Applied Thermal Engineering 29 (2009) 1309–1318

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Applied Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Two-phase flow pattern and frictional performance across small

rectangular channels q
Ing Youn Chen a,*, Yi Min Chen a, Bing-Chwen Yang b, Chi-Chuan Wang b
a
National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Mechanical Engineering, 123 University Road, Section 3, Touliu, Yunlin 640, Taiwan
b
Industrial Technology Research Institute, Hsinchu 310, Taiwan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This study presents flow visualizations and two-phase frictional pressure drop data for three rectangular
Received 16 November 2007 channels with channel height of 3, 6 and 9 mm, and a fixed width of 3 mm. It is found that the stratified
Accepted 28 August 2008 flow pattern still exists for an aspect ratio of unity at a low mass flux of 100 kg/m2 s but it completely
Available online 3 September 2008
vanishes when G > 200 kg/m2s. For the same plug flow of intermittent flow pattern, the number of plug
increases whereas its length decreases when the aspect ratio is increased. This is especially pronounced
Keywords: when the mass flux is further increased over 500 kg/m2 s. The major departure of the observed flow pat-
Flow pattern
tern relative to the conventional Mandhane flow map is the transition boundary for slug/annular had
Two-phase frictional pressure drop
Rectangular channel
been moved to a much lower superficial vapor velocity. The two-phase frictional pressure drop data
Two-phase friction multiplier are compared to homogeneous and Chisholm method, Wambsganss and Ide-Fukano correlations. It is
C factor of Chisholm type correlation found that none of the existing methods or correlations can satisfactorily predict the two-phase pressure
gradient in rectangular channels. A modified C factor of Chisholm method considering the effect of aspect
ratio was proposed from the empirical fit with the data sets of Wambsganss et al., Ide-Fukano, and this
study. The corresponding mean deviations of the proposed correlation against the datasets are 24.99%,
10.83% and 10.73%, respectively. This correlation is applicable in wide rages of mass flux
(50 < G < 700 kg/m2 s), vapor quality (0.001 < x < 0.95), Martinelli parameter (0.05 < X < 20) and aspect
ratio (0.1 < A < 1.0).
Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Heat dissipation from high flux electronics, power, and laser de-
vices increases rapidly in association with continuously shrinking
of integrated circuit. Hence liquid cooling with or without phase
change is becoming of interest because of their high heat transfer
performance. The small and narrow channels are widely adopted
in compact heat exchangers. One of the particular arrangements
is plate-fin compact heat exchanger using rectangular channels
with hydraulic diameters less than 5 mm and mass flux less than
350 kg/m2 s [1]. Also, flow in small rectangular channels is an inte-
gral part of the design of compact heat exchangers in boiling or
condensation in space, aircraft, and other applications [2].
Since two-phase heat transfer is intimately interrelated to pres-
sure drop, the higher pressure drop would increase the pumping
power and also affect the performance of cooling systems. As a
consequence, the two-phase pressure drop in small rectangular
channels is very important for the design of compact heat exchan-
q
This paper was originally presented at the 10th UK Heat Transfer Conference,
September 10–11, 2007.
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +886 5 5342601x4137; fax: +886 5 5312062.
E-mail address: cheniy@yuntech.edu.tw (I.Y. Chen).
ger. Most of the two-phase flow researches invested on the circular
tubes, only a limited number of works had reported on the flow
patterns and the two-phase frictional pressure drop in small rect-
angular channels. Because the heat transfer and pressure drop are
related to the two-phase flow patterns, it is necessary to under-
stand the flow pattern identification, transition criteria and void
fraction in narrow small rectangular channels.
In predicting the frictional two-phase pressure drop in any
channel, it is necessary to have a reasonable method to estimate
the friction factor of single-phase flow in the same channel. For
estimation the frictional performance of a non-circular tube, it is
a common practice to adopt the well-known hydraulic diameter
concept by substituting the diameter of the circular tubes with
the hydraulic diameter (Dh) in the non-circular tubes. Recently,
several investigations, [1,3,4] reported that the turbulent friction
factor for rectangular channels agreed well with the predictions
by the Blassius equation. Also, Harnett and Kostic [5] proposed a
Fanning friction factor to predict the friction loss for the laminar
flow through the rectangular channels.
Concerning the frictional pressure loss for two-phase flow,
Lockhart and Martinelli [6] proposed the first predictive method
for estimation of the frictional two-phase pressure gradient. Lock-
hart and Martinelli use a Martinelli parameter, X, which is based on

