Effects of Channel Hydraulic Diameters and Flow Ratios of Two‐Phase Flow in Y‐Junction Microchannels

The hydrodynamics of two‐phase flow of a water‐cyclohexane immiscible system with and without obstruction of Y‐junction microchannels under slug flow regime were studied numerically. Flow ratios of water and cyclohexane were varied in a wide range. The results indicate that the slug volume decreases linearly with an increase in flow rate of both fluids; however, the rate of declination in the slug volume for water is higher than that of cyclohexane. For a channel with smaller hydraulic diameter the decrease in slug volume was more pronounced at a constant velocity than that for a channel with a larger hydraulic diameter under identical conditions. The effect of fluid properties along the channel length were compared with existing results. For the two‐phase flow of a water‐cyclohexane immiscible system with and without obstruction of Y‐junction microchannels under slug flow regime the hydrodynamics was studied numerically. Varying fluid properties and operating parameters were evaluated using the volume‐of‐fluid technique and the findings were compared with predictions of existing correlations and experimental results.