Numerical Analysis of Two-Phase Pipe Flow of Liquid Helium Using Multi-Fluid Model

Abstract

The two-dimensional characteristics of the vapor-liquid two-phase flow of liquid helium in a pipe are numerically investigated to realize the further development and high performance of new cryogenic engineering applications. First, the governing equations of the two-phase flow of liquid helium based on the unsteady thermal nonequilibrium multi-fluid model are presented and several flow characteristics are numerically calculated, taking into account the effect of superfluidity. Based on the numerical results, the two-dimensional structure of the two-phase flow of liquid helium is shown in detail, and it is also found that the phase transition of the normal fluid to the superfluid and the generation of superfluid counterflow against normal fluid flow are conspicuous in the large gas phase volume fraction region where the liquid to gas phase change actively occurs. Furthermore, it is clarified that the mechanism of the He I to He II phase transition caused by the temperature decrease is due to the deprivation of latent heat for vaporization from the liquid phase. According to these theoretical results, the fundamental characteristics of the cryogenic two-phase flow are predicted. The numerical results obtained should contribute to the realization of advanced cryogenic industrial applications.