Martinelli parameter

Rapid approximate predictions of pressure drop for fully developed, incompressible horizontal gas/fiquid flow may be made using the method of Lockhart and MartineUi (Chem. Eng. Prog., 45, 39 8 [1949]). First, the pressure drops that would be expected for each of the two phases as if flowing alone in single-phase flow are calculated. The LocKhart-Martinelli parameter X is defined in terms of the ratio of these pressure drops ... 

The Lockhart and Martinelli (1949) correlation also uses a two-phase friction multiplier, defined by Eq. (5.16). The friction multiplier has been correlated in terms of the Lockhart-Martinelli parameter, X, given by... 

Zhao and Bi (2001b) measured pressure drop in triangular conventional size channels d = 0.866—2.866 mm). The variations of the measured two-phase frictional multiplier with the Martinelli parameter X for the three miniature triangular channels used in experiments are displayed, respectively, in Fig. 5.29a-c. In Fig. 5.29 also shown are the curves predicted by Eq. (5.25) for C = 5 and C = 20. It is evident from Fig. 5.29 that the experimental data are reasonably predicted by the Lockhart-Martinelli correlation, reflected by the fact that all the data largely fall between the curves for C = 5 and C = 20, except for the case at very low superficial liquid velocities. 

Figure 5.31 shows a comparison of the two-phase friction multiplier data with the values predicted by Eq. (5.25) with C = 5, for both phases being laminar, and with C = 0.66 given by Mishima and Hibiki s (1996) correlation. It is clear that the data correlate well using a Lockhart-Martinelli parameter, but the predictions of... 

Fig. 5.29a-c Two-phase frictional multiplier 0 vs. Lockhart-Martinelli parameter X (Lockhart and Mar-tinelli 1949). Reprinted from Zhao and Bi (2001b) with permission... 

Fig. 5.31 Variation of two-phase friction multiplier data with Lockhart-Martinelli parameter. Reprinted from Kawahara et al. (2002) with permission...

Lockhart-Martinelli parameter Volumetric quality, void fraction Streamwise coordinate... 

In Table 6.7, C is the Martinelli-Chisholm constant, / is the friction factor, /f is the friction factor based on local liquid flow rate, / is the friction factor based on total flow rate as a liquid, G is the mass velocity in the micro-channel, L is the length of micro-channel, P is the pressure, AP is the pressure drop, Ptp,a is the acceleration component of two-phase pressure drop, APtp f is the frictional component of two-phase pressure drop, v is the specific volume, JCe is the thermodynamic equilibrium quality, Xvt is the Martinelli parameter based on laminar liquid-turbulent vapor flow, Xvv is the Martinelli parameter based on laminar liquid-laminar vapor flow, a is the void fraction, ji is the viscosity, p is the density, is the two-phase frictional... 

Table 6.8 shows that the effect of the Martinelli parameter is important for each of the three quality ranges. The present correlations show the heat transfer coefficient is... 

In this table the parameters are defined as follows Bo is the boiling number, d i is the hydraulic diameter, / is the friction factor, h is the local heat transfer coefficient, k is the thermal conductivity, Nu is the Nusselt number, Pr is the Prandtl number, q is the heat flux, v is the specific volume, X is the Martinelli parameter, Xvt is the Martinelli parameter for laminar liquid-turbulent vapor flow, Xw is the Martinelli parameter for laminar liquid-laminar vapor flow, Xq is thermodynamic equilibrium quality, z is the streamwise coordinate, fi is the viscosity, p is the density, <7 is the surface tension the subscripts are L for saturated fluid, LG for property difference between saturated vapor and saturated liquid, G for saturated vapor, sp for singlephase, and tp for two-phase. 

A separated flow model for stratified flow was presented by Taitel and Dukler (1976a). They indicated analytically that the liquid holdup, R, and the dimensionless pressure drop, 4>G, can be calculated as unique f unctions of the Lockhart-Martinelli parameter, X (Lockhart and Martinelli, 1949). Considering equilibrium stratified flow (Fig. 3.37), the momentum balance equations for each phase are... 

Instead of the Martinelli parameter, Xlt, a convection number, Co, was used for the F factor neglecting the vapor viscosity effects ... 

Here 7 was shown to be essentially independent of the Lockhart-Martinelli parameter, X, for values of (1/30 greater than unity. Further study, however, is necessary to develop a generalized equation for the coefficient 7. 

Void fraction and square root of two-phase multiplier against Martinelli parameter X Source R. W. Lockhart and R. C. Martinelli, Chemical Engineering Progress 45, pp. 39-46(1949)... 

At high values of the Martinelli parameter X, the gas-liquid flow behaves more like the liquid at low values of X it behaves more like the gas. 

This is consistent with the Blasius type of expression used for the friction factors in deriving the Martinelli parameter. Using the value n = 0.20 and expressing the ratio of flow rates in terms of the quality... 

The Lockhart-Martinelli correlation provides the relationship between 4>j. and the Martinelli parameter X . Therefore, use of equation 7.95 enables the relationship between 4>lo and X at low pressures to be found. 

Thus, at the critical pressure 4>j,o has the value unity at all values of the quality and Martinelli parameter. 

Over the range of Martinelli parameter of practical importance (0.1 Martinelli-Nelson correlation predicts a frictional pressure gradient approximately twice that predicted by the homogeneous model. 

Davis (Dl) has suggested that the introduction of the Froude number into the Lockhart-Martinelli parameter. A, gives a description of gravitational and inertial forces so that this model can be applied to vertical flow. The revised parameter, X, is defined empirically for turbulent-turbulent flow as,... 

Hughmark and Pressburg (H12) have correlated statistically their void data and others for vertical flow, using a modified Lockhart-Martinelli parameter, X, given as... 

Entrainment studies have been relatively few, as pointed out earlier. Anderson and Mantzouranis (A3) used the results of measurements of entrainment (which was small in their work) to correct their calculated liquid film thickness, and thus obtained somewhat better agreement with experimental values. Wicks and Dukler (W2) measured entrainment in horizontal flow, and obtained a correlation for the amount of entrainment in terms of the Lockhart and Martinelli parameter, X. The entrainment parameter, R, of Wicks and Dukler is given by... 

TJse of the Lockhart-Martinelli Parameters for Heat Transfer... 

For sufficiently large heat flux to mass flow ratios, the nucleation mechanism predominates and the heat transfer becomes independent of the two-phase flow characteristics of the system. Thus at large values of the boiling number, the heat transfer coefficients are virtually independent of the Lockhart-Martinelli parameter, Xn. 

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