The Chemical Engineering Journal, 10 (1975) 57-64
@Ekevier Sequoia S.A., Lausanne. Printed in the Netherlands
Studies of Gas-Liquid (Non-Newtonian) Slug Flow:
Void Fraction Meter, Void Fraction and Slug Characteristics
R. G. ROSEHART
School of Engineering, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario (Canada)
E. RHODES and D. S. SCOTT
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario (Canada)
(Received 27 February 1975; in final form 28 May 1975)
Abstract
Measurements are reported of the void fraction, slug
velocity and slug frequency for the cocurrent slug flow
of highly viscous non-Newtonian fluids and air. The
experimental work was performed in a horizontal
tubular test section 2.54 cm in internal diameter and
10.67 m long. Three different polymer solutions were
used over wide concentration ranges.
The void fraction and slug characterization measure-
ments were carried out with a specially constructed
coil void fraction meter operating in a capacitive mode.
This system allowed not only the measurement of the
instantaneous void fraction but also a recording of the
slug voidage trace.
Correlations are presented for void fraction, slug
velocity and slug frequency, noting in all cases the
effects of fluid rheology and apparent viscosity.
INTRODUCTION
One of the most difficult parameters to measure in
two-phase slug flow is the void fraction. Void fraction
is defined as the fraction of the total tube volume
occupied by the gas, or the fraction of the tube cross
sectional area occupied by the gas phase. This para-
meter is needed for various engineering calculations
involving heat and mass transfer since it allows the
calculation of the mean velocities of the two phases
from a knowledge of the volumetric flows. It can also
be important in interfacial area calculations.
In this paper a new method of determining the
void fraction is described, which is based on the dif-
ference in electrical properties of air and water. Along
with void fraction, an instantaneous slug voidage
57
measurement is available and from these data various
slug characteristics can be determined.
Previous work in the field of slug flow character-
ization has focused mainly on the Newtonian gas-
liquid system. The work of Hubbard and Dukleri> 2
(refs. 1 and 2 are reviewed in ref. 3) and of Gregory4
are examples of the slug flow literature dealing with
slug parameter classification for air-water systems.
The only work of this nature in which a non-New-
tonian liquid was used is that of Oliver and Young
Hoon who studied the viscous flow of CMC and
Polyox in a 0.635 cm capillary tube. They reported
some data on void fraction but no indication was
given as to the flow regime. Because of the interest
to chemical engineers of non-Newtonian cocurrent
two-phase flow systems, e.g. the flow with a gas of a
concentrated slurry, the following systems were
chosen for study. Air, used as the gas phase, was con-
tacted with water and also with aqueous soIutions of
CMC7H3S, Carbopol941 and Polyhal1295 for the
liquid phases. Empirical rheological constants for the
various solutions were determined with a Weissenberg
rheogoniometer.
VOID FRACTION METER DEVELOPMENT
Introduction
The often occurring non-homogeneous structure of
gas-liquid flow complicates the measurement of the
void fraction. For example in the “slug flow” pat-
tern, the void fraction varies rapidly with respect
to both time and space from values of zero to
unity.
Void fraction has been measured by a wide variety
58 R. G. ROSEHART, E. RHODES, D. S. SCOTT

of methods6-8. Most of the reported measurements

have been of the physical type in which the flow is
trapped between quick closing valves enabling the
measurement of the phase volumes. The main disad-
vantages of this method9 are that the drainage of
viscous fluids in the test section can be a problem and //I,//,,“““““~““”
/,’ / ,, ,DIELECTRIC
in flow patterns such as slug flow, when several slugs // ,/,,,/I ,x.,x,. ,I,

have to be trapped, a long and often cumbersome test

section is required. The advantage of the quick closing
valve method is that the measurement is volume
averaged and any difference in velocity between the
gas and liquid phases has no effect on the measure- DIODE
, 0 33/d
ment. Nuclear radiation instruments have been used II
L

in high pressure heat transfer research to measure the

volume fraction of liquid at a flow plane and an excel-
lent review is given by Petrick’. Olsen* has given an
excellent review of available electrical methods; the
basic measurement involved in these methods is that
of the electrical impedance between two electrodes INSTANTANECUS VOID
L
separated by a dielectric material. The impedance of e
the electrode system, which is dielectric-dependent, INTEGRATED VOID

