Flow pattern modulation in a horizontal tube by the passive phase separation concept

A passive phase separation concept was proposed to modulate flow pattern in a condenser tube. An empty mesh cylinder is suspended in the condenser tube. The miniature mesh pores prevent gas bubble entering the mesh cylinder but capture liquid into the mesh cylinder, ensuring largest possibility for cold tube wall directly contacted with gas to form the perfect thin liquid film condensation heat transfer. We performed the air–water two-phase flow experiment. It was found that for a relatively higher liquid height in the horizontal tube, all liquid can be captured by the mesh cylinder to form the “gas-floating-liquid” mode. If the liquid height is small in the horizontal tube, partial liquid can be sucked by the mesh cylinder, the contact area between tube wall and gas is increased. When plug flow reaches the mesh cylinder surface, elongated saddle bubbles are formed in the annular region to envelop the mesh cylinder surface. When bubbly flow in the horizontal tube approaches the mesh cylinder area, miniature bubbles can merge to form large bubbles in the annular region. For the later two cases, all the gas flow rate is flowing in the annular region and the inside mesh cylinder is the liquid.