For the qualification and validation of two-phase CFD-models for medium and large-scale industrial applications dedicated experiments providing data with high temporal and spatial resolution are required. Fluid dynamic parameter like gas volume fraction, bubble size distribution, velocity or turbulent kinetic energy should be measured locally. Considering the fact, that the used measurement techniques should not affect the flow characteristics, radiation based tomographic methods are the favourite candidate for such measurements. Here the recently developed ultrafast X-ray tomography, is applied to measure the local and temporal gas volume fraction distribution in a vertical pipe. To obtain the required frame rate a rotating X-ray source by a massless electron beam and a static detector ring are used. Experiments on a vertical pipe are well suited for development and validation of closure models for two-phase flows. While vertical pipe flows are axially symmetrically, the boundary conditions are well defined. The evolution of the flow along the pipe can be investigated as well. This report documents the experiments done for co-current upwards and downwards air-water and steam-water flows as well as for counter-current air-water flows. The details of the setup, measuring technique and data evaluation are given. The report also includes a discussion on selected results obtained and on uncertainties.

Les écoulements diphasiques en fracture se produisent dans de nombreuses applications industrielles et environnementales. Pour modéliser ces écoulements, il est important de connaître le rôle des caractéristiques géométriques des surfaces constituant les fractures.L’objectif de ce travail de thèse est d’étudier expérimentalement les écoulements diphasiques et la dispersion de traceurs dans des fractures réelles dont on connaît la cartographie des surfaces et d’en proposer une modélisation adéquate.L’écoulement diphasique inertiel a été modélisé à l’aide de la généralisation de la loi de Darcy couplée à l’approche de la fonction F. Le modèle proposé permet de prédire les perméabilités relatives et les saturations en fonction des débits des deux fluides avec deux paramètres d’ajustement.Les profils de concentration obtenus lors des expériences de dispersion ont été interprétés avec différents modèles afin d'évaluer leur capacité à décrire la dispersion dans les fractures et donc l’hétérogénéité de celles-ci. Les résultats montrent que le modèle stratifié, avec un seul paramètre estimé, donne des résultats satisfaisants et permet de quantifier l'hétérogénéité.Enfin, avec cinq paramètres estimés, à partir de la courbe de la concentration de traceur à la sortie des fractures, le modèle CTRW permet de décrire avec une bonne précision les profils de concentration de toutes les abscisses / The two-phase flows through fractures occur in many industrial and environmental processes.Modelling these flows needs understanding the role of geometric characteristics of the fractures surfaces. The objective of this thesis is to study experimentally the two-phase flow and the dispersion of tracers in fractures which the aperture map is known and propose a suitable model.The inertial two-phase flow model is based on the generalization of the single-phase full cubiclaw that accounts for non-Darcian effects by using the F function approach. On this approach,the presence of a second fluid is taken into account through a multiplier function introduced into the superficial velocity of each fluid. This model let us predict the relative permeability and the saturation as a function of the two fluid flows with two adjustment parameters.The concentration profiles obtained during dispersion experiments were interpreted with different models to study their ability to describe the dispersion in fractures and hence the heterogeneity of them. The results show that the classical convection-dispersion is not appropriate due to the heterogeneity of the fractures. On the other hand, the stratified model,with only one estimated parameter, gives satisfactory results and allows quantifying heterogeneity. Finally, with five estimated parameters, from the concentration curve at the outlet of the fractures, the CTRW model can describe the concentration profiles of all abscissas with good accuracy