can consist of a resistance, an inductance and a reactive
(capacitance) component. The dielectric can be
measured using either a bridge circuit, a resonating
circuit or a reactance circuit. Olsen himself used the
impedance meter but his electrode was of a mesh
type and obstructed the flow. Belllo and his co-workers
at Champlain Power Products developed a bridge-type
circuit and used a star-shaped electrode, which also
obstructs the flow. Experience with this unit has shown
that it is very sensitive to flow distribution in the sensor,
and further work is needed. Ikor” has developed an
electrical void meter system based on the capacitance
circuit. Little information is available on the operation
of this unit, but the sensor consists of two spiral coils.
Meter construction and operating principles
A new resonating circuit technique was developed for
the purposes of this work. The void meter itself was
made by winding two fine wires side by side on a
mandrel 2.54 cm in internal diameter. The resulting
parallel coils had 162 turns each on a tube length of
13.97 cm. They were spaced by a gap of 0.0178 cm.
The coils were covered with epoxy resin before the
inner mandrel was removed. A schematic diagram of
the electronic system is shown in Fig. 1 and further
details are given in ref. 9.
When one coil was activated by a high frequency
a.c. generator a voltage was induced in the secondary
coil. The induced voltage was dependent upon two
factors: (a) the velocity of the dielectric fluids flowing
through the coil; and (b) the actual dielectric property
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the electrical system of the void
fraction meter.
of the fluids inside the coil. Electromagnetic flow
meters work on the basis of factor (a) but for a void
meter (a) has to be eliminated, leaving only (b), i.e. an
induced voltage solely dependent upon the core mixture
dielectric. In this work, the effect of (a) was eliminated
by using only de-ionized water or non-conducting
fluid in the test section, a limitation on the device which
did not affect our application.
The investigation of the capabilities of the void trans-
ducer was quite a lengthy procedure. By trial and error,
a large frequency range was studied t’o locate the reson-
ating frequencies of the coil. (It is at these frequencies
that the electrical characteristics of the coil are most
sensitive.) The coil was tuned at 470 kHz input with
firstly air and then de-ionized water present in the core.
At this frequency both air and water registered con-
siderable output voltages (-0.1 and 0.2 V respectively)
and the difference between the two (~0.1 V) was suf-
ficient to allow good distinction between the two
phases. After calibration of the instrument with water
at 470 kHz a series of polymer solutions were tried at
the same frequency-CMC, Polyhal1295 and Carbopol
941. These solutions posed a problem because the in-
duced voltage characteristics of the polymers tended
to be closer to the induced voltage of the air phase.
The voltage separation at 470 kHz between the air and
liquid was so small that it was impractical to use. Hence
other frequencies were checked and the only one that
GAS-LIQUID SLUG FLOW 59

gave a reasonable result was 5 1.5 MHz. At this fre-

quency, the output voltage with liquid present was about
3 mV and the output with air present was close to zero
indicating that the coil was hardly resonating. The cali.
bration curve for 5 1.5 MHz is shown in Fig. 2.. The
linear result is quite different from the calibration
curve for 470 kHz but the agreement between water
and the various polymer solutions is good at 5 1.5 MHz.

Fig. 3. Void fraction plot according to the method of Zuber

and Findlay13 for air and dilute polymers.

1/t I I 1 1 1 1 1 I
0.0 02 o-4 06 08 IO The constant Co value of 1.25 compares favourably
RL ICHART) with that found (and now generally accepted) by
Fig.. 2. Void meter calibration at a frequency of 5 1.5 MHz. Hughmark14, who obtained the value 1.22 for Newton-
ian systems.
Since it was impossible to predict the core permittivity
when a combination of fluids or phases with different
dielectric properties was located inside the coils, the EMPIRICAL LIQUID PHASE RHEOLOGICAL DATA
static calibration was used for the two-phase flow ex-
periments. The continuous output from the coil was Since the main purpose of this work was to investi-
recorded on a high speed chart recorder and this trace gate the effect of liquid phase non-Newtonian charac-
was essentially a slug trace. This slug trace was useful teristics on the behaviour of gas-liquid slug flow, a
not only for determining the voidage but also to pro- necessary initial step was to determine empirical liquid
vide some estimate of the slug parameters (such as R,, rheological constants using a Weissenberg rheogonio-
Rf etc.) needed for the model of Hubbardlm3. meter. The results of this study and the range of rheo-
To test the effectiveness of the void fraction meter, logical variables are given in Table 1. More details are
results of air-water and air-dilute polymer solution found in ref. 9.
slug flow experiments (described in more detail in refs.
9 and 12) were plotted (Fig. 3) according to the method
of Zuber and Findlay 13 expressed by the equation TWO-PHASE FLOW EXPERIMENTS

