Phase Inversion and Associated Phenomena in Oil‐Water Vertical Pipeline Flow

Phase inversion and its associated phenomena are experimentally investigated in co‐current upward and downward oil‐water flow in a vertical stainless steel test section (38 mm I.D.). Oil (ρ_o=828 kg/m³, µ_o=5.5 mPa s) and tap water are used as test fluids. Two inversion routes (w/o to o/w and o/w to w/o) are followed in experiments where either the mixture velocity is kept constant and the dispersed phase fraction is increased (type I experiments), or the continuous phase flow rate is kept constant and that of the dispersed phase is increased (type II experiments). By monitoring phase continuity at the pipe centre and at the wall it was found that phase inversion does not happen simultaneously at all locations in the pipe cross‐section. In type I experiments, the velocity ratios (U_o/U_w) where complete inversion appeared acquired the same constant value in both flow directions, although the phase inversion points, based on input phase fractions, were different. In contrast to previous results in horizontal flows, frictional pressure gradient was found to be minimum at the phase inversion point. The interfacial energies of the two dispersions before and after phase inversion, calculated from the measured drop sizes, were found to be different in contrast to the previously suggested criterion of equal energies for the appearance of the phenomenon. In type II experiments the phase inversion point was found to depend on mixture velocity for low and medium velocities but not for high ones. In all cases studied an ambivalent region, commonly reported for inversion in stirred vessels, was not observed.     

Oil–water two‐phase flow in microchannels: Flow patterns and pressure drop measurements

This paper investigates oil–water two‐phase flows in microchannels of 793 and 667 µm hydraulic diameters made of quartz and glass, respectively. By injecting one fluid at a constant flow rate and the second at variable flow rate, different flow patterns were identified and mapped and the corresponding two‐phase pressure drops were measured. Measurements of the pressure drops were interpreted using the homogeneous and Lockhart–Martinelli models developed for two‐phase flows in pipes. The results show similarity to both liquid–liquid flow in pipes and to gas–liquid flow in microchannels. We find a strong dependence of pressure drop on flow rates, microchannel material, and the first fluid injected into the microchannel.     

Three‐dimensional simulations of gas‐liquid cocurrent downflow in vertical,inclined, and oscillating packed beds

The hydrodynamic behavior of gas‐liquid downflow in vertical, inclined, and oscillating packed beds related to offshore floating applications was analyzed by means of three‐dimensional unsteady‐state two‐fluid simulations. Angular oscillations of the column between two angled symmetrical positions and between vertical and inclined position were considered while bed non‐uniformity was described using radial porosity distributions. For vertical and slightly inclined columns, two‐phase flow was concentrated in the core area of the bed. However, the two‐phase flow was predicted to deviate significantly from axial symmetry at higher inclinations with prominent liquid accumulation in the bottommost reactor cross‐sectional area. Oscillating packed beds unveiled complex reverse secondary flows radially and circumferentially resulting in oscillatory patterns of liquid holdup and pressure drop whose amplitude and propagation frequency were affected by column inclination angle and travel time between vertical and angled positions. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 916–927, 2016     

Numerical Simulation of Oil‐water Hydrocyclone Using Reynolds‐Stress Model for Eulerian Multiphase Flows

A three‐dimensional oil‐water turbulent flow and oil separation process in a double‐cone liquid‐liquid hydrocyclone (LLHC) is numerically simulated using FLUENT software. The Euler‐Euler approach and Reynolds‐stress model are combined and adopted in this simulation to handle the challenging situation of anisotropic turbulent two‐phase flow with a higher volumetric ratio (over 10%) in the dispersed phase. It is visualized well in the simulation how separation, aggregation and shift of oil and water proceed in the LLHC. The oil separation efficiency is determined based on flow field and phase concentration distribution. The simulation is verified by comparing predicted and measured separation efficiency in the LLHC.     

Volume‐of‐fluid‐based model for multiphase flow in high‐pressure trickle‐bed reactor: Optimization of numerical parameters

Aiming to understand the effect of various parameters such as liquid velocity, surface tension, and wetting phenomena, a Volume‐of‐Fluid (VOF) model was developed to simulate the multiphase flow in high‐pressure trickle‐bed reactor (TBR). As the accuracy of the simulation is largely dependent on mesh density, different mesh sizes were compared for the hydrodynamic validation of the multiphase flow model. Several model solution parameters comprising different time steps, convergence criteria and discretization schemes were examined to establish model parametric independency results. High‐order differencing schemes were found to agree better with the experimental data from the literature given that its formulation includes inherently the minimization of artificial numerical dissipation. The optimum values for the numerical solution parameters were then used to evaluate the hydrodynamic predictions at high‐pressure demonstrating the significant influence of the gas flow rate mainly on liquid holdup rather than on two‐phase pressure drop and exhibiting hysteresis in both hydrodynamic parameters. Afterwards, the VOF model was applied to evaluate successive radial planes of liquid volume fraction at different packed bed cross‐sections. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2009     