1359-4311/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2008.08.019
1310 I.Y. Chen et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 29 (2009) 1309–1318
Nomenclature
A aspect ratio, gap (S)/width (W), 0 < A < 1
dP/dz frictional pressure gradient (Pa/m)
C Chisholm’s factor
D internal diameter of circular tube (m)
Dh hydraulic diameter (m)
G total mass flux (kg/m2 s)
j superficial velocity (m/s)
P pressure (Pa)
DP pressure drop across the straight test section (Pa)
Re Reynolds number (quDh/l)
ReL Reynolds number based on liquid single-phase flow
(qLjLDh/lL)
ReG gas Reynolds number based on gas single-phase flow
(qGjGDh/lG)
ReLO liquid Reynolds number based on the total mass flux
GDh/lL
u mean axial velocity (m/s)
the ratio of the single-phase frictional pressure drops calculated via
assuming liquid phase flow alone to gas-phase flow alone. Their
data indicated that the two-phase multipliers (UG and UL) are a
function of the Martinelli parameter alone. Chisholm [7] had
approximated the relationships of U2G and U2L in the following fa-
mous expression
U2L ¼ 1 þ C=X þ 1=X 2 ; U2G ¼ 1 þ CX þ X 2
where C denotes Chisholm’s factor and its value depends on
whether the liquid and gas flows are laminar or turbulent. For
example, when both phases are laminar or turbulent, C = 5 or 20,
respectively. However, the Chisholm’s C factor had been empirically
obtained that it is not a constant by the liquid and gas flow condi-
tions. C factor was reported as a function of Martinelli parameter,
total mass flux, tube diameter, and other physical properties.
Mishima et al. [3] conducted two-phase flow in narrow rectan-
gular ducts with width of 40 mm and gaps of 1.0, 2.4 and 5.0 mm
(A = 0.025–0.125). The two-phase friction loss was based on the
Chisholm’s equation (1967) by modifying the Chisholm’s constant
C to account for the effect of hydraulic diameter Dh, C = 21
(1  e0.27Dh). Similar tests were conducted by Mishima and Hibiki
[8] for circular tubes with D = 1–4 mm. Based on the above C equa-
tion, they proposed a new C factor equation for vertical and round
tubes, as well as rectangular channels, C = 21 (1  e0.319Dh).
Ide and Matsumura [9] experimentally investigated the effects
of aspect ratio, hydraulic diameter and inclination angle on the
two-phase frictional pressure drop for 10 rectangular channels
with aspect ratio from 0.025 to 1.0. For horizontal arrangement,
UL was found to be higher in the transverse case (gap < width) than
in the longitudinal case (gap > width) at the same value of Marti-
nelli parameter, X. This fact becomes more obvious at smaller X
in the channel having the larger aspect ratio. The gas and liquid
flows in the longitudinal case with larger aspect ratio could easily
lead to more separate flow pattern by the gravity than that of the
transverse case. For vertical arrangement, UL is higher for the
channel with the largest aspect ratio over the entire range of X.
The two-phase frictional pressure drop data were compared with
the predictions of Chisholm method [7] with C = 21 and Akagawa’s
correlation [10]. However, neither the Chisholm’s method [7] nor
Akagawa’s correlation [10] could accurately predict their data.
Based on a separated flow model, Ide and Matsumura [9] proposed
a two-phase frictional pressure drop correlation by taking into ac-
count the effects of the inclination angle of the channel and liquid
S rectangular channel gap or height (mm)
x vapor quality
W rectangular channel width (mm)
X Martinelli parameter
z axial flow direction (m)
a void fraction
g liquid holdup
l viscosity (N s/m2)
UL two-phase frictional multiplier based on liquid flow
alone
UG two-phase frictional multiplier based on gas flow alone
q density (kg/m3)
Subscriptcal
calculation or prediction
exp experimental measurement
G gas-phase
L liquid-phase
Reynolds number. This correlation gave about ±30% accuracy
against their data.
Wambsganss et al. [1] measured two-phase frictional pressure
