Mixing shocks in two-phase flow

Abstract

In gas-liquid flows a certain sudden change of the flow structure may occur, which can be described as a transition from ‘jet flow’ to ‘froth flow’ accompanied by energy dissipation and pressure build-up. Upstream of this phenomenon the gas is the continuous phase; downstream the liquid is the continuous phase. The phenomenon, which has been called ‘mixing shock’, shows some similarity and also some differences with the plane shock wave in gasdynamics. In the first part of this paper the mixing shock is treated as a one-dimensional macroscopic process. With the aid of the laws of conservation of mass, momentum and energy, expressions are obtained for the pressure and entropy change across the mixing process. In addition the stability of the mixing shock in a cylindrical flow channel is treated. Next, a theory that explains the gas entrainment mechanism in the mixing shock is proposed. As an experimental tool a water-air ejector with the water as a driving medium was used. The experiments confirm the macroscopic and the microscopic theory. In the last section of this paper theoretical and experimental evidence is combined to construct a model of the processes that play a role in the shock.