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Fundamentals of Multiphase Flows: Ceesay Ousman-2018380144
Fundamentals of Multiphase Flows: Ceesay Ousman-2018380144
SCHOOL OF AERONAUTICS
Fundamentals of Multiphase
Flows
Ceesay Ousman-2018380144
Acknowledgement
Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to, Dr Shucheng Pan, for
teaching us the Fundamentals of Multiphase Flows course, throughout this
semester. It has been a very wonderful class. We get to learn all the necessary
requirements for course, from incompressible , compressible to phase change in
multiphase flows etc.
Introduction
Multiphase flow, refers to the simultaneous flow of more than one phase or component, e.g.,
distillation, absorption, evaporation, condensation, solvent extraction. It is particularly
prevalent and important in hydrocarbon production and refining, minerals transport, power
generation as well as in many environmental applications. The possible combinations of phases
are: gas/liquid; gas/solid; liquid/solid; the simultaneous flow of two immiscible
liquids ,gas/liquid/solids, bubbly flows and so on. The first four can be termed two-phase flow.
The last, more complex case can be found in some catalytic reactors. Hydrocarbon production
can involve the flow of gas, oil, water and solids emerging from the reservoir. Others focus
attention on a specific application such as slurry flows, cavitating flows, aerosols, debris flows,
fluidized beds and so on.
Cavitation
Cavitation is defined as the process of formation of the vapor phase of a liquid when it is
subjected to reduced pressure at constant ambient temperature. Thus, it is the process of boiling
in liquid as a result of pressure reduction rather than heat addition. However, the basic physical
and thermodynamic processes are the same in both cases. A liquid is said to cavitate when
vapor bubbles form and grow as consequence of pressure reduction. When the phase transition
results from hydrodynamic pressure changes, a two-phase flow composed of a liquid and its
vapor is called a cavitating flow. Cavitating flow may be seen and heard as water flows through
a glass venturi tube, an experiment first exhibited by Osborne Reynolds.
According to Bernoulli’s equation, where the velocity is increased, the pressure is decreased.
At sufficiently high flow rates, the liquid in the throat, where the velocity is highest and the
pressure is lowest, begins to boil. The small bubbles formed there are filled with cold steam
and other gases diffused from the liquid. Another example of cavitation occurs in the low-
pressure regions on ship propellers at high rotation speeds y focusing on the possibility of the
entrainment of air into the wakes of the propeller blades, a phenomenon we now term
ventilation.[Reynolds 1873]. The importance to research cavitation includes, its adverse effect
on performance, its ability to create noise and its ability to damage the nearby surface.
What Causes Cavitation?
Cavitation occurs in when the temperature and pressure of the liquid at the suction of the
impeller equals or drops below the vapor pressure. It can happen at low pressures and normal
operating temperatures. It results in the liquid turning to a vapor and creating very high
temperatures and pressures. Bubbles form during cavitation. As the pressure in the pump
increases, those bubbles collapse in the form of an implosion (equally as violent as an
explosion). The implosion creates shockwaves that cause damage by sending out razor sharp
shrapnel.
where U∞, p∞ and T∞ are respectively a reference velocity, pressure and temperature in the
flow (usually upstream quantities), ρL is the liquid density and pV (T∞) is the saturated vapor
pressure. In a particular flow as σ is reduced, cavitation will first be observed to occur at some
particular value of σ called the incipient cavitation number and denoted by σi. Further reduction
in σ below σi would cause an increase in the number and size of the vapor bubbles.
Suppose that prior to cavitation inception, the magnitude of the lowest pressure in the single-
phase flow is given by the minimum value of the coefficient of pressure, Cpmin. Cpmin is a
negative number and that its value could be estimated from either experiment on or calculations
of the single-phase flow. If cavitation inception were to occur when the minimum pressure
reaches the vapor pressure it would follow that the value of the critical inception number, σi,
would be simply given by:
σi = −Cpmin
Unfortunately, many factors can cause the actual values of σi to depart radically from
−Cpmin and much research has been conducted to explore these departures because of the
importance of determining σi accurately. Among the important factors are:
• The cavitation nuclei require a finite residence time in which to grow to observable
size.
• The ability of the liquid to sustain a tension so that bubbles do not grow to observable
size until the pressure falls a finite amount below the vapor pressure.
• the fact that measurements or calculations usually yield a minimum coefficient of
pressure that is a time-averaged value.
