EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS OF STRATIFIED LIQUID-LIQUID FLOWS IN HORIZONTAL PIPELINES

Abstract

Limited literature and large disparity between industrial applications and laboratory research lead to inadequate prediction efficiencies of multiphase flow simulators. The present work attempts to model smooth and wavy liquid-liquid interfaces, in pursuit of improved prediction of pressure gradients in horizontal pipelines.

An experimental campaign is conducted at two separate multiphase facilities, facilitating experimentation on different pipe diameters, and density and viscosity ratios. Flow regimes were visualised and summarised into flow pattern maps. The oil-water interface was captured and quantified utilising high speed photography and image processing algorithms. The interfacial wave characteristics were then quantified as roughness heights and incorporated into an interfacial friction factor model, derived on the lines of Colebrook-White formulations. The two-fluid model implementing the derived friction factor was tested against experimentally measured pressure drops as well as data from literature, and proven to improve prediction accuracies of pressure gradients and phase fractions.