{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.multiphase-flow","code":"thing-q1559665","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q1559665/","name":"multiphase flow","alternateNames":[],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.1.0-research.1","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Activities and processes","entryKind":"thing","plane":"ACT","domain":["ACT.ACT"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"Multiphase flow is the simultaneous motion of two or more physically distinct phases within a system, with their interaction governed by interfaces and exchanges of momentum, heat, and, where applicable, mass.","purpose":"Enable an agent to recognize multiphase flow, assess phase distribution and transport, and judge which measurements, predictions, or interventions are justified.","scope":{"in":["Identification of participating phases and evidence that they remain physically distinct","Phase fractions, phase-specific transport, relative velocities, and spatial distribution","Dispersed, separated, and transitional flow configurations","Interphase momentum, heat, and mass transfer, including phase appearance or disappearance","Effects of confinement, orientation, wetting, and porous pathways on flow","Measurement interpretation, model applicability, and justified operating changes"],"out":["Single-phase multicomponent transport without a distinct second phase","Static phase equilibrium except where it establishes conditions for the flowing process","Intrinsic substance properties and constitutive data owned by material models","Complete design, maintenance, or certification of pipes, reactors, pumps, and separators","Chemical reaction mechanisms except for their effects on phase inventory and transport","Dry granular flow without a materially relevant fluid phase"],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Require evidence of distinct phases; multiple chemical species dissolved in one homogeneous fluid do not alone establish multiphase flow.","Recognize that one chemical substance can supply multiple phases, as with liquid water and water vapor.","Require transport within the observation domain; an undisturbed layered mixture alone is a static multiphase system.","Distinguish transported or dynamically interacting dispersed solids from stationary walls or a fixed porous matrix.","Do not require relative phase velocity: equal phase velocities can be an approximation within a multiphase flow.","Treat two-phase flow as a subset of this entry rather than a separate competing definition."],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"phase-identity-and-boundaries","name":"Phase identity and boundaries","description":"Establish what counts as a phase and where the flowing instance begins and ends.","layers":[{"id":"participating-phases","name":"Participating phases","description":"Identify physically distinct phases and their evidence.","findings":[{"id":"phase-distinctness","name":"Phase distinctness","description":"Record phase identities separately from chemical species and identify the observations or thermodynamic reasoning supporting each distinction.","questions":[{"text":"Which gas, liquid, or solid phases are present, and which chemical components belong to each?","id":"phase-distinctness-q01","kind":"definition"},{"text":"What observation or phase-state calculation establishes each phase under the actual pressure and temperature?","id":"phase-distinctness-q02","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"flow-instance-boundary","name":"Flow instance boundary","description":"Define the control volume, observation interval, and role of stationary structures.","findings":[{"id":"transport-and-solid-role","name":"Transport and solid role","description":"Specify the motion that makes this a flow and distinguish participating solids from fixed boundaries or a porous skeleton.","questions":[{"text":"Across what control volume and time interval is phase motion being assessed?","id":"transport-and-solid-role-q01","kind":"boundary"},{"text":"Are solids transported particles, a dynamically interacting bed, deposits, or a fixed matrix, and how does that choice affect phase counting?","id":"transport-and-solid-role-q02","kind":"definition"}]}]}]},{"id":"phase-distribution-and-regimes","name":"Phase distribution and regimes","description":"Describe phase connectivity, interface arrangement, and changes in flow pattern.","layers":[{"id":"interface-topology","name":"Interface topology","description":"Characterize continuous regions, dispersed entities, and the relevant observation scale.","findings":[{"id":"resolved-or-dispersed-structure","name":"Resolved or dispersed structure","description":"Record whether interfaces are individually represented or described through averaged phase occupancy and dispersed populations; this distinction is used in [COMSOL's multiphase modeling guidance](https://www.comsol.com/blogs/modeling-and-simulation-of-multiphase-flow-in-comsol-part-1).","questions":[{"text":"Which phases form connected regions and which occur as bubbles, droplets, or particles at the observation scale?","id":"resolved-or-dispersed-structure-q01","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"What interface area, film thickness, or dispersed-size distribution is known, and by which averaging convention?","id":"resolved-or-dispersed-structure-q02","kind":"measurement"}]}]},{"id":"regime-assignment","name":"Regime assignment","description":"Attach flow-pattern