Experimental Investigation of Single-phase Flow Friction in Narrow Annuli

Experimental investigations of water flow friction in horizontal narrow annuli, with gap sizes of 0.57-3.08 mm, were carried out. The tests involved both laminar and turbulent flow regimes. The critical Reynolds number transited from laminar flow to turbulent flow was examed and observed. The friction factors obtained from experiments were compared with conventional correlations evaluated results, and the influences of channel scale and eccentricity on flow friction characteristics were discussed. It was found that fluid friction in turbulent regime could be predicted by conventional correlations with satisfied degree, but both values and varying trend of that vs. r_i/r_o in laminar regime were obviously departure from theoretically results when the gap sizes were less than 2.0 mm, and the critical Reynolds number was slightly less then 2300 when the gap sizes were less than 1.0 mm.