A low pressure isothermal cocurrent gas-liquid flow

(1) apparatus was used in the experimental work. A dia-
TABLE 1
Fluid rheological constants

Name Type Equation K n TY

CMC, 7H3S Power law s=Kq” 15-1.5 0.56-0.7 0.0

Polyhal1295 Power law r=K+” 8-1.0 0.38-0.44 0.0
Carbopol941 Herschel-Bulkley T-T~=K~~ 10-2.0 0.40-0.54 OS-30

9 is the strain rate (s-l), T , T the shear stress (dyn cm-*), K the consistency index
(dyn s” cm-*) and n the x ow behaviour index.
60 R. G. ROSEHART, E. RHODES, D. S. SCOTT

Aw from Moms

Formal Test Section

Pump

Fig. 4. Flow loop.

gram of the basic loop is given in Fig. 4. The test The time-averaged void fraction was obtained di-
section consisted of a horizontal plastic tube 2.54 cm rectly from the chart recordings of the void fraction
in internal diameter. meter output voltage signal compared with the refer-
Average slug velocities were determined by visually ence air and liquid signals. The error in the void frac-
timing the translational velocity of the nose of the tion measurement was mainly due to the interpreta-
liquid slug between the 216 L/D (length-to-diameter) tion of the chart readings and can be estimated at
axial test section plane and the 432 L/D plane. For 8-10% of the determined value. From the void fraction
each flow condition several velocity measurements traces, the ratio of the liquid slug head length 1, to the
were recorded, although the variations between indi-
vidual readings were only of the order of 3%. At high
gas flow rates the slug velocities were quite high and
the time spent by a slug in the test section could fall
to the order of 1 s. However, repeated checks of slug
translational velocity with a stop watch gave very con- b-r,+ P,4
sistent slug velocity results. I
I
I
I I
The liquid slug frequency *fSwas visually determined rc-- 4 4
by measuring the time taken for twenty slugs to pass Fig. 5. Typical void meter signal.
a given axial location. The axial location chosen for this
work was the 324 L/D position since it was found that slug length lr can be determined also (Fig. .5), to-
after this distance from the two-phase injection point gether with the liquid hold-up R, in the liquid slug
the steady state periodic nature of slug flow was well head.
established. The distance is also in agreement with
those found by Hubbard2 in a conduit of 3.81 cm
internal diameter and by Gregory4 in a conduit of EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
1.905 cm internal diameter. The procedure of timing
twenty slugs was repeated a minimum of three times Slug velocity
for each set of conditions and the variations between In the following analysis of the slug velocity data, the
readings were usually less than 3%. For a few cases basic slug flow model of Hubbard and Duklerr is used.
involving higher gas flow rates the variations between Based on this model it can be predicted that the liquid
times were of the order of 5%. slug head will travel at the maximum velocity of the
GAS-LIQUID SLUG FLOW 61

gas phase propelling it. That is, for a gas phase having
Reynolds numbers in the turbulent range,
v,/v,=c,
where 1 (plug flow) Q Cr S 1.22 (fully developed tur-
bulent). Values of Cr determined for the four systems
studied in this work (air-water plus the three non-New-
tonian systems) ranged from 1.06 to 1.35 with an aver-
age of 1.21 and with no trends apparent from system to
system. These results verify one of the key assumptions
of the slug flow model: it is assumed that the liquid slug
head travels at the maximum of the gas velocity profile
and thus, since the average velocity ratio is about the
same for all systems, the slug flow model applies not
only to the air-water system but also to systems involv-
ing viscous fluids. In their analysis of primary slug flow,
Hubbard and Duklerr determined the value of Cr to
be 1.13 for the air-water system in a tube of 3.81 cm
determined by Hubbard and Dukler’ (1.25) for a tube
3.81 cm in internal diameter using the same system.
Gregory4 obtained a value of 1.35 for carbon dioxide-
(2) water flow in a tube 1.905 cm in diameter. The
increased values of 1 + C for the viscous polymer solu-
tions may be explained by an increase in the liquid
film thickness (and hence Rf) for the more viscous
liquid (see eqn. (3)). In Fig. 6, K’ (the generalized
flow consistency index15) increases in magnitude as
the fluid becomes more viscous and the film liquid
hold-up Rf also increases; hence the increase in C.
Slug frequency
The slug frequency data were correlated by the slug
Froude number defined according to the method of
Gregory and Scottus:
Fr =G v-s*>2
s go1K
-_ 1 v
s (4)