[pt] Ao longo deste trabalho, diversas características importantes para a dinâmica do escoamento intermitente foram analisadas experimentalmente. Todos os testes foram realizados numa tubulação com 0,0508 m de diâmetro interno, em configuração horizontal, utilizando água e ar e abrangendo uma região onde o escoamento passa por uma complexa transição do regime de bolha alongada, caracterizado por longas bolhas de gás localizadas próximo ao topo da tubulação, para o regime golfada, caracterizado por uma intensa quantidade de bolhas dispersas de gás e bolhas alongadas com formatos distorcidos e frentes mais distantes do topo da tubulação. Nesta região verifica-se uma notável carência de técnicas experimentais capazes de extrair informações quantitativas dos fenômenos característicos desses regimes. Através de um sistema de interruptores de feixe de infravermelho, o comportamento estatístico dos comprimentos dos pistões de líquido, das frequências de passagem dos pistões e do comprimento da bolha alongada puderam ser investigados. Uma extensa comparação dos dados com trabalhos disponíveis na literatura foi realizada, validando os resultados experimentais obtidos. Em conjunto, foi utilizada a técnica óptica, não intrusiva, conhecida como técnica de sombra (shadow technique), combinada com uma câmera digital de alta taxa de aquisição de imagens. Um procedimento inovador de processamento das imagens foi desenvolvido, permitindo a extração de informações quantitativas de regimes complexos com intensa quantidade de bolhas dispersas. Resultados importantes como o abaixamento do nariz da bolha como uma função da competição entre as forças de gravidade e de inércia puderam ser verificados e confirmados quantitativamente pela primeira vez. / [en] The present work experimentally studied several relevant dynamic characteristics of gas-liquid intermittent flow through a horizontal pipe. All tests were performed in a test section formed by 50.8 mm internal diameter pipe using air and water as working fluids. The tests covered a region where the flow undergoes a complex transition from elongated bubble flow regime, characterized by long gas bubbles located near the top of the pipe, to the slug flow regime, characterized by a large amount of dispersed gas bubbles in the liquid slug and elongated bubbles with distorted shapes and fronts displaced from the top of the pipe. In this region there is a notable lack of experimental techniques capable of extracting quantitative information of the characteristic dynamic phenomena involved. A set of infrared optical switches was employed to obtain statistical information on liquid piston lengths and frequency, as well as the elongated bubble lengths. An extensive comparison of the data obtained with works available in the literature was performed, validating the experimental results and the technique employed. Also, a high frame rate camera with back illumination was employed to capture images of the nose and tail of gas bubbles. An innovative procedure for image processing was developed, allowing for the extraction of original quantitative information on the complex shapes of the bubble and its relationship with flow variables. Relevant information such as the lowering of the bubble nose as a result of competing gravitational and inertial forces could be verified and confirmed quantitatively seemingly for the first time.

Les milieux poreux sont omniprésents dans le quotidien des hommes du 21ème siècle que ce soit par hasard ou par nécessité. Certains permettent le transport d’une ou plusieurs phases fluides immiscibles, une situation à la fois courante et critique dans de nombreuses applications industrielles. Le transport d’une phase mouillante, l’imbibition, a été largement étudiée mais un certain nombre de problèmes restent ouverts. Dans cette thèse, nous nous sommes concentrés sur trois d’entre eux. La fragmentation de phase induite par la gravité dans une jonction asymétrique a été étudiée. La dynamique et un critère d’apparition ont été prédits analytiquement puis confirmés expérimentalement. Ensuite, l’évolution de l’épaisseur d’un front d’imbibition dans un réseau de capillaires a été simulée numériquement. Les résultats ont permis de lever une controverse de la littérature. Enfin, l’imbibition dans un milieu constitué de lames flexibles déformables a été explorée numériquement et expérimentalement. Il a été montré que la déformabilité des lames induit leur coalescence et agit sur la dynamique de l'imbibition. / Porous media are ubiquitous in today’s society due to chance or necessity. Some of them allow the transportation of one or several immiscible fluid phases simultaneously. This property is both usual and critical in many industrial processes. The transport of a wetting phase, imbibition, has been widely studied but lots of issues remain opened. In this manuscript, three of them are addressed. Gravity induced phase fragmentation has been studied in an asymmetric pore junction. Fragmentation criterion and dynamic are predicted analytically and confirmed experimentally. Then, the broadening of an imbibition front in a capillary network has been investigated numerically. Results resolved a controversy in the literature. Finally, imbibition in a medium made of flexible sheets has been studied both numerically and experimentally. It showed that sheets flexibility induces their clustering and influences the imbibition dynamic.