Movement of liquid rivulet in a microchannel with a co-current gas flow

Abstract

The joint steady-state motion of a rivulet of incompressible liquid and a gas flow in a microchannel was studied taking into account the action of gravity forces, tangential stress at the gas-liquid interface, and Van der Waals forces. The values of contact angle are calculated for various values of liquid and gas flow rates. It is shown that for a constant liquid flow rate, an increase in gas velocity leads to a decrease in the height of rivulet, and the surface of rivulet becomes flatter. A significant deforming effect of rivulet on the velocity distribution in gas is found.