labels to a stated application and evidence base.","findings":[{"id":"regime-evidence-and-transition","name":"Regime evidence and transition","description":"Treat regime labels as geometry-dependent classifications, preserving mixed patterns, transition uncertainty, and any history dependence.","questions":[{"text":"Which regime classification or flow map is being used, and does its geometry, orientation, and phase pair match this case?","id":"regime-evidence-and-transition-q01","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"What time-resolved evidence distinguishes a persistent regime from intermittent or transitional behavior?","id":"regime-evidence-and-transition-q02","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"Which changes in phase rates or boundary conditions could cross the supported regime boundary?","id":"regime-evidence-and-transition-q03","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"phase-transport-and-balances","name":"Phase transport and balances","description":"Relate occupancy, phase rates, relative motion, and accumulation.","layers":[{"id":"occupancy-and-kinematics","name":"Occupancy and kinematics","description":"Put fraction and velocity measurements on compatible bases.","findings":[{"id":"fraction-and-velocity-basis","name":"Fraction and velocity basis","description":"Record fraction denominators, velocity definitions, reference conditions, and averaging scales before relating phase occupancy to throughput.","questions":[{"text":"Does each reported fraction represent in-situ volume, mass, volumetric throughput, or pore-volume saturation?","id":"fraction-and-velocity-basis-q01","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Are velocities intrinsic or superficial, and what phase-pair slip follows from compatible measurements?","id":"fraction-and-velocity-basis-q02","kind":"measurement"}]}]},{"id":"phase-conservation","name":"Phase conservation","description":"Account for inlet and outlet transport, storage, and phase conversion.","findings":[{"id":"inventory-balance","name":"Inventory balance","description":"Reconcile each phase inventory with measured fluxes and transfer terms, while keeping interphase conversion distinct from external addition or removal.","questions":[{"text":"Do inlet rates, outlet rates, accumulation, and phase conversion close each phase mass balance within measurement uncertainty?","id":"inventory-balance-q01","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"Where phase inventories change, what evidence separates conversion from entrainment, deposition, leakage, or unmeasured storage?","id":"inventory-balance-q02","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"interphase-coupling-and-transformation","name":"Interphase coupling and transformation","description":"Capture exchanges and interface changes that couple phase behavior.","layers":[{"id":"momentum-coupling","name":"Momentum coupling","description":"Identify mechanisms that produce or resist relative phase motion.","findings":[{"id":"force-and-closure-selection","name":"Force and closure selection","description":"Record the relevance and evidential basis of drag, lift, added-mass effects, turbulent dispersion, and particle contacts rather than assuming every mechanism applies.","questions":[{"text":"Which momentum exchanges materially affect phase slip or distribution in this configuration?","id":"force-and-closure-selection-q01","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"What evidence supports the selected force closures for the observed size, concentration, shape, and flow regime?","id":"force-and-closure-selection-q02","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"thermal-mass-and-interface-change","name":"Thermal, mass, and interface change","description":"Separate phase conversion from redistribution and changes in dispersed size.","findings":[{"id":"exchange-and-population-evolution","name":"Exchange and population evolution","description":"Track heat and species transfer, phase appearance or disappearance, breakup, and coalescence as distinct mechanisms with different balance effects.","questions":[{"text":"Are phases at a common temperature and local equilibrium, or must finite heat and mass transfer be represented?","id":"exchange-and-population-evolution-q01","kind":"boundary"},{"text":"Which observations distinguish evaporation, condensation, dissolution, or solidification from breakup and coalescence?","id":"exchange-and-population-evolution-q02","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"When a phase appears or disappears, which assumptions and measurements must be reconsidered?","id":"exchange-and-population-evolution-q03","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"confinement-driving-and-operation","name":"Confinement, driving, and operation","description":"Relate the physical flow setting to transport responses and possible interventions.","layers":[{"id":"geometry-and-boundary-effects","name":"Geometry and boundary effects","description":"Describe the domain features that constrain phase motion and connectivity.","findings":[{"id":"confinement-wetting-and-pathways","name":"Confinement, wetting, and pathways","description":"Record geometry, orientation, wall interaction, and porous-medium effects where they materially control the flow.","questions":[{"text":"Which dimensions, inclinations, restrictions, and gravity directions control phase segregation or interface shape?","id":"confinement-wetting-and-pathways-q01","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"Do