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, 2016 / Solar powered gas micro-turbines present opportunities for off-grid power generation. Due to the intermittent nature of the solar energy supply, existing Solar Gas Turbine (SGT) plants employ hybridisation with fossil fuels to generate dispatchable power. In this work sensible heat and latent heat storage solutions are investigated as a means of increasing the solar share of a SGT cycle, thus reducing the consumption of diesel fuel. The sensible heat storage concept was based on a pressurised packed bed of spherical ceramic particles, using air as the heat transfer fluid. An axisymmetric, two-phase heat transfer model of the system was developed, based on the continuous solid phase approach. The model was successfully validated against experimental data from a packed bed of alumino-silicate particles over the temperature ranges of gas turbine cycles (350-900 °C and 600-900 °C). The validated numerical model was utilised to conduct a parametric design study of a six hour (1.55 MWhth) storage system for a gas micro-turbine. The results show that a high storage efficiency and high utilisation factor can be achieved when combining sensible heat storage in alumina with fossil fuel hybridisation, with somewhat lower values without hybridisation. An analysis of different inventory geometries showed that a packed bed of spherical particles is best suited to pressurised sensible heat storage. The latent heat storage concept was based on a pressurised packed bed of Encapsulated Phase Change Material (EPCM) particles. Sodium sulphate was identified as a suitable phase change material for the gas turbine cycle. The sensible heat storage model was extended to account for intra-particle temperature gradients and phase change within the particles. The intra-particle phase change model was validated against published experimental data for a single EPCM sphere heated and cooled by convection. The full EPCM storage model was further successfully validated against experimental data from a packed bed of macro- encapsulated sodium sulphate particles with alumina shells, up to a temperature of 950 °C. A comparison of the two storage concepts for a 7 m3 bed shows that a packed bed of en- capsulated sodium sulphate particles would have a 36% lower energy storage capacity than a bed of solid alumina particles. This is due to the limited melt fraction in the EPCM bed when a temperature limit is placed on the base. Increasing the packed bed volume to 10.5 m3 would provide a comparable thermal performance to the 7 m3 solid alumina bed, at a 12% lower storage mass. A hybrid three-layer packed bed is proposed to increase the volumetric energy storage density. Modelling shows that this concept could provide a small increase of 5.3% in the amount of energy discharged above 850 °C, compared to the solid alumina particles only.

[pt] Neste trabalho é apresentada a implementação e aplicação de uma técnica experimental ótica, já descrita na literatura, para a medição instantânea do campo de velocidades gerado em escoamento bifásico líquido- gás. O trabalho concentrou-se no regime de escoamento em golfadas. Água e ar foram utilizados como fluidos de trabalho nos testes. A técnica implementada combina Velocimetria por Imagem de Partículas (PIV - Particle Image Velocimetry), com Fluorescência Induzida por Laser (LIF - Laser Induced Fluorescence) e Iluminação Pulsada de Fundo (PST - Pulsed Shadow Technique), o que permite determinar simultaneamente o campo instantâneo de velocidade na água gerado pela passagem da bolha de ar, assim como a forma e velocidade da bolha. Processamento digital de imagens foi utilizado para extrair as informações sobre o campo de velocidade do líquido e as características da bolha. A técnica implementada foi aplicada no escoamento gerado pela passagem de uma bolha de gás em uma coluna de líquido estagnado. A técnica PIV foi utilizada para determinar o campo de velocidades na fase líquida iluminando-se o escoamento com um plano de luz laser pulsada. O uso de partículas fluorescentes em conjunto com filtros óticos posicionados em frente a uma câmera digital permitiram suprimir a reflexão intensa proveniente das interfaces líquido-gás e das paredes do tubo. Entretanto, esta técnica não é capaz de determinar a exata posição da interface líquido-gás. O uso da iluminação pulsada de fundo proveniente de um painel de LED`s