internal diameter. The form of the correlation is

In addition to the above analysis, the slug trans-
lational velocity V, was correlated with the no-slip 7s = Pr (Fr,)P, (9
mixture velocity I’,, (V,, = V,r + vssg). In the.slug
where P, and Pz are constants. Previously, Gregory
flow model the average velocity of the liquid slug
and Scottm had obtained a value of 600 cm s-t for
head is assumed to be equal to the no-slip velocity.
V:. This was confirmed in our work by plotting slug
The translational velocity V, is greater than Vns be-
frequency ys against slug velocity V, for various con-
cause of the scooping action of the liquid slug head in
centrations of polymer solutions9*r2. Results of the
which liquid is picked up at the head of the slug and
released at the tail section. The form of the correla-
tion is 1
Cl(1 - m/Klsw*s
V,=(l +c)vns= (3)
1 -Rf
and Fig. 6 presents the results in terms of the effects
of rheology on the value of C. The value of 1 + C ob-
tained for the air-water system (1.26) is similar to that

Fig. 7. Slug frequency correlation with slug Froude number.

slug frequency correlation are given in Table 2 for the

Fig. 6. The effect of liquid phase rheology on the slug velocity systems under study and shown in Fig. 7 for the air-
parameter C. CMC system (ah concentrations).
62 R. G. ROSEHART, E. RHODES, D. S. SCOTT

TABLE 2 TABLE 3
Slug frequency correlation 7s = Pr (FrsJP2 Void fraction correlation (eqn. (6))

System Pl p2 System CO (cKVdg)/(cxY)

Air-water 0.0163 1.13 Ah-water 1.25 0.0

Air-CMC solutions (all concentrations) 0.048 0.98 AirCMC 1.57 25.1
Air-Polyhall 295 (all concentrations) 0.025 1.0 Air-Polyhall 295 1.54 55.6
Air-Carbopol941 (all concentrations) 0.054 1.0 AirCarbopol941 1.34 35.4

Examination of Table 2 indicates a relatively small
impact of the changing fluid rheology on the expo-
nent P2 while PI varies by a factor of 3.4. The dif-
ferences between the correlation constants are obvi-
ously complicated by the complex effects of normal
forces and shear stresses in some of the solutions. No
general effect has yet been determined.
Void fraction
The void fraction data from this study were expressed
according to the method of Zuber and Findlayr3, who
suggested the equation
!!%=co(vns)+~
(a) (a)
By this method, the true average gas phase velocity is
correlated against the mixture no-slip velocity and the
slope and intercept become exclusively functions of
the fluids involved and the flow regime.
does not show a significant variation with polymer type
and rheology (see Fig. 8). The correlations for all
systems studied are given in Table 3 and the data of
the air-Polyhall system are shown in Fig. 8. The corre-
lation for the air-water system with C, equal to 1.25
compares well with the Hughmark correlation14 of
slug hold-up where Cc is equal to 1.22.
In addition to the theoretical and semi-theoretical
analysis given above, the present data were also com-
pared with the Lockhart-Martinelli void fraction
correlationi7. The air-water data for slug flow fall
about 20% below the predicted values and this is in
accord with the statistical analysis of void correlations
(6) for slug flow done by Wicks et al.‘* The air-glycerol
data of Oliver and Young Hoon compare favourably
with the air-water data from the present study. The

001
IO 60
X

Fig. 8. Void fraction plot according to the method of Zuber Fig. 9. Lockhart-Martinelli liquid hold-up correlation.
and Findlay13 for air and more concentrated polymers.
results are shown in Fig. 9 as a plot of the liquid hold-
For the systems studied, it appears that the distri- up versus the Lockhart-Martinelli parameter X, which
bution coefficient Cc, is a constant for a given polymer has been modified to take the fluid rheology into
type over a wide range of concentrations. In addition, account. This was done by basing X on the single-phase
the intercept (the weighted average drift velocity) liquid pressure drop calculated according to the method
GAS-LIQUID SLUG FLOW 63