gradients in a small horizontal channel with a cross section of
19.05  3.18 mm (A = 0.167) for application to plate-fin compact
heat exchangers. The data were compared with Chisholm method
[7] and Fridel correlation [11]. However, both predictions did not
ð1Þ
adequately correlate the data. A modified equation for the Chis-
holm’s factor C was proposed for qualities (x) being larger than
those occurred at the transition from bubbly to slug flow. The tran-
sition at x  0.002 was visually observed in their study. The pro-
posed C equation is given as
C ¼ function ðX; ReLO Þ ¼ aX b ð2Þ
where a = 2.44 + 0.00939 ReLO, b = 0.938 + 0.000432 ReLO, and Re-
LO = GDh/lL. This C correlation is applicable for ReLO < 2200 and
0.05 < X < 1.0. The correlation gave an average error of less than
±19% for 0.05 < x < 0.95 and 100 < G < 400 kg/m2 s. For G > 400 kg/
m2 s, the Chisholm correlation [7] with C = 21 is recommended.
Since this correlation was developed from air–water flowing in a
single narrow channel (A = 0.167), orientated at horizontal trans-
verse (HT) and horizontal longitudinal (HL) positions, more data
with smaller cross section areas, different aspect ratios and differ-
ent fluids are needed to check the applicability of this correlation.
More recently, Ide and Fukano [12] measured the mean liquid
holdup (g) and frictional pressure drop for air–water two-phase
flow in a capillary rectangular channel (9.9  1.1 mm, A = 0.11).
The test ranges of air and water superficial velocities are
1.5  8 m/s and 0.1  0.8 m/s, respectively. They described laminar
flow (V) or turbulent flow (T) of two-phase intermittent flow in the
small rectangular tube by using the liquid Reynolds numbers in
single-phase water flow (ReL = qL jLDh/lL) and two-phase flow
(ReG = qGjGDh/lG)), respectively, where jG and jL are the superficial
gas and liquid velocities. By considering the effect of aspect ratio,
new correlations of two-phase frictional pressure drop for the cap-
illary rectangular channel were proposed for laminar and turbulent
flow regions. The comparison of Ide and Fukano experimental data
[12] with their correlation are within ±15%.
Coleman and Garimella [13] conducted experiments for four
tubes (4  6, 6  4, 2  4 and 4  2 mm) using R-134a as the work-
ing fluid, and reported that for similar hydraulic diameters, flow re-
gime transitions are not very strongly dependent on tube shape or
aspect ratio. These maps and the transition lines can be used to
 I.Y. Chen et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 29 (2009) 1309–1318
predict the particular flow pattern or regime that will be estab-
lished for a given mass flux, quality and tube geometry. Yun and
Kim [14] examine the two-phase flow patterns of CO2 in a narrow
rectangular channel with existing flow regime maps. They found
that the maps developed for CO2 and high-pressure steam-water
show similar results with their data but significant departure exists
for those flow pattern maps developed for air–water mixture. Ide
et al. [15] report on the results of an air–water isothermal two-
phase flow in rectangular minichannels, with an aspect ratio of
0.111–1. The directions of flow were vertical upward, horizontal
and vertical downward, yet their flow pattern results does not
change much according to the flow directions.
From the above review, most all the proposed correlations for
the two-phase frictional pressure drop in rectangular channels
were based on the data with very small aspect ratio (A < 0.2). It
is unclear whether the previous correlations can be extended out-
side their applicable range. In this regard, one of the purposes of
this study is to examine the applicability of the correlations per-
taining to rectangular cross section with higher aspect ratios. Var-
iation of the flow pattern and relevant transition will also be
examined. This study conducts measurements of air–water fric-
tional pressure drop and flow pattern visualizations in three rect-
angular channels with channel height, H = 3, 6 and 9 mm, at a