Liquid‐liquid two‐phase flow patterns in a new helical microchannel device

Flow patterns of liquid‐liquid two‐phase fluids in a new helical microchannel device were presented in this paper. Three conventional systems were considered: kerosene‐water, n‐butyl acetate‐water, and butanol‐water. Six different flow patterns, slug flow, continuous parallel flow, discontinuous deformation parallel flow, discontinuous deformation parallel‐droplet flow, droplet‐slug flow, and filiform‐droplet flow, were observed. The influence of interfacial tension, microchannel structure, and rotation rate on two‐phase flow patterns were studied, and a universal flow pattern map was presented and discussed. The systems without mass transfer (0.1 g/g (10 %) tri‐n‐butyl phosphate (TBP)‐water, 0.2 g/g (20 %) TBP‐water, and 0.8 g/g (80 %) TBP‐water) and the system with mass transfer (0.8 g/g (80 %) TBP‐0.62 g/g (62 %) H₃PO₄) were used to verify the validity of the proposed universal flow pattern map in predicting flow patterns. The results showed that the former compared with the latter can be predicted more accurately by the universal flow pattern map.     

Prediction of two‐phase pressure drop and liquid holdup in co‐current gas–liquid downflow of air–Newtonian systems through packed beds

The dependency of pressure drop and liquid holdup on phase velocities, geometry of the column and packing materials as well as on the physical properties have been analyzed. Our experimental data (825 data points obtained using four liquid systems and three different particles) along with those of the available literature (776 data point from five different sources) were used for the analysis. The applicability and the limitations of the literature correlations were evaluated using the available data. Based on the analysis, new correlations for the estimation of pressure drop and liquid holdup, valid for low and high interaction regimes have been developed using the available data, with a wide range of variables. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

A new mechanistic model to predict gas–liquid interface shape of gas–liquid flow through pipes with low liquid loading

Devising a new mechanistic method to predict gas–liquid interface shape in horizontal pipes is concerned in this article. An experiment was conducted to find the pressure gradients of air–water flow through a 1‐in. pipe diameter. Comparing results of model with some experimental data available in the literature demonstrates that the model provides quite better predictions than existed models do. This model also predicts flow regime transition from stratified to annular flow better than Apparent Rough Surface and Modified Apparent Rough Surface models for both 1‐ and 2‐in. pipe diameters. The model also leads to reliable predictions of wetted wall fraction experimental data. Although one parameter of new model was evaluated based on air–water flow pressure loss experimental data for 1 in. pipe, it was considerably successful to predict pressure drop, liquid holdup, stratified‐annular transition and wetted wall fraction for other gas–liquid systems and pipe diameters. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 61: 1043–1053, 2015     

Gas holdup for high gas velocities in a gas–liquid cocurrent upward‐flow system

Gas holdup has been measured in an 83‐mm diameter, 2.2‐m high column at high gas superficial velocities — 0.22 to 2.7 m/s — and at liquid (water) superficial velocities of 0 to 0.47 m/s, by means of a differential pressure transducer. The equation of Hills (1976) based on the slip velocity gives good predictions of the gas holdup for 0.1 ≤ E_g ≤ 0.4. However, the holdups predicted by this approach are considerably higher than the experimental values at gas velocities high enough that E_g > 0.4. Other equations from the literature are also shown to be inadequate. The new data and earlier data at high gas velocities are therefore correlated with a new dimensional equation for U_l ≤ 0.23 m/s.     

Characterization of liquid‐liquid flows in horizontal pipes

Diverse flow regimes have been encountered in liquid‐liquid flows. Some degree of consistency in the observed flow patterns is shown in reported studies, while inconsistency exits when physical properties of the two phases concerned are wide enough. An attempt was made in this study to investigate the mechanisms behind flow patterns of liquid‐liquid flows in horizontal pipes. A literature review on flow patterns of liquid‐liquid flows in horizontal pipes was conducted. The ratio of the gravitational force to viscous force was proposed to characterize liquid‐liquid flows in horizontal pipes into gravitational force dominant, viscous force dominant, and gravitational force and viscous force comparable flow featured with different basic flow regimes. Comparisons of the proposed characterization criterion with the literature data show good agreement. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 1132–1143, 2017     

预测小Eötvös数液-液分离流的压力梯度和平均界面含水率

The segregated flow pattern, which occurs in a 26.1 mm diameter, horizontal, stainless steel test section, is investigated. Pressure gradient and in situ phase distribution data were obtained for different combinations of phase superficial velocities ranging from 0.05 m.s^-1 to 0,96 m.s^-1. For the current small Eoetvoes number liquid-liquid system （EOD=4.77）, the dominant effect of interfacial tension and wall-wetting properties of the liquids over the gravity is considered. The approach introduces the closure relationship for the case of turbulent flow m a rough pipe, and attempts to modify the two-fluid model to account for the curved interface. In present flow rates range, wave amplitudes were found small, while interfacial mixing was observed. An adjustable definition for hydraulic diame- ters of two fluids and interfacial friction factor is adopted. The predicted pressure gradient and in situ phase distribution data have been compared with present experimental data and those reported in the literature.     

