Experimental investigation on two-phase air/high-viscosity-oil flow in a horizontal pipe

The flow of very-viscous-oil and air through a horizontal pipe (inner diameter 22 mm) is experimentally studied. We first build and analyze the flow pattern map; a comparison between the air–water and the air–oil flow pattern maps shows a strong influence of the fluid properties. The experimental flow maps are compared with empirical and theoretical ones – Baker (1954), Mandhane et al. (1974), and Petalas and Aziz (1998) – showing a poor agreement. Experimental pressure gradients are also reported and compared with theoretical model, but also in this case the agreement is not very satisfactory. Finally, the elongated bubble velocity and length are measured and compared to model present in the literature. We conclude that the high viscosity of the liquid phase has a strong influence on the results and that the current models are not able to predict the flow features satisfactorily.