Instability of the interface between fluids of different densities flowing through a complex vertical hydraulic system

The impact of the gas density difference on formation of flow patterns of fluids of different density was analysed. Physical modelling of a non-isothermal laminar flow of a gas mixture in a vertical epitaxial reactor chamber was carried out and the model flow was visualised. Visualisation studies, performed using a smoke method, confirmed that the stability of a gas interface determines the flow pattern in the chamber. The Rayleigh-Taylor instability occurs in the flow through a reactor, which, together with the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and with the superposition of convection flows on the principal flow, shapes the flow pattern in the whole reactor chamber. On the basis of results of visualisation studies, the possibility of making the flow through a vertical reactor stable was indicated if the inlet guide apparatus is applied and the flow direction is reversed.