fixed width (W) of 3 mm (A = W/H = 1, 0.666 and 0.333).
2. Experiment method
Three rectangular test sections made of transparent acrylic re-
sin have cross sections of 3.0  3.0 mm, 3.0  6.0 mm and
3.0  9.0 mm having hydraulic diameters of 3.0, 4.0 and 4.5 mm,
respectively. The inlet and outlet of the test rectangular sections
are connected with a 3.0 mm internal diameter circular tube. A dif-
ferential pressure transducer is used to measure the pressure drop
across a 300 mm length of the rectangular channel as shown in
Fig. 1. The upstream and downstream lengths of the test section
are 150 mm and 90 mm, respectively. The total air and water mass
flux (G) is ranged from 100 to 700 kg/m2 s and the quality (x) is
changed from 0.001 to 0.8.
The tests are firstly conducted with single-phase water flow
to obtain the friction factor data in the rectangular test section.
The friction factor data for the single-phase flow are used to
Fig. 1. Schematic illustration of experimental apparatus.
1311
check the applicability of the instrumentations and the reliability
of the friction factor correlations. Adiabatic flows of air–water
mixtures at 25 °C and near atmospheric pressure are tested
in three rectangular channels at horizontal and longitudinal
(HL) orientation. Pressure fluctuations depending on the flow
pattern are inherent in two-phase flow. The pressure drops are
calculated from the time-average mean differential-pressure
measurements.
The test rig is designed to conduct tests with air–water mix-
tures as shown in Fig. 1. Air is supplied from an air-compressor
and then stored in a compressed-air storage tank. Airflow through
a pressure reducer and, depending on the mass flux range, is mea-
sured by three AalborgÒ mass flow meters for different ranges of
flow rate. The water flow loop consists of a variable speed gear
pump that delivers water. The mixer is designed to provide better
uniformity of the air–water mixture stream. At the upstream of the
test section, there is a set of quick closing valves for measuring the
average volumetric void fraction of the two-phase flow. A very
accurate Yokogawa magnetic flow meter is installed at the down-
stream of the gear pump. The accuracy of the air and water flow
meters is within ±0.2% of the test span. The pressure drops of the
air–water mixtures are measured by a YOKOGAWA EJ110 differen-
tial-pressure transducer having an adjustable span of 1300–
13000 Pa. Resolution of this pressure differential transducer is
0.3% of the measurements. Leaving the test section, the air–water
mixture is separated by an open water tank in which the air is
vented and the water is re-circulated. The air and water tempera-
tures are measured by resistance temperature device (Pt100 X)
having a calibrated accuracy of 0.1 K (calibrated by Hewlett-Pack-
ard quartz thermometer probe with quartz thermometer, model
18111 A and 2804 A). Observations of flow patterns are obtained
from images produced by a high-speed camera of Redlake Motion-
scope PCI 8000s. The maximum camera shutter speed is 1/8000
second. The high-speed camera is placed at the downstream
(z/D > 600) of the rectangular test section to avoid influence from
the entrance.
Uncertainties in the reported values of the friction factor f and
UL are estimated by the method suggested by Moffat [16]. The
uncertainties of f are from 1.3% to 6.4% and ranges from 3.2% to
11.5% for U2L . The highest uncertainties were associated with the
lowest Reynolds number.
1312 I.Y. Chen et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 29 (2009) 1309–1318
3. Results and discussion
Visual observations for the rectangular channels were obtained
using a high-speed camera and video recorder. Typical photo-
graphs and sketches of the observed flow patterns are shown in Ta-
ble 1 with corresponding mass fluxes of 100, 200, 300, 500, and
700 kg/m2 s pertaining to various qualities (x). Since flow pattern
identification by visual observation is quite subjective, it is neces-