wetting, capillary entry, relative permeability, or trapping need representation, and what establishes their relevance?","id":"confinement-wetting-and-pathways-q02","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"operating-response","name":"Operating response","description":"Connect controllable inputs to flow-specific outcomes and limits.","findings":[{"id":"intervention-envelope","name":"Intervention envelope","description":"Evaluate changes against case-specific evidence for pressure loss, intermittent loading, phase carryover, solids accumulation, or thermal limits.","questions":[{"text":"Which phase feed rates, pressures, heat inputs, or outlet conditions can be changed, and what response is sought?","id":"intervention-envelope-q01","kind":"action"},{"text":"Which observed or validated thresholds constrain the proposed change for this geometry and phase system?","id":"intervention-envelope-q02","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which measurements would show that the intervention caused an unwanted regime transition or loss of transport?","id":"intervention-envelope-q03","kind":"measurement"}]}]}]},{"id":"observation-and-prediction-validity","name":"Observation and prediction validity","description":"Establish what the available measurements and computational representations can support.","layers":[{"id":"measurement-observability","name":"Measurement observability","description":"Relate sensor outputs to phase quantities and unresolved behavior.","findings":[{"id":"sensor-to-phase-inference","name":"Sensor-to-phase inference","description":"Separate directly observed quantities from inferred phase fractions, velocities, sizes, and regimes.","questions":[{"text":"Which phase quantities are directly resolved, and which depend on calibration, reconstruction, or assumed phase properties?","id":"sensor-to-phase-inference-q01","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Can the spatial resolution and sampling rate capture the relevant bubbles, films, particles, and intermittency?","id":"sensor-to-phase-inference-q02","kind":"measurement"}]}]},{"id":"representation-and-validation","name":"Representation and validation","description":"Match the chosen representation and closures to the required prediction.","findings":[{"id":"model-applicability","name":"Model applicability","description":"Record which interfaces or particles are resolved and which are averaged, then assess closures separately from numerical convergence; constitutive-model evaluation is an explicit purpose of [NETL's MFiX work](https://www.netl.doe.gov/carbon-management/simulation-based-engineering/multiphase-flow-science).","questions":[{"text":"Why is an interface-resolving, Eulerian multifluid, mixture, particle-tracking, or porous-medium representation adequate for the decision?","id":"model-applicability-q01","kind":"boundary"},{"text":"Which independent measurements validate the required outputs, and over what phase fractions, rates, sizes, and geometries?","id":"model-applicability-q02","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"What additional evidence is required before using the prediction outside its validated range?","id":"model-applicability-q03","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"evidence-and-external-alignment","name":"Evidence and external alignment","description":"What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.","layers":[{"id":"reported-evidence","name":"Reported evidence","description":"Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.","findings":[{"id":"evidence-confidence-notes","name":"Check these first","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these check these first hold for the sense of multiphase flow this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-confidence-notes-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-kinds","name":"Kinds and varieties","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of multiphase flow this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-kinds-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-real-world-use","name":"Real-world use","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of multiphase flow this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-real-world-use-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-measurements","name":"Typical measurements","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of multiphase flow this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-measurements-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards","name":"Failure modes and hazards","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of multiphase flow this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-neighbours","name":"Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of multiphase flow this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-neighbours-q01","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Explain multiphase flow and the models used to describe it.","Run simulations or monitor flows on systems the agent is authorized to operate."],"mustNot":["Change operating conditions of pipelines, reactors or wells carrying multiphase flow without the operator's authorization.","Present simulation results as validated without test data.","Disable alarms on systems where slugging or phase changes can cause damage."],"requiresHuman":["Control actions on safety-critical plant during abnormal flow conditions."