Laminar flows, single phase

Single phase fluid flows (single phase reactors, i.e., laminar and turbulent flows). 

The geometry of the problem for microtubes is shown in Fig. 1. Steady-state, two-dimensional, incompressible, laminar, and single-phase gas flow is considered. An unheated section is provided, where the velocity proflle... 

The basis for single-phase and some two-phase friction loss (pressure drop) for fluid flow follows the Darcy and Fanning concepts. The exact transition from laminar or dscous flow to the turbulent condition is variously identified as between a Reynolds number of 2000 and 4000. 

In Chap. 3 the problems of single-phase flow are considered. Detailed data on flows of incompressible fluid and gas in smooth and rough micro-channels are presented. The chapter focuses on the transition from laminar to turbulent flow, and the thermal effects that cause oscillatory regimes. 

Chapter 7 deals with the practical problems. It contains the results of the general hydrodynamical and thermal characteristics corresponding to laminar flows in micro-channels of different geometry. The overall correlations for drag and heat transfer coefficients in micro-channels at single- and two-phase flows, as well as data on physical properties of selected working fluids are presented. The correlation for boiling heat transfer is also considered. 

The problems of micro-hydrodynamics were considered in different contexts (1) drag in micro-channels with a hydraulic diameter from 10 m to 10 m at laminar, transient and turbulent single-phase flows, (2) heat transfer in liquid and gas flows in small channels, and (3) two-phase flow in adiabatic and heated microchannels. The smdies performed in these directions encompass a vast class of problems related to flow of incompressible and compressible fluids in regular and irregular micro-channels under adiabatic conditions, heat transfer, as well as phase change. 

For single-phase gas flow in micro-channels of hydraulic diameter from 101 to 4,010 pm, in the range of Reynolds numbers Re < Recr, the Knudsen number 0.001 < Kn < 0.38, and the Mach number 0.07 < Ma < 0.84, the experimental friction factor agrees quite well with the theoretical one predicted for fully developed laminar flow. 

Celata GP, Cumo M, Marcom V, McPhail SJ, Zummo Z (2006) Micro-tube liquid single phase heat transfer in laminar flow. Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 49 3538-3546... 

In the current state of the art, almost all multiphase CFD models available in commercial codes use some type of turbulence model based on extending models originally developed for single-phase flows. Such CFD models are thus meant to describe fully turbulent flows (as opposed to laminar or transitional flows). Nevertheless, many of these models have not been validated... 

Laminar flow is known to reduce the capacity of safety valves for single-phase liquid flow and a capacity correction chart is available13,41. The derivation of this chart has recently been reviewed151 and this review gives additional information about the applicability of the correction factor to different sizes of valve. 

The only single-phase item involved is the solution heat exchanger, which is intensified by the use of laminar flow in a matrix of fine channels. A sketch of the single-effect Rotex (13) design is shown in Figure 15, where it can be seen that a hermetically sealed rotating disc assembly fulfills the four functions listed. The working fluid consists of a water solution of either mixed alkali metal hydroxides or lithium bromide. 

In order for a model to be closured, the total number of independent equations has to match the total number of independent variables. For a single-phase flow, the typical independent equations include the continuity equation, momentum equation, energy equation, equation of state for compressible flow, equations for turbulence characteristics in turbulent flows, and relations for laminar transport coefficients (e.g., fJL = f(T)). The typical independent variables may include density, pressure, velocity, temperature, turbulence characteristics, and some laminar transport coefficients. Since the velocity of gas is a vector, the number of independent variables associated with the velocity depends on the number of components of the velocity in question. Similar consideration is also applied to the momentum equation, which is normally written in a vectorial form. 

The fluxes of mass, momentum, and energy of phase k transported in a laminar or turbulent multiphase flow can be expressed in terms of the local gradients and the transport coefficients. In a gas-solid multiphase flow, the transport coefficients of the gas phase may be reasonably represented by those in a single-phase flow although certain modifications... 

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