Wax formation in oil pipelines: A critical review

Experimental validation of theoretical models in two-phase high-viscosity ratio liquid–liquid flows in horizontal and slightly inclined pipes

The flow patterns and pressure gradient of immiscible liquids are still subject of immense research interest. This is partly because fluids with different properties exhibit different flow behaviours in different pipe's configurations under different operating conditions. In this study, a combination of oil–water properties (σ = 20.1 mN/m) not previously reported was used in a 25.4 mm acrylic pipe. Experimental data of flow patterns, pressure gradient and phase inversion in horizontal oil–water flow are presented and analyzed together with comprehensive comments. The effect of oil viscosity on flow structure was assessed by comparing the present work data with those of Angeli and Hewitt (2000) and Raj et al. (2005) . The comparison revealed several important findings. For example, the water velocity required to initiate the transition to non-stratified flow at low oil velocities increased as the oil viscosity increased while it decreased at higher oil velocities. The formation of bubbly and annular flows and the extent of dual continuous region were found to increase as the oil–water viscosity ratio increased. Dispersed oil in water appeared earlier when oil viscosity decreased. The effect of oil viscosity on pressure gradient was also investigated by comparing the results with Angeli and Hewitt (1998) and Chakrabarti et al. (2005) . One of the main findings is the large difference between the pressure gradient results which is attributed to the difference in oil viscosity. The differences between the results become bigger at higher oil velocities. The largest difference in pressure values was observed in flow region where oil is the continuous phase. On the contrary, for dispersed oil in water (Do/w), the pressure gradient values observed at the same conditions are approximately the same. A simple correlation was developed to predict the pressure gradient in this regime. The correlation was validated using new experimental data. Finally, the effect of oil viscosity on pressure gradient prediction was investigated using the two flow model for stratified flow and the homogenous model for oil dispersed in water. Both models showed better prediction for the low oil viscosities.

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Effect of oil viscosity on the flow structure and pressure gradient in horizontal oil–water flow

Prediction of pressure gradient and holdup in wavy stratified liquid–liquid inclined pipe flow

Prediction of water holdup in vertical and inclined oil–water two-phase flow using artificial neural network

The stratified configuration is one of the basic and most important distributions during two phase flow through horizontal pipes. A number of studies have been carried out to understand gas-liquid stratified flows. However, not much is known regarding the simultaneous flow of two immiscible liquids. There is no guarantee that the information available for gas-liquid cases can be extended to liquid-liquid flows. Therefore, the present work attempts a detailed investigation of liquid-liquid stratified flow through horizontal conduits. Gas-liquid flow exhibits either smooth or wavy stratified orientations, while liquid-liquid flow exhibits other distinct stratified patterns like three layer flow, oil dispersed in water, and water flow, etc. Due to this, regime maps and transition equations available for predicting the regimes in gas-liquid flow cannot be extended for liquid-liquid cases by merely substituting phase physical properties in the equations. Further efforts have been made to estimate the in-situ liquid holdup from experiments and theory. The analysis considers the pronounced effect of surface tension, and attempts to modify the Taitel-Dukler model to account for the curved interface observed in these cases. The curved interface model of Brauner has been validated with experimental data from the present work and those reported in literature. It gives a better prediction of liquid holdup in oil-water flows and reduces to the Taitel-Dukler model for air-water systems.

T. Sunder Raj

Papers

Liquid‐Liquid Stratified Flow through Horizontal Conduits