Instability of a two-phase flow in a rectangular channel

A two-phase (liquid-gas) flow in a short horizontal slit channel of a rectangular cross section with a height of 440 μm has been experimentally studied using a fluorescent method, which allowed the flow pattern to be monitored and its quantitative characteristics to be measured. It is established that two-phase flow regimes in this channel substantially differ from the classical regimes of flow in extended channels of large cross section. It is demonstrated that the formation of various two-phase flow regimes and the transitions between them in short narrow rectangular slits are determined by instability of the liquid-gas flow at the side-walls of the channel.