of Skellandr5. Figure 9 indicates that, as long as the L,l length, m

non-Newtonian fluid characteristics are allowed for in 1s length of liquid slug head, m
the definition of the Lockhart-Martinelli parameter X, 4 total length of a slug unit, m
the empirical liquid hold-up correlation gives reasonable flow behaviour index
values for horizontal slug flow, with a 20% lower value &P, constants in eqn. (5)
liquid hold-up in a slug film zone
as suggested in ref. 18. &
RI. = 1 - (Y,liquid hold-up
RS slug head liquid hold-up
SUMMARY
V velocity, m s-r
‘dt? = VSg - VnS, gas drift velocity, cm s-t
Vns = V,, + VSg, no-slip velocity, cm s-l
(1) An investigation of the effects of non-Newtonian
liquids on the behaviour of cocurrent gas-liquid slug v, slug translational velocity, cm s-l
flow has been undertaken. v: constant equal to 6 m s-l in eqn. (4)
(2) To allow experimentation with viscous fluids, a V sJ3 superficial gas velocity, cm s-t
new electrically resonating void fraction meter was V-51 superficial liquid velocity, cm s-l
devised which worked satisfactorily for a wide variety Vf average velocity of liquid in slug film zone,
of polymer solutions when it was carefully tuned. cm s-l
(3) Empirical rheological constants were obtained for 5 average gas velocity in film zone, cm s-l
a wide range of polymer solutions. X Lockhart-Martinelli parameter”
(4) Slug frequencies, velocities and average void frac-
tions were measured.
(5) Liquid slugs travel at approximately the maximum Greek symbols
gas velocity even when the liquid becomes quite 01 void fraction
viscous. ? strain rate, s-l
(6) The method of Gregory and Scottr6 correlates slug Ys slug frequency, s-l
frequency data for each individual polymer system. 7 shear stress, dyn cmm2
No generalized correlation has been obtained. TY
yield stress, dyn cmm2
(7) The void fraction data can be expressed according
to the method of Zuber and Findlay. However, the 0 time averaged
straight line curves are peculiar to each individual
polymer system.
(8) Most importantly, the void fraction data are cor-
REFERENCES
related according to the method of Lockhart and
Martinelli provided that the liquid phase pressure drop
1 M. G. Hubbard and A. E. Dukler, Presented at the 2nd
in the parameter X is calculated by allowing for the Joint AIChE-llQRR Meeting, Tampa, May 1968, paper
non-Newtonian characteristics of the liquid phase. This 25F.
is the most general and useful result of the work. 2 M. G. Hubbard, Ph.D. Thesis, ‘Clniversityof Houston,
Houston, U.S.A., 1965.
3 G. W. Govier and K. Aziz,rThe Flow of Complex Mixtures
in Pipes, Van Nostrand-Reinhold, New York, 1912.
4 G. A. Gregory, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Waterloo,
NOMENCLATURE Canada, 1969.
5 D. R. Oliver and A. Young Hoon, Trans. Inst. Chem. Eng.
co = (olV,,s )/( Vns )( (Y), distribution coefficient in 46 (1968) T106.
eqn. (1) (see refs. 13 and 14) 6 G. F. Hewitt and P. C. Lovegrove, AERE-M-1203, 1963.
constant defined by eqn. (2) I M. Petrick, A.N.L.-6581, 1962.
Cl 8 H. 0. Olsen, Thesis KR-118, University of Oslo, Norway,
D tube diameter, cm
1967.
Frs slug Froude number 9 R. G. Rosehart, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Waterloo,
g acceleration due to gravity, cm se2 Ontario, Canada, 1970.
K flow consistency index, dyn s” cmm2 10 R. P. Bell, Operating Manual for Void Fraction Meter RB
108, Champlain Power Products, Toronto, 1969.
K’ generalized flow consistency index (see ref. 11 Ikor Incorporated, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1969.
1S), dyn sn cmT2 12 R. G. Rosehart, D. S. Scott and E. Rhodes, A.I.Ch.E. J., 18
constant in eqn. (1) (1972) 744.
64 R. G. ROSEHART, E. RHODES, D. S. SCOTT

13 N. Zuber and I. A. Pindlay, GEAP-4592, EURAEC 1096,
1964.
14 G. A. Hughmark, Chem. Eng. Sci., 20 (1965) 1007.
15 A. H. P. Skelland, Non-Newtonian Flow and Heat Transfer,
Wiley, New York, 1967.
16 G. A. Gregory and D. S. Scott,A.I.Ch.E. J., 15 (1969) 993.
17 R. W. Lockhart and R. C. Martineili, Chem. Eng. Prog., 45
(1949) 39.
18 M. Wicks, A. E. Dukler and R. G. Cleveland, Pressure drop
and hold-up in two phase flow: (A) a comparison of
existing correlations, 55th A.1.Ch.E. Meeting, Chicago,
1962.