sary to define the associated flow pattern in details. The descrip-
tion of the flow patterns is in line with those given by Taitel and
Dukler [17]. In general, it is comparatively easy to classify the ob-
served flow patterns like stratified, wavy, and annular flow in asso-
ciation with intermittent flow. The intermittent flow can be further
classified into plug (elongated bubbles, generated formed by bub-
ble coalescing) and slug (usually in frothy shape and accompanied
small bubbles at trailing edge, and could be formed by wavy flow
growing to touch the upper surface of the channel). It should be
noted that not all of these patterns could be seen at a prescribed
mass flux. With a gradual increasing of the mass flux, plug, slug,
stratified/wavy, wavy/annular and annular flow patterns can be
observed. The effect of aspect ratio of this study is also shown. No-
tice that the aspect ratio (ratio of vertical side to horizontal side) of
this study is 1–3, respectively. Troniewski and Ulbrich [18] had
conducted a flow visualization of rectangular tube having aspect
ratio ranging from 0.1 to 1.0, they found that no stratified/wavy
flow prevails when the aspect ratio is less than 1. In this study,
stratified flow pattern is still encountered for an aspect ratio of
unity at a low mass flux of 100 kg/m2 s but it vanishes when
G P 200 kg/m2 s. The difference is because the tested mass flux
for Troniewski and Ulbrich [18] is above 200 kg/m2 s. It is worth
noting that the length of elongated bubble is reduced when the as-
pect ratio is increased. This is attributed to the presence of addi-
tional surface that may tear the elongated bubble into several
small ones (see G = 300 kg/m2 s, x = 0.001). As a consequence, for
the same plug flow of intermittent flow pattern, the number of
plug increases whereas its length decreases when the aspect ratio
is increased. This is especially pronounced when the mass flux is
further increased to 500 or 700 kg/m2 s for it introduces an addi-
tional shear force (see G = 500 kg/m2 s, x = 0.001).
The observed flow pattern is plotted using vapor and liquid-
phase superficial velocity. This is a common approach for flow pat-
tern map. For comparison purpose, the transition boundary for lar-
ger diameter round tube proposed by Madhane flow map [19] is
shown in Fig. 2. The major departure of the observed flow pattern
to the Mandhane flow map is the boundary for slug/annular flow
transition. As seen in Fig. 2, the transition boundary of slug to
annular flow for rectangular channel had been moved leftward,
suggesting the occurrence of annular flow pattern at a lower vapor
superficial velocity. The results are not surprising. With the pres-
ence of rectangular sharp corner, liquid can be easily trapped or ad-
hered to the corner subject to surface tension. The trapped liquid in
the upper two corners can join with each other to form liquid film
to become an annular flow pattern providing that the distance is
small. Notice that the width of the rectangular channel is only
3 mm. In this regard, the transition had been moved to a much
lower vapor superficial velocity. Basically, the phenomenon is in
line with the working principle of micro heat pipes. Notice that mi-
cro heat pipes are normally in the form of rectangular or triangular
configuration without the help of wick structure. The visual flow
pattern map is also compared with the flow pattern map for R-
134a from Coleman and Garimella [13]. The transition boundary
from intermittent flow to annular flow is identical, yet the transi-
tion boundary from slug flow to wavy flow or transition from strat-
ified flow to plug flow are about the same. The major difference is
the existence of slug flow pattern amid stratified/wavy flow regime
at a fixed liquid superficial velocity whereas ours map did not re-
veal such phenomenon. The difference is actually due to subjective
observation of the flow pattern. At this region, some very elongated
