Abstract
To characterize the effect of pipe inclination, low viscosity, flow rate and inlet water cut on annular flow pattern, a low viscosity oil-water two-phase annular flow in horizontal and slightly inclined (+1°, +3° and +5°) pipes with diameter of 20 mm has been experimentally investigated. A modified VOF model based on the CFD software package FLUENT was used to predict the in-situ oil fraction and pressure drop. The experimental data indicate that annular flow appears at a medium-high water cut. The slip ratio increases with flow rate increase but decreases with increasing water cut. The changes are more significant as the degree of inclination increases. Pressure drop is strongly dependent on flow rate, as it increases rapidly as inlet flow rate increase. Good agreement between the experimental data and calculated results of slip ratio and pressure drop was obtained.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
A. L. Cox, University of Texas at Austin (1985).
N. Brauner and D. Moalem Maron, Int. J. Multiphase Flow, 18. 123 (1992).
J. L. Trallero, in Discipline of Petroleum Engineering, University of Tulsa, 176 (1995).
A. Beretta, et al., Int. Commun. Heat Mass Transf., 24, 223 (1997).
P. Angeli and G. F. Hewitt, Int. J. Multiphase Flow, 26, 1117 (2000).
G. Elseth, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 270 (2001).
D. R. Chakrabarti, G. Das and S. Ray, Chem. Eng. Technol., 28, 1003 (2005).
T. Al-Wahaibi, et al., J. Petroleum Sci. Eng., 122, 266 (2014).
O. M. H. Rodriguez and R. V. A. Oliemans, Int. J. Multiphase Flow, 32, 323 (2006).
J. Y. L. Lum, T. Al-Wahaibi and P. Angeli, Int. J. Multiphase Flow, 32, 413 (2006).
W. A. S. Kumara, B. M. Halvorsen and M. C. Melaaen, Chem. Eng. Sci., 65, 4332 (2010).
G. Ooms, Appl. Sci. Res., 26, 147 (1972).
R. V. A. Oliemans and G. Ooms, Core-Annular Flow of Oil and Water through a Pipeline, in Multiphase Science and Technology, G. F. Hewitt, J. M. Delhaye and N. Zuber, Ed., Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 427 (1986).
M. S. Arney, et al., Int. J. Multiphase Flow, 19, 1061 (1993).
R. Bai, K. Kelkar and D. D. Joseph, J. Fluid Mechanics, 327, 1 (1996).
D. D. Joseph, et al., Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics, 29, 65 (1997).
D. Barnea, Int. J. Multiphase Flow, 12, 733 (1986).
D. Barnea and Y. Taitel, Chem. Eng. Sci., 44, 325 (1989).
N. Brauner, Int. J. Multiphase Flow, 17, 59 (1991).
A. C. Bannwart, J. Petroleum Sci. Eng., 32, 127 (2001).
O. M. H. Rodriguez and A. C. Bannwart, AIChE J., 54, 20 (2008).
O. M. H. Rodriguez, A. C. Bannwart and C. H. M. de Carvalho, J. Petroleum Sci. Eng., 65, 67 (2009).
D. Strazza, et al., Chem. Eng. Sci., 66, 2853 (2011).
T. Ko, et al., Int. J. Multiphase Flow, 28, 1205 (2002).
S. Ghosh, G. Das and P. K. Das, Chem. Eng. Processing: Process Intensification, 49, 1222 (2010).
V. V. R. Kaushik, et al., J. Petroleum Sci. Eng., 86-87, 153 (2012).
J. O. McCaslin and O. Desjardins, Int. J. Multiphase Flow, 67, 88 (2014).
S. Tripathi, et al., Procedia IUTAM, 15, 278 (2015).
S. Ghosh, G. Das and P. K. Das, Chem. Eng. Res. Design, 89, 2244 (2011).
F. Jiang, et al., Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 53, 8235 (2014).
S. Ghorai and K. D. P. Nigam, Chem. Eng. Processing: Process Intensification, 45, 55 (2006).
S. C. K. De Schepper, G. J. Heynderickx and G. B. Marin, Chem. Eng. J., 138, 349 (2008).
J. Brackbill, D. B. Kothe and C. Zemach, J. Comput. Phys., 100, 335 (1992).
M. R. Rampure, V. V. Buwa and V. V. Ranade, Can. J. Chem. Eng., 81, 692 (2003).
R. M. A. Masood and A. Delgado, Chem. Eng. Sci., 108, 154 (2014).
B. Grassi, D. Strazza and P. Poesio, Int. J. Multiphase Flow, 34, 950 (2008).
P. Poesio, D. Strazza and G. Sotgia, Appl. Thermal Eng., 49, 41 (2012).
T. S. Ng, C. J. Lawrence and G. F. Hewitt, Int. J. Multiphase Flow, 27, 1301 (2001).
T. S. Ng, C. J. Lawrence and G. F. Hewitt, Chem. Eng. Res. Design, 82, 309 (2004).
T. Al-Wahaibi and P. Angeli, Int. J. Multiphase Flow, 37, 930 (2011).
J. Y. L. Lum, J. Lovick and P. Angeli, Can. J. Chem. Eng., 82, 303 (2004).
F. Jiang, et al., Chem. Eng. Technol., 37, 659 (2014).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pan, YX., Zhang, HB., Xie, RH. et al. Modeling of low viscosity oil-water annular flow in horizontal and slightly inclined pipes: Experiments and CFD simulations. Korean J. Chem. Eng. 33, 2820–2829 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11814-016-0188-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11814-016-0188-1