At high gas rates in slug flow, what is the appearance of the gas bubbles?

At high gas rates in slug flow, what is the appearance of the gas bubbles?

• A. Gas pockets vanish
• B. Gas dissolves completely
• C. Taylor bubbles fill the cross-section with liquid slugs between
• D. Liquid drains completely

Answer: (C)

In slug flow, large gas pockets travel through the pipe with liquid slugs between them. At high gas rates, these gas pockets grow long enough to span the entire cross-section of the pipe, forming Taylor bubbles that fill the cross-section while a thin liquid film remains around the walls. Between consecutive gas pockets, you see the liquid slug. So the appearance is Taylor bubbles occupying the cross-section with liquid slugs between them. The other ideas—pockets vanishing, gas dissolving, or the liquid draining completely—don’t describe this alternating cross-section filling behavior.

In slug flow, large gas pockets travel through the pipe with liquid slugs between them. At high gas rates, these gas pockets grow long enough to span the entire cross-section of the pipe, forming Taylor bubbles that fill the cross-section while a thin liquid film remains around the walls. Between consecutive gas pockets, you see the liquid slug. So the appearance is Taylor bubbles occupying the cross-section with liquid slugs between them. The other ideas—pockets vanishing, gas dissolving, or the liquid draining completely—don’t describe this alternating cross-section filling behavior.