig. 6 along with the
measurements of the local void fraction as a function of
the vertical coordinate. From this figure, it can be noticed
that bubble size increases from a value of approximately
1.7 mm close to the bottom of the pipe, where the void is
about zero, to a maximum of about 3.7 mm at the top,
where the void attains its maximum (a
0.13). experimental relation between ¼e and a in this case.
These data confirm that the critical Weber number or
the maximum bubble size increases with the local void
fraction. It is then necessary to modify the definition of
¼e in order to take into account the effect of bubble
 
coalescence. Calderbank (1958) and Barnea (1986) pro-
). (9)
posed that the actual maximum bubble diameter, d ,

can be related to the bubble diameter at zero void frac-
tion, d , by the equation

d "d (1#aaL), (6)

 Using this equation the mean square error between mea-
where a and n are two adjustable parameters and a is the

local void fraction.
In the present work, the local void fraction has only
been determined for a limited set of flow conditions. It is
then necessary to develop a correction for bubble coales-
cence based on the mean void fraction, a, rather than the
local value. As the slip between the gas and the liquid is
negligible, in horizontal flow, the mean void fraction, a,
 
cence is
¼e "1.05(1#51.7aN 
 
An alternative correlation can be based on the assump-
tion that the characteristic shear or pressure force acting
on a bubble, q simply scales as the wall shear stress, q .
A 

This approach can be justified considering that in hori-
zontal flow the largest bubble is found very close to the
upper wall, at a position where the time averaged radial
velocity profile is far from being uniform. Under these
circumstances, the maximum stable bubble diameter may
depend on the mean shear stress rather than the dynamic
effect of turbulent velocity fluctuations.
The results are reported in Fig. 7b which represents the
 
A comparison between Figs. 7a and b shows that a better
correlation of the experimental measurements is ob-
tained when q is assumed to be the wall shear stress. The
A
correlation obtained for ¼e in this case is
 
¼e "0.11(1#8.30aN 
 
The different value obtained for ¼e with respect to the
 
previous correlation is due to the choice of the character-
istic shear stress q , as equal to the wall shear stress q .
A 

sured and predicted value of d
is 12%. Eq. (8) gives
a mean square error of 19%.
Flow regime transitions
Bubble sizes reported in Fig. 5, allow the two flow
patterns, DB and EB, to be clearly identified. In fact, for
each gas flow, a limiting value of the liquid velocity below
1106 P. Andreussi et al. /Chemical Engineering Science 54 (1999) 1101—1107
Fig. 7. Experimental Weber number plotted against the experimental
void fraction (present experimental data D"50 mm circles, present
experimental data D"18 mm squares). (a) Weber number evaluated
using Eq. (2), to evaluate the shear stress, (b) Weber number evaluated
using the wall shear stress.
which the bubble size increases without bond can easily
be detected. Fig. 5 indicates that at the transition between
the DB and EB flow regimes, the bubble size is about
independent of the gas and the liquid velocity and of the
pipe diameter, and is approximately equal to 6 mm.
In the present paper it is proposed that flow regime
transitions are related to bubble shape transitions. In
particular, the bubble shape in DB flow is spherical, while
in EB flow the bubble shape is ellipsoidal or pulsating. In
the pulsating regime, bubbles tend to oscillate and when
rising in a stationary liquid to deviate from their vertical
trajectories. Under these circumstances, coalescence in
a bubble swarm becomes important and, due to coales-
cence, the transition between shape regimes determines,
as well, the transition between the different flow patterns
observed in gas—liquid flow.
In order to determine bubble shape transitions, Clift
et al. (1978) introduced the Eötvös number defined as
g(o !o )d
Eo( " J E   .
p
At the transition between spherical to elongated bubbles,
the value of the Eötvös number depends on the property
group, M, defined as
gk (o !o )
M" J J E.
po
J
The definition of the Eötvös number given in Eq. (10)
can be used for a single bubble flowing in a pipe full of
liquid. To take into account the presence of a large
number of bubbles, the mean density of the gas—liquid
mixture should replace the density of the liquid phase in
the definition of the Eötvös number. This gives for the
critical Eötvös number, Eo( , the following relation:
 
g(o !o )(1!aN )d
Eo( " J E   , (12)
  p
For the fluid pair investigated in the present work,
assuming d +6 mm, it is found that the Eötvös num-
 
ber at the DB—EB transition is approximately equal to 5.
This value is appreciably larger than the value proposed
by Clift et al. (1978), Eo( "0.4. However, it should be
considered that the Eötvös number varies with d and
 
that in present experiments we determined the size of the
largest bubble in the pipe cross section, rather than
a cross-section averaged value, which can be appreciably
smaller, see Fig. 6.
A discrepancy between the experimental value of the
critical Eötvös and the results obtained by Clift et al.
(1978) was also noted by Barnea et al. (1982) for bubble
flow in vertical pipes. These authors showed that the
results obtained with the approach of Clift et al. (1978)
tend to underestimate the limit at which bubbles behave
as rigid spheres.
4. Conclusions
A set of measurements of the maximum stable bubble
size in gas—liquid horizontal flow allowed the transition
between dispersed (DB) and slug/plug flow (EB) to be
clearly detected. For a given fluid pair, this transition
seems to occur at a constant value of the Eötvös number,
as previously proposed by Barnea (1982) for vertical
pipes.
Present measurements also allowed a correlation for
the maximum stable bubble size in DB flow to be derived.
This diameter, being linked to the surface available for
heat and mass transfer, is considerably important in the
design of process equipment. The present correlation is
based on the concept that above a critical Weber num-
ber, bubbles become unstable and break. Although this
approach to the problem is well established in the litera-
ture, some questions arise on the effect of the void frac-
(10) tion on bubble size and, as well, on the characteristic
shear or pressure force to be used in the definition of the
Weber number.
The experimental observations examined in the pres-
ent paper, allowed the effect of the void fraction on
bubble size to be clearly detected. It also appears that
present measurements are better correlated assuming
(11)
that the characteristic shear acting on a bubble scales as
 P. Andreussi et al. /Chemical Engineering Science 54 (1999) 1101—1107 1107

the wall shear stress, rather than as proposed in previous Superscripts

correlations.
o at zero void fraction
— mean value
Nomenclature

a adjustable parameter [Eq. (7)]

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