Two Phase Flow Correlation

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Advances in Space Research 49 (2012) 351–364 www.elsevier.com/locate/asr

Evaluation of using two-phase frictional pressure drop correlations for normal gravity to microgravity and reduced gravity
Xiande Fang ⇑, Honggang Zhang, Yu Xu, Xianghui Su
Institute of Air Conditioning and Refrigeration, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 29 Yudao St., Nanjing 210016, China Received 8 May 2011; received in revised form 15 August 2011; accepted 5 September 2011 Available online 19 October 2011

Abstract The calculation of two-phase frictional pressure drop (TPFPD) is required by two-phase systems operating under microgravity and reduced gravity. There are a large number of correlations for the TPFPD in tubes under normal gravity. However, it is hard to find out a TPFPD correlation obtained from microgravity and/or reduced gravity conditions, and thus people have to use TPFPD correlations for normal gravity to calculate TPFPD under microgravity and reduced gravity. It is necessary to evaluate the feasibility of such practice. This paper offers a comprehensive review of the TPFPD correlations for normal gravity and an up-to-data survey of the TPFPD experimental study under microgravity and reduced gravity. There are 23 TPFPD correlations for normal gravity reviewed and 135 experimental data under microgravity obtained from the literature. These experimental data are used to evaluate the reviewed TPFPD correlations. It is found that the smallest mean absolute relative deviation (MARD) of the correlations is greater than 34%. Using TPFPD correlations for normal gravity to reduced gravity and microgravity may be acceptable for the first approximation, but correlations intended for microgravity and reduced gravity are needed and more experiments are desired to obtain more data with high accuracy. Ó 2011 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Two-phase; Frictional pressure drop;

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