bubble (slug) may be regarded as wavy/stratified flow during
observation.
For predicting the two-phase frictional pressure drops in small
rectangular channels, the present study was intended to use Ide
and Matsumura’s correlation [9], and the existed void fraction
correlations to calculate UL. For verifying the applicability of the
available a correlations, predictions of homogeneous method
and correlations of Premoli [20], Baroczy [21], Yashr et al. [22]
and Smith [23] are made to compare the void fraction data ob-
tained from two quick closing solenoid valves as shown in
Fig. 1. The measured void fraction data verse predictions are
shown in Fig. 3. The data are quite scattering and do not have a
consistent trend with the mass flux. The homogeneous method
is greatly over predicted all the data. For x < 0.01, the correlations
of Premoli [20] and Smith [23] have a fair agreement with the
data whereas the predictions of Baroczy [21] and Yashar et al.
[22] are more close to the data when x > 0.01. Since the predic-
tions can not give a good agreement for the void fraction data,
the correlation proposed by Ide and Matsumura’s correlation [9]
is not able to utilize in this study. More accurate method for mea-
suring void fraction is needed.
The mean deviations for the comparisons among the two-phase
frictional pressure gradient data with the predictions of homoge-
neous model [24] and the Wambsganss [1] correlation, are
37.67%, and 54.63%, Prespectively. Note thatthe mean deviation is
N
calculated by N1 1 jDP pred  DP exp j=DP exp  100%. Apparently,
the predictive ability of the homogeneous model is better than that
of the Wambsganss correlation. It is not surprising that the homo-
geneous model gives better predictions in small and micro chan-
nels due to the effect of surface tension [25]. As shown in Fig. 4,
the present data groups verse the predictions by the Wambsganss
correlation [1] for different aspect ratio of the present study
(A = 0.33, 0.66 and 1.0) are apparently separated. The over predic-
tions for the channel with smaller aspect ratio (9  3 mm) and un-
der predictions for the square channel (3  3 mm) are observed in
Fig. 4.
Ide and Fukano [12] recently proposed a correlation for calcu-
lating UL in a capillary rectangular channel (9.9  1.1 mm,
A = 0.11). Their correlation is utilized for comparing with the data
sets from Wambsganss et al. [1], Ide and Fukano [12], and this
study. As shown in Fig. 5, although this correlation gives a very
good agreement for their own data with a mean deviation of
9.95%, it shows relatively high mean deviations of 26.75% against
the present data and of 37.41% with the data of Wambsganss
et al. [1]. Fig. 6 also shows the comparison of the present results
and experimental data from Wambsganss et al. [1] and Ide and
Fukano [12] in terms of UL with the predictions of Wambsganss
et al. correlation [1]. The predictive ability of this correlation gives
fair agreements with the present data (25.95%) and with the data
from Ide and Fukano [12] (14.31%), however, it over predicts most
of their own data and gives a high mean deviation of 40.41%. This is
because the original development of this correlation had excluded
the lower mass flux data (G = 50 kg/m2 s) and higher mass flux data
(G > 400 kg/m2 s) [1].
Notice that the correlations of Wambsganss et al. [1] and Ide
and Fukano [12] were developed based only on a single rectan-
gular channel with corresponding aspect ratio of 0.167 and 0.11,
respectively. Hence the Wambsganss et al. [1] correlation did not
include the effect of aspect ratio. In the meantime, despite the
Ide and Fukano [12] correlation includes the aspect ratio, one
should be aware that it was only correlated from a narrow single
rectangular channel and extension of their correlation outside
their database is questionable. In that regard, the authors of this
 I.Y. Chen et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 29 (2009) 1309–1318 1313