For a cavitation bubble in a region where the pressure is below the vapor pressure, the rate of
growth is roughly given by:
Assume that a parabolic pressure distribution near the minimum pressure point
( Brennen1995):
• the length of the region below vapor pressure is proportional to l(−σ − 𝐶"#$% )'/)
• the time spent in that region is l(−σ − 𝐶"#$% )'/) / 𝑈∞
• an estimate of maximum size, 𝑹𝒎 , is:
It is the basis for scaling cavitation phenomena and for designing model experiments. The
cavitation number at which cavitation begins is called the critical cavitation number. Above
the critical cavitation number, no cavitation occurs; below the critical, it does occur. Operation
with a cavitation number well below critical produces a very large cavitated region. In two-
phase, one-component flow, the cavity pressure is just the vapor pressure. In a multicomponent
flow, the cavity pressure is the sum of the partial pressures of the vapor of the liquid and of any
gases that may have been introduced into the cavity. In fact, a cavity developed entirely with
gas from an outside source behaves and appears very much like a cavity formed by means of
the vaporization process. Where a vapor cavity is compared with a cavity caused by introducing
air into the wake of the disc. To form the vapor cavity, the water channel was operated at high
speed and low pressure. The air cavity was formed by operating the channel at atmospheric
pressure and a much lower speed to obtain approximately the same cavitation number,
The size of the physical system being studied does not appear in the cavitation number, but it
is a factor in the Reynolds number. Consequently, as long as Reynolds-number effects are
taken into account properly, cavitation similarity requires only that the cavitation number be
the same for model and prototype. A model experiment can be made at lower speed than that
at which the prototype operates if we simultaneously reduce pressure under which the model
is operated. The operation of the cavitation of the cavitation tunnel is based on this principle.
pressure distributions in the liquid before collapse (left) and after collapse (right) (without viscosity or
surface tension).
The parameters are p∞ = 1 bar, γ = 1.4, and the initial pressure in the bubble was 10−3 bar. The values
attached to each curve are proportional to the time before or after the minimum size.
Thermal effects play a very important role in the final stage of collapse when the
bubble contents are highly compressed by the inertia of the in-rushing liquid.
The collapse of a cavitation bubble close to a solid boundary in a quiescent liquid. The theoretical shapes of Plesset and Chapman
(1971) (solid lines) are compared with the experimental observations of Lauterborn and Bolle (1975) (points). Figure adapted from
Plesset and Prosperetti (1977).
Series of photographs showing the development of the microjet in a bubble collapsing very close
to a solid wall (at top of frame). From Tomita and Shima (1990), reproduced with permission of
the authors.
Single vapor/gas volume prior to collapse. Just after minimum size the bubble appears as a cloud of much smaller bubbles
Cavitation Damage
The pressures associated with bubble collapse are high enough to cause failure of
metals. Cavitation can cause damage in a very short time. This effect is
demonstrated by oscillating an aluminum specimen in the surface of water, using
a magnetostriction oscillator. The specimen is driven vertically at a rate of 14,000
cycles per second. The total amplitude is only .002 inches, but the pressure is
changed from below vapor pressure as the button is accelerated upward to a high
pressure as it is accelerated downward. After one minute, the highly polished
surface has been eroded and considerable weight loss has occurred
CAVITATION BUBBLES
Typical cavitation events from the scaling experiments of Kuhn de Chizelle et al.
(1992b) showing transient bubble-induced patches, the upper one occurring on a
50.8 cm diameter Schiebe head form at σ = 0.605 and a speed of 15 m/s, the lower
one on a 25.4 cm headform at σ = 0.53 and a speed of 15 m/s. The flow is from
right to left. The life size widths of the photographs are 6.3cm (top) and 7.6cm
(bottom).
Cavitation Noise
where 𝑝8 is the radiated acoustic pressure and we denote the distance, r, from the
cavity center to the point of measurement by R
It is conventional to present the sound level using a root mean square pressure or
acoustic pressure, 𝑝; , defined by:
and to represent the distribution over the frequency range, f, by the spectral
density function, G(f). The noise due to cavitation in the orifice of a hydraulic
control valve is typical, and spectra from such an experiment are presented in
figure in next slide.
l The lowest curve at σ = 0.523 represents the turbulent noise from the
non-cavitating flow.
l Below the incipient cavitation number (about 0.523 in this case) there is a
dramatic increase in the noise level at frequencies of about 5kHz and
above.
l The spectral peak between 5kHz and 10kHz corresponds closely to the
expected natural frequencies of the nuclei present in the flow.
Acoustic power spectra from a model spool valve operating under noncavitating
(σ = 0.523) and cavitating (σ = 0.452 and 0.342) conditions.
Consider the frequency content of G(f) using the dimensionless frequency, f𝑡<= .
l For f 𝑡<= < 1 the Fourier transform of the volume is independent of
frequency.
l Consequently 𝑑 ) V/d𝑡 ) will be proportional to 𝑓 ) and therefore G(f) ∝ 𝑓 A
l The behavior at intermediate frequencies for which f𝑡<= > 1 has been the
subject of more speculation and debate.
l Most of the experimental results seem to exhibit an intermediate frequency
behavior like 𝑓 C' or 𝑓 C)
Acoustic power spectra of the noise from a cavitating jet. Shown are mean lines through two sets of
data. Typical asymptotic behaviors are also indicated. fr is the reference frequency.
where U and l are the reference velocity and length in the flow.
The discrepancy between the theory and the experiments is due to spherical
assumption. One interpretation of right figure is that the theory can provide an
order of magnitude estimate and an upper bound on the noise produced by a
single bubble. In actuality the departure from sphericity produces a less
focused collapse and therefore less noise.
