Ministry of Higher Education &scientific

Research
Mustansiriyah University
College of Engineering
Mechanical Engineering Department

Homogeneous Two-Phase Flow

(Section 3)

Asst. Prof. Dr. Hayder Mohammad Jaffal

Homogeneous Two-Phase Flow

Homogeneous flow is a particular model of two-phase Flow. If one assumes

that the two-phase velocities are equal, uL = uG, then all the equations are
very much simplified and one obtains the homogeneous model. Note that no
assumption about any other “homogeneity” of the flow is required, the
condition S = 1, is sufficient to derive the homogeneous model conservation
equations that look very much like the single-phase conservation equations.
The various definitions of the density or specific volume and of the enthalpy
of the mixture that were needed to write the mixture conservation equations
for the separated flow model all merge into their unique homogeneous
model form

Or
For homogeneous flow the phase velocities are equal; i.e. uG=uL and so :
 Equations for homogeneous viscosity have been largely a matter of
guesswork. The suggestions which have produced reasonable results are:

These all give reasonable results for pressure gradient but the Isban
Equation is generally the least good, although it is convenient to remember.
:Example (1)

Superficial of water and air flowing in channel are JL=0.8 m/s and
JG=0.05 m/s. Calculate void fraction and mixture density in channel
.using homogeneous model. Assume ρL=998 kg/m3 and ρG=1.4 kg/m3
: Solution
Or using this Eq.
One- Dimensional Steady Homogeneous Equilibrium Flow

The basic equations for steady one-dimensional homogeneous flow along

the tube shown in figure (1) are:

Figure (1): Forced applied on a tube differential

Continuity:

Momentum:

Energy:
 In the above equations A and P present the duct area and perimeter,
τw is the average wall shear stress, (dqe)/dz is the heat transfer per
unit length of the duct, zo is the vertical coordinate, and θ is the
inclination of the duct to the horizontal. Work terms are assumed to be
zero in the energy equation in the most cases. It is often possible to
use the momentum and energy equations in integral from when one is
only interested in changes between particular points in the duct.

Eq. (2) is often rewritten as an explicit equation for the pressure gradient.
Thus
The three terms on the right side can then be regarded as frictional,
gravitational, and accelerational components of pressure gradient.
 The total pressure gradient is then the sum of the components, as
follows:

In addition to above equations we use usually have some knowledge

about equation of state for the components. For a steam-water mixture,
for example, the steam tables or Mollier chart can employ.

The mean density can expressed in various ways. In terms of the volume
fraction α, it is
 Whereas in terms of the quality or mass fraction specific volumes are
additive. Therefore

For homogeneous steady flow with velocity equilibrium, the void fraction
and quality are
 The mass of each component per unit volume can be expressed in
terms of α or x to give the following equations:

The momentum equation can be developed further by expressing the

wall shear forces in terms of a friction factor and a hydraulic diameter
D. The average wall shear stress is
A convenient modification of Eq.(15) can be made by substitution in terms
of volumetric and mass flow rates. Thus

Alternatively we may choose to work in terms of specific volumes of the

components and the quality. From Eq.(10)
Sub Eq.(18) into Eq.(17) the gives

The gravitational pressure drop is found in terms of quality by

substituting for ρh from Eq.(10) in (6) . That result is

Since the mass flow rate is constant and each phase has the same
velocity, the accelerational pressure gradient in Eq(7) becomes
Substituting for u from Eq.(1) in (21) gives

Expanding the differential we find

Further , from differentiation Eq.(10)

Or in terms of specific volumes of phases,

 In term of two region (e.g, vapor, liquid) for a pure substance, vL and
vG are only functions of pressure. For two component mixture, likewise
vL and vG can be expressed in terms of pressure as long as the
thermodynamic path can be determined. Equation (27) can then
rewritten as

The accelerational pressure drop, in terms of quality, flow rate, and

property variations, is now found from Eq.(23) with use of Eq.(27), to be
 Combining Eqs.(19), (20), and (28) in the form of Eq.(28) and
rearranging , we eventually obtain an expression from the pressure
gradient can be calculated as follows;

When does the homogeneous model work well?

This question has to be answered separately for three components of the
total pressure gradient.
1-Acceleration pressure gradient: this cannot be measured directly, but the
momentum flux can be measured. The homogeneous value seems to give
a reasonable prediction for the experimental results over a range of
conditions. However, the experimental data are rather limited.
2-Gravitational pressure gradient: this also cannot be measured directly,
but the void fraction can be measured. It is found that the homogeneous
void fraction is good estimate of the actual void fraction if
 If these conditions are not met then the homogeneous model can-under
predict the mean density by a factor of (5 to 10). It can be noted that the
steam-water mixtures, the condition that (ρ_L/ρ_G )<10 corresponds
approximately to a value of (p>120) bar.

3- Frictional pressure gradient: this quantity also cannot be measured, but

is usually obtained by subtracting the best estimates of accelerational and
gravitational terms from the total experimental pressure gradient.
Fortunately it is often found that the frictional term is the dominate one.
The homogeneous model, again, gives good results if:
:Example (2)

Saturated water at (5 bar ) flows up a smooth vertical around tube of

diameter (0.05 m) and (2 m) long and is uniformly heated with (200 kW).
The total flow rate is (0.6 kg/s). Calculate:
1-The homogeneous void fraction.
2-The gravitational pressure gradient.
3-The frictional pressure drop.
4-The accelerational pressure drop.
5-The total pressure drop.

Liquid density: 777.5 kg/m3

Gas density: 25.35 kg/m3
Liquid viscosity: 180x 10 -6 Ns/m2
Gas viscosity: 14x 10 -6 Ns/m2
Liquid enthalpy: 1154.22 kJ/kg
Gas enthalpy: 2793.7 kJ/kg
1- The homogeneous void fraction
2- The gravitational pressure gradient.

The homogeneous density can be found as:

The gravitational pressure gradient is estimated with using (θ=90°) from :

3-The frictional pressure drop.

First calculate the homogenous viscosity from:

The total mass flux (G) is:

The mixture Reynolds number is :

Using the friction factor equation as:

4-The accelerational pressure drop.
5-The total pressure drop.