Comparison of Void Fraction Correlations for Different Flow Patterns in Upward Vertical Two-Phase Flow

Abstract

A comparison of the performance of 52 void fraction correlations was made based on an unbiased experimental data set of 1208 data points. A comprehensive literature search was undertaken for the available void fraction correlations and experimental void fraction data for upward vertical two-phase flow. The performance of the correlations in correctly predicting the diverse data set was evaluated. Comparisons between the correlations were made and appropriate recommendations were drawn. The analysis showed that most of the correlations developed are very restricted in terms of handling a wide variety of data sets. Based on this analysis, void fraction correlations with the best predictive capability are highlighted.

Acknowledgments

Pranav V. Godbole is an energy engineer at VaCom Technologies in San Luis Obispo, CA. He worked on void fraction in vertical upward two-phase flow for his master's thesis, and received his M.S. degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering in 2009 from Oklahoma State University, Stillwater. He received his B.E. degree in mechanical engineering in 2004 from University of Pune, Pune, Maharashtra, India.

Clement C. Tang is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Oklahoma State University, Stillwater. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in mechanical engineering from Oklahoma State University. His areas of specialty are single-phase flow in mini- and microtubes and two-phase flow heat transfer.

Afshin J. Ghajar is a Regents Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, and an honorary professor of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. all in mechanical engineering from Oklahoma State University. His expertise is in experimental and computational heat transfer and fluid mechanics. He has been a Summer Research Fellow at Wright Patterson AFB (Dayton, Ohio) and Dow Chemical Company (Freeport, TX). He and his coworkers have published over 150 reviewed research papers. He has received several outstanding teaching/service awards. Dr. Ghajar is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Heat Transfer Series Editor for Taylor & Francis/CRC Press, and editor-in-chief of Heat Transfer Engineering. He is also the co-author of the fourth edition of Cengel and Ghajar, Heat and Mass Transfer—Fundamentals and Applications (McGraw-Hill, 2010).