Table 1
Progress of the observed flow pattern for various rectangular test sections at different mass flux and vapor quality, with the flow direction being from right to left (+)
G (kg/m2 s) x Flow pattern (3  3 mm) Flow patterns (6  3 mm) Flow patterns (9  3 mm)

100 0.001

0.005

0.01

0.05

0.1

0.5

200 0.001

0.005

0.009

0.05

(continued on next page)

1314 I.Y. Chen et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 29 (2009) 1309–1318

Table 1 (continued)
G (kg/m2 s) x Flow pattern (3  3 mm) Flow patterns (6  3 mm) Flow patterns (9  3 mm)

0.1

0.5

300 0.001

0.005

0.009

0.05

0.1

0.5

500 0.001

0.005
 I.Y. Chen et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 29 (2009) 1309–1318 1315

Table 1 (continued)

G (kg/m2 s) x Flow pattern (3  3 mm) Flow patterns (6  3 mm) Flow patterns (9  3 mm)

0.01

0.05

0.1

700 0.001

0.005

0.01

0.05

0.1

study had recently proposed a correlation to include the effect of C ¼ function ðA; X; ReLO Þ ¼ aX b ð3Þ
aspect ratio [26]. Based on the Wambsganss correlation [1], this
where a = 5.55  0.7555  A0.805 + 0.00439  ReLO and b = 0.1001 +
correlation had extended the applicability of this C factor corre-
0.0005  A0.895.
lation by including the influences of ReLO and X, as well as the
For assessing this proposed correlation, the published UL data
aspect ratio, A. A new C factor correlation was proposed from
of Wambsganss et al. [1], Ide and Fukano [12], and the present
the empirical fit with the data sets of Wambsganss et al. [1]
study are compared with the calculated values of UL as shown in
(111 data points), Ide and Fukano [12] (69 data points), and
Fig. 7, The associated mean deviations are 24.99%, 10.83% and
the present study (157 data points). Note that all the data from
10.73%, respectively. In summary, the proposed correlation shows
Wambsganss et al. [1] had been included. The proposed modified
a very good accuracy against the existing data and is capable of
C factor in the Chisholm correlation for the prediction of UL is
handling the effect of aspect ratio. The proposed correlation is valid
given as
1316 I.Y. Chen et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 29 (2009) 1309–1318

10 100
0%
Dispersed Width: 9mm x Gap: 3mm +5
Width: 6mm x Gap: 3mm
Intermittent
Width: 3mm x Gap: 3mm %
1 (Slug) -50
Intermittent 10

(dP/dz)cal (kPa/m)
j (m/s)

(Plug)
Annular
L

0.1
3x3
Wavy
Stratified 6x3
1
9x3

Mean Deviation = 54.63

0.01
0.01 0.1 1 10 100

Fig. 2. Comparison of the observed flow patterns with Mandhane et al. map [16].
for wide rages of G, x, X and A, i.e., 50 < G < 700 kg/m2 s,
0.001 < x < 0.95, 0.05 < X < 20, and 0.1 < A < 1.0. This proposed
correlation provides a simple tool for the engineering designer
with an assessment of prediction for the two-phase frictional pres-
sure drop in small rectangular channels.
4. Conclusion
In this study, measurements of two-phase frictional pressure
drops and flow observations for air–water flow in three small rect-
angular channels are presented. Based on the foregoing discus-
sions, the following summaries are concluded:
1. In this study, stratified flow pattern is still encountered for an
aspect ratio of unity at a low mass flux of 100 kg/m2 s but it
vanishes when G P 200 kg/m2 s.
0.1
0.1 1 10 100
(dP/dz)exp (kPa/m)
Fig. 4. Predictions of Wambsganss et al. [1] correlation versus present data.
2. It is worth noting that the length of elongated bubble is reduced
when the aspect ratio is increased. This is attributed to the pres-
ence of additional surface that may tear the elongated bubble
into several small ones. As a consequence, for the same plug
flow of intermittent flow pattern, the number of plug increases
whereas its length decreases when the aspect ratio is increased.
This is especially pronounced when the mass flux is further
increased to 500 or 700 kg/m2 s.
3. The major departure of the observed flow pattern relative to the
conventional Mandhane flow map is the transition boundary for
slug/annular which had been moved to a much lower superfi-
cial vapor velocity. This is because liquid can be easily trapped
or adhered to the sharp corners with additional help of surface

