Liquid film motion under the action of gravitational and centrifugal fields

A preliminary study on the liquid film motion under the action of gravitational and centrifugal fields is presented. The material and momentum balance equations for the liquid film are developed using a boundary layer approximation. The momentum integral formulation is then employed to reduce the system of partial differential equations to a set of ordinary differential equations which is integrated using the Runge-Kutta method. Experimental measurements of water flowing in a cylindrical chamber were taken. The film thickness and the streamlines angle with respect to the horizontal plane were measured to estimate the angular and axial velocities. The calculated numerical values are in agreement with the experimental data, reveling the model capabilities to predict the flow field.