Comparison of the acoustic impulse, I, produced by the collapse of a single cavitation bubble
on two axisymmetric headforms as a function of the maximum volume prior to collapse. Open
symbols: average data for Schiebe headform; closed symbols: ITTC headform;
If the impulse produced by each event is denoted by I and the number of events
per unit time is denoted by 𝑛̇ , the sound pressure level, 𝑝; , will be given by:
If the bubble radius at the time 𝑡' is denoted by 𝑅F and the coefficient of
pressure in the liquid at that moment is denoted by 𝐶"F , then:
If all the nuclei flowing through a certain, known stream tube (say with a cross-
sectional area, 𝐴% , in the upstream flow) were to cavitate similarly, then:
Different scaling laws will apply when the cavitation is generated by turbulent
fluctuations such as in a turbulent jet. The typical tension experienced by a
nucleus as it moves along a disturbed path in a turbulent flow is very much more
difficult to estimate. The models for the sound pressure due to cavitation in a
turbulent flow and the scaling of that sound with velocity are less well understood.
Cavitation Luminescence
Extremely high temperatures and pressures that can occur in the non-condensable
gas during collapse associated with the sonoluminescence radiation
Supercavitation
When the leading edge of a hydrofoil is sharp, cavitation begins at the edge. A
continuous vapor-filled cavity is formed, rather than a mass of small individual
bubbles. The cavity grows when the angle of attack is increased, when the
ambient pressure is reduced, or when the water speed is increased. When the
cavity extends beyond the trailing edge of the hydrofoil, the flow is called a
supercavitating flow.
A high-speed submerged object that is designed to initiate a cavitation bubble at
its nose. The density of water is 800 times larger than the vapor, so its drag. This
separation by this bubble substantially reduces the skin friction drag on the
supercavitating object, and achieve high speed. If the bubble is not long enough
to encompass the object, especially at slower speeds, the bubble can be enlarged
and extended by injecting high-pressure gas near the object's nose.
Supercavitating torpedo
Application of Cavitation
Chemical Engineering
In industry, cavitation is often used to homogenize, or mix and break down,
suspended particles in a colloidal liquid compound such as paint mixtures or milk.
Many industrial mixing machines are based upon this design principle. It is
usually achieved through impeller design or by forcing the mixture through an
annular opening that has a narrow entrance orifice with a much larger exit orifice.
In the latter case, the drastic decrease in pressure as the liquid accelerates into a
larger volume induces cavitation. This method can be controlled with hydraulic
devices that control inlet orifice size, allowing for dynamic adjustment during the
process, or modification for different substances. The surface of this type of
mixing valve, against which surface the cavitation bubbles are driven causing
their implosion, undergoes tremendous mechanical and thermal localized stress;
they are therefore often constructed of super-hard or tough materials such as
stainless steel, Stellite, or even polycrystalline diamond (PCD).
Cleaning
In industrial cleaning applications, cavitation has sufficient power to overcome
the particle-to-substrate adhesion forces, loosening contaminants. The threshold
pressure required to initiate cavitation is a strong function of the pulse width and
the power input. This method works by generating acoustic cavitation in the
cleaning fluid, picking up and carrying contaminant particles away in the hope
that they do not reattach to the material being cleaned (which is a possibility when
the object is immersed, for example in an ultrasonic cleaning bath). The same
physical forces that remove contaminants also have the potential to damage the
target being cleaned.
Advantages of Cavitation
§ Cavitation found application in ultrasonic cleaning baths. It has sufficient
force to overcome the adheres force between molecules of impurity and clean
surface.
§ Controlled cavitation phenomenon can be used to enhance a chemical
reaction.
§ Cavitation process uses to homogenize and mix the suspended particles in
colloidal liquids.
§ Cavitation used to improve the performance of high-speed marine vessels and
projectiles.
§ Cavitation in wastewater treatment - extreme cavitation use to break down
pollutants and organic molecules.
§ The field of material processing technologies and medicine use the
advantages of cavitation.
§ In shock wave lithotripsy, cavitation plays major roles in the destruction of
kidney stones. Cavitation also used in other medical treatments (eg:
Liposuction), where ultrasound is used.
Disadvantages of Cavitation
§ Shockwave produced by collapsing of bubble cause significant damage in
moving parts of hydraulic machines.
§ Cavitation causes vibration and noise.
§ Cyclic stress on boundary surface cause the fatigue of material.
§ Localized cavitation causes stress erosion of metallic surfaces and produce
cavities in it.
§ The shock wave produced by cavitation is the one of the problems of military
submarines, it exposes the position of submarine.
§ Cavitation in pumps, turbine and other hydraulic machines restricts the flow
of fluid and reduce the efficiency.
Conclusion
1. The results of cavitation investigations indicate the fact that cavitating flow is
a territory of flow which has its own laws independently of the place and form
of appearance and differs qualitatively from non-cavitating flows. The two flow
ranges are connected with each other by a transition where the laws of non-
cavitating flow are predominantly effective.
2. The laws of cavitating flow can be described with properly chosen cavitation
numbers. The characteristics of the flow are the extent of cavitation, its
periodicity and its kinematic structure.
5. The noise level curves show direct correlation to the erosion intensity curves.
Reference:
1. Shucheng Pan “ Lecture PPTs”