0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6
void fraction

0.5 Yashar, G=100 kg/m2s [19]

Yashar, G=200 kg/m2s
0.4 Homogenous Yashar, G=300 kg/m2s
Baroczy [18] Yashar, G=500 kg/m2s
0.3 Smith [20] Yashar, G=700 kg/m2s
G=100 kg/m2s Premoil, G=100 kg/m2s [17]
0.2 G=200 kg/m2s Premoil, G=200 kg/m2s
G=300 kg/m2s Premoil, G=300 kg/m2s
0.1 G=500 kg/m2s Premoil, G=500 kg/m2s
G=700 kg/m2s Premoil, G=700 kg/m2s
0
-3 5 -2 5 -1 5 0
10 10 10 10
x
Fig. 3. Measured void fraction data versus predictions.
 I.Y. Chen et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 29 (2009) 1309–1318 1317

100 100
0% 0%
Wambsganss et al. [1] +5 Wambsganss et al. [1] +5
Ide and Fukano [12] Ide and Fukano [12]
Present Data % Present Data %
-50 -50
Mean Deviation for Mean Deviation for
10 10
Wambsganss et al. [1] Wambsganss et al. [1]
= 37.41% = 24.99%
Φ Lcal

Φ Lcal
Mean Deviation for Mean Deviation for
Ide and Fukano [12] Ide and Fukano [12]
1 = 9.95% 1 = 10.83%
Mean Deviation for
Mean Deviation for
Present Data
Present Data
= 26.79%
= 10.73%
0.1
0.1 1 10 100 0.1
0.1 1 10 100
Φ Lexp Φ Lexp
Fig. 5. Comparison of the present results and experimental data [1,12] of UL versus
Fig. 7. Comparison of the predictions of the proposed correlation, Eq. (3) versus UL
predictions of Ide and Fukano correlation [12].
data [1,12] and present data.

100
Acknowledgements
0%
Wambsganss et al. [1] +5
Ide and Fukano [12] The authors would like to acknowledge the financial supports
Present Data % provided by the Energy Bureau and Department of Industrial Tech-
-50 nology both from the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Also grant from
Mean Deviation for
10 National Science Committee (NSC 95-2212-E-224-079) of Taiwan
Wambsganss et al. [1]
is also appreciated.
= 40.41%
Φ Lcal

Mean Deviation for
Ide and Fukano [12]
1 = 14.31%
Mean Deviation for
Present Data
= 25.95%
0.1
0.1 1 10 100
Φ Lexp
Fig. 6. Comparison of the present results and experimental data [1,12] of UL versus
predictions of Wambsganss et al. correlation [1].
tension. The trapped liquid in the upper two corners can join
with each other to form liquid film providing that the distance
is small.
4. Some void fraction correlations are compared to the present
measurements via a set of quick closing valves. However, the
data are quite scattering and do not match the predictions.
5. The two-phase frictional pressure drop data are compared with
the predictions from homogeneous and Chisholm methods,
Wambsganss and Ide-Fukano correlations. It is found none of
them can satisfactorily predict all the data set.
6. A modified C factor of Chisholm method considering the effect
of aspect ratio was proposed. The proposed correlation contains
the data sets of Wambsganss et al., Ide-Fukano, and the present
study. The mean deviations representing the predictive ability
of the proposed correlation against these three data sets are
24.99%, 10.83% and 10.73%, respectively. This correlation is
valid in wide rages of mass flux (50 < G < 700 kg/m2 s), gas qual-
ity (0.001 < x < 0.95), Martinelli parameter (0.05 < X < 20) and
aspect ratio (0.1 < A < 1.0).
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