permite a visualização da interface gáslíquido com boa definição. Uma única câmera digital posicionada ortogonalmente ao plano de luz laser e em oposição ao painel de LED`s foi usada para o registro das imagens. Os resultados obtidos revelaram com excelente resolução os detalhes do escoamento na esteira, filme na parede e nariz de uma bolha ascendente, comprovando a eficácia da técnica implementada. / [en] This work presents the implementation of a non-intrusive optical technique for measuring the hydrodynamic characteristics of liquid- gas, two-phase flows. The work was limited to the study of air-water slug flows. The technique implemented, already described in the literature, combines Particle Image Velocimetry - PIV, Laser Induced Fluorescence - LIF, and pulsed background illumination, known as Pulsed Shadow Technique - PST. The combination of these techniques allows the simultaneous measurement of the instantaneous flow field generated in the liquid by the passage of the air bubble, together with the shape and velocity of the bubble. The technique was employed in the study of an air bubble rising in a stagnant liquid layer. The PIV technique was employed in the determination of the instantaneous flow field in the liquid using fluorescent particles illuminated by a pulsed laser sheet. An optical high-pass filter was used to block the light scattered by the air-water interfaces and by the pipe walls, allowing the digital camera employed to only capture the particle positions. A LED panel furnished back illumination at a wave length that passed through the high-pass filter and allowed an accurate determination of the bubble shape. A digital image processing procedure was employed to determine the bubble shape, velocity and liquid flow field. The results obtained revealed, with excellent resolution, the details of the liquid flow at the wake, wall film and nose of the rising bubble, thereby attesting to the quality of the technique implemented.

A lithium vaporizer for a high-power magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) thruster is modeled using a parallel approach. A one-dimensional, thermal-resistive network is developed and used to calculate the required vaporizer length and power as a function of various parameters. After comparing results predicted by this network model with preheat power data for a 200 kW MPD thruster, we investigate performance over a parameter space of interest for the Advanced Lithium-Fed, Applied-field, Lorentz Force Accelerator (ALFA2) thruster. Heater power sensitivity to cathode tube emissivity, mass flow rate, and vapor superheat are presented. The cold-start heater power for 80 mg/s is found to range from 3.38 to 3.60 kW, corresponding to a vaporizer (axial) length of 18 to 26 cm. The strongest drivers of vaporizer performance are cathode tube emissivity and a conduction heat sink through the mounting flange. Also, for the baseline ALFA2 case, it is shown that increasing the vapor superheat from 100 K to 300 K has the effect of lowering the vaporizer thermal efficiency from 57% to 49%. Also, a finite-volume computational fluid dynamic (CFD) is implemented in FLUENT 6.2 which includes conjugated heat transfer to the solid components of the cathode. This model uses a single-fluid mixture model to simulate the effects of the two-phase vaporizer flow with source terms that model the vaporization. This model provides a solution of higher fidelity by including three-dimensional fluid dynamics such as thermal and momentum boundary layers, as well as calculating a higher resolution temperature distribution throughout the cathode assembly. Results from this model are presented for three mass flow rates of interest (40 mg/s, 80 mg/s, and 120 mg/s). Using a fixed power and length taken from the conceptual ALFA2 design, the dryout point ranges from 12.3-17.6 cm from the base of the cathode assembly for 40 mg/s and 80 mg/s, respectively. For the 120 mg/s case, the two-phase flow never reaches dryout. Finally, results two modeling approaches are compare favorably, with a maximum disagreement of 13.0 percent in prediction of the dryout point and 4.2 percent in predictions of the exit temperature.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1982. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / Includes bibliographical references. / by Alfred Walters Reed. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Nav. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Ocean Engineering; and, (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1975. / Bibliography: leaves 248-249. / M.S. / Nav. Arch.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / Bibliography: leaves 182-188. / by Juan J. Manzano-Ruiz. / Ph.D.