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Multiphase flow failures in pipelines and plants can cause explosions and spills.","Engineering models must be honest about their uncertainty."],"affectedParties":["Plant workers","Nearby communities","Environment"]},"owners":{"steward":"Nobody owns the phenomenon; operators answer for the plants where it occurs.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q12142910","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.multiphase-flow","Wikidata: Q1559665 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1559665)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":["Phase inventory: Phase identifiers with physical state, composition, and continuous or dispersed role","Phase occupancy: Volume fraction 0-1; specify local, cross-sectional, or volume average and whether the denominator is total volume or pore volume","Phase transport rate: Mass flow kg/s or volumetric flow m³/s at stated pressure and temperature","Phase velocity and slip: m/s; identify intrinsic phase velocity, superficial velocity, and the ordered phase pair for slip","Flow configuration: Dispersed, separated, mixed, or transitional; application-specific regime label with classification basis","Interface and dispersed-size measures: Interfacial area density m⁻¹; bubble, droplet, or particle diameter distribution in m with averaging convention","Pressure and thermal conditions: Absolute pressure Pa, pressure gradient Pa/m, phase temperature K","Interphase exchange: Momentum source N/m³, heat source W/m³, mass source kg/(m³·s), with receiving phase and sign convention","Flow-domain relationship: Links to geometry, inclination, gravity direction, walls, wetting conditions, and porous matrix","Prediction applicability: Supported within validation range, extrapolated, contradicted, or unassessed"]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["Visible bubbles in liquid or droplets in gas indicate distinct phases moving within the same flow.","Moving solid particles suspended in a fluid distinguish particle-laden flow from a visibly uniform fluid stream.","Alternating gas pockets and liquid plugs, or moving layers separated by an interface, can reveal particular multiphase flow patterns."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["Determine whether observations establish multiphase flow and identify the participating phases.","Reconcile phase fractions, rates, and velocities on a consistent spatial and temporal basis.","Classify an observed flow configuration and flag evidence of a regime transition.","Select a measurement strategy or candidate modeling approach appropriate to interface and particle scales.","Evaluate proposed changes in phase feed, pressure, heat input, or orientation against a validated operating envelope.","Identify missing evidence that prevents reliable prediction of pressure loss, phase carryover, deposition, or thermal behavior."]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Intermittent flow can create pressure fluctuations and vibration that damage equipment or supports.","Entrained particles or droplets can erode surfaces and contribute to leaks or equipment failure.","Uneven phase distribution can impair heat transfer and cause local overheating.","Incorrect assumptions about phase proportions can produce misleading measurements and unsafe control decisions."]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["ASME B31.3, issued by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, applies to process piping within its scope, including piping carrying multiphase fluids."]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Multiphase flow occurs in pipelines, reactors, boilers and natural systems where gases, liquids or solids move together.","Its analysis supports equipment design, transport measurement and prediction of phase separation or mixing.","It is also studied in environmental processes such as sediment transport and gas movement through water."]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q1559665: multiphase flow","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1559665","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Multiphase flow","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiphase_flow","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Which existing Vercy world model, if any, already owns multiphase flow and should be linked instead of creating a duplicate?","Which disciplinary definitions should govern borderline cases such as fluidized beds, stationary particles in flowing fluid, and dry granular flows with interstitial gas?","Should porous-medium multiphase flow remain wholly within this model or be represented through a specialized linked model with saturation, capillary pressure, and relative permeability?","Which authoritative regime classifications and transition criteria should be adopted for each phase pair, geometry, and orientation?","What minimum observational and validation evidence should qualify an operating recommendation when interfaces or dispersed populations are unresolved?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q1559665/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q1559665/spec.json"],"providers":["Codex"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-12T11:26:41Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-07T10:10:26+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass","interaction.properties":"Plane ACT: no invented physical properties."},"score":1.0}}