Secondary Flow of Liquid-liquid Two-Phase Fluids in a Pipe Bend

M. Ayala [1], P. Santos [2], G. Hamester [2], O. Ayala [3],
[1] Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universidad de Oriente, Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela
[2] Brazil Scientific Mobility Program, CAPES, Brasilia DF, Brazil
[3] Department of Engineering Technology, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, USA
Published in 2016

As the flow passed through the pipe, and entered the bend, various vortical structures appear, meaning that there is a secondary flow emerging. Also while the flow is in the bend gravity forces affect distinctively its behavior as long as the centrifugal force is not greater.

From this study, it appears that the fluid behavior on the pipe bend is strongly related to gravitational and centrifugal force ratio. Further studies should be considered to analyze the effect of this ratio and the effect of laminar Reynolds number on the fluid flow. Therefore, a study carrying out a gravitational to centrifugal ratio of 1 might be pursued, since more conclusions can be taken to even better understand the two-phase flow on pipe bends.