Distribution of Two‐Phase Flow across 2.7‐mm Vertically Split U‐Type Junctions

A visual observation of the two‐phase flow across vertically split U‐type junctions and its flow redistribution inside two 2.7‐mm diameter smooth tubes with curvature ratios (2R/D) of 3 and 7, respectively, are reported. The range of mass flux is between 100 and 700 kg/m²s and quality (x) ranges from 0.001 to 0.5. The ratio of liquid distribution between the upper and lower outlet legs is related to the inlet flow pattern, but its influence is reduced at higher mass flux. The difference in liquid flow rates in the lower and upper legs is significantly affected by gravity at a small inlet mass flux, but this difference becomes less profound when the inlet mass flux is increased. The difference between the liquid flux in the upper and lower leg is reduced for the smaller curvature radius due to the reduced effect of gravity between the upper and lower legs. However, there is no consistent trend of gas flow distribution across the U‐type junction as compared to liquid flow distribution. The air mass flux in the upper and lower legs always increase with an increase in both gas quality and the total mass flux.     

Dispersion and Phase Separation of Water‐Oil‐Amphiphile Systems in Stirred Tanks

Drop size distributions and phase separation behavior of water‐oil‐nonionic amphiphile systems are investigated using an in situ endoscope measurement technique and an external camera in stirred tanks in batch mode. The fitting procedure and the simulation results of a phase separation model are analyzed under the condition that either the swarm sedimentation speed or the mean drop size during sedimentation is known. The steady‐state drop size distributions are self‐similar over the whole range of process parameters, but not in the decaying turbulence field after agitation stop. The coalescence rate in the first seconds after agitation stop clearly affects the separation behavior, so that a prediction of the separation time based on the initial conditions in steady state is not trivial.     

Hydrodynamics of gas–liquid flow in micropacked beds: Pressure drop,liquid holdup,and two‐phase model

Hydrodynamics of gas–liquid two‐phase flow in micropacked beds are studied with a new experimental setup. The pressure drop, residence time distribution, and liquid holdup are measured with gas and liquid flow rates varying from 4 to 14 sccm and 0.1 to 1 mL/min, respectively. Key parameters are identified to control the experimentally observed hydrodynamics, including transient start‐up procedure, gas and liquid superficial velocities, particle and packed bed diameters, and physical properties of the liquids. Contrary to conventional large packed beds, our results demonstrate that in these microsystems, capillary forces have a large effect on pressure drop and liquid holdup, while gravity can be neglected. A mathematical model describes the hydrodynamics in the micropacked beds by considering the contribution of capillary forces, and its predictions are in good agreement with experimental data. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 4694–4704, 2017     

Inclination effects on wave characteristics in annular gas–liquid flows

Measurements of wave characteristics have been conducted in a 0.0762 m internal diameter (ID) pipe at inclinations of 0°, 10°, 20°, 45°, 60°, 75°, and 90° from horizontal. Wave celerity and frequency are very strongly dependent on modified Lockhart–Martinelli parameter, X*, and the inclination angle. Wave amplitude increases with increasing liquid film thickness at the bottom of the pipe. Wave amplitude depends on liquid film thickness for any pipe diameter, surface tension, and viscosity. Strouhal number (dimensionless wave frequency) decreases with increasing X*. Effect of pipe diameter, surface tension, and liquid viscosity on the liquid film Reynolds number, Re_LF, was studied. Re_LF variation with X* is not sensitive to the surface tension and less sensitive to the pipe diameter. However, Re_LF is very sensitive to the viscosity of the flowing liquid. Correlations for wave celerity, amplitude, frequency, and liquid film Reynolds number are proposed. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2012     

Non‐Uniform Distribution of Two‐Phase Flows through Parallel Identical Paths

When a single‐phase fluid splits, passes through identical paths in parallel, and then recombines, the flow distributes itself uniformly among the multiple paths. However, when multi‐phase suspensions travel through identical parallel paths, the flow distribution can be significantly non‐uniform. Although the uniform distribution is a solution of the governing equations, this solution may be an unstable steady‐state solution between two or more stable solutions, or one of an array of possible steady‐state solutions. This multiplicity has arisen in practice for multiple vertical channels within fluidized beds, for cyclones in parallel, and for distributed feed suspension flows. Simple theories are employed to explain the principles involved for two cyclones and for a pair of risers in parallel.     

Numerical Simulation of Oil‐Water Core Annular Flow in a U‐Bend Based on the Eulerian Model

The oil‐water core annular flow through a U‐bend is simulated by computational fluid dynamics based on the Eulerian model. More flow parameters and the effect of annulus thickness on core annular flow are discussed. Conformity between the simulated and experimental data is observed. The development of oil‐water core annular flow in the U‐bend is analyzed, and the distributions of pressure and velocity are discussed. Results of the Eulerian model and volume‐of‐fluid (VOF) model are compared and the influence of oil properties on total pressure gradient is investigated. The suitable range of annulus thickness is identified. The results provide suitable operation conditions for designing the U‐bend pipefitting.