Effects of Diameters on Countercurrent Flow Limitation at a Square Top End in Vertical Pipes

The falling liquid flow rate under flooding conditions is limited at a square top end of a vertical pipe in the pressurizer surge line with the diameter of about 300 mm that consists of a vertical pipe, a vertical elbow, and a slightly inclined pipe with elbows. In this study, therefore, we evaluated effects of diameters on countercurrent flow limitation (CCFL) at the square top end in vertical pipes by using existing air-water data in the diameter range of D = 19-250 mm. As a result, we found that there was a strong relationship between the constant CK and the slope m in the Wallis-type correlation where the Kutateladze parameters were used for the dimensionless gas and liquid velocities. The constant CK and the slope m increased when the water level is increased in the upper tank h. CCFL at the square top end of the vertical pipes could be expressed by the Kutateladze parameters with CK = 1.53±0.11 and m = 0.97 for D ≥ 30 mm. The CK values were smaller for D = 19-25 mm than those for D ≥ 30 mm.