Experimental and numerical study of stratified viscous oil–water flow

Stratified two‐phase flows of oil and water are important to the energy industry, and models capable of predicting this type of flow are primordial. Many studies focus on fluids with low viscosity, but a high viscosity oil in the mixture significantly changes its behavior. We gathered experimental d...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:AIChE journal 2021-06, Vol.67 (6), p.n/a
Main Authors: Bochio, Gustavo, Cely, Marlon M. H., Teixeira, Arthur F. A., Rodriguez, Oscar M. H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
CFD
Computational fluid dynamics
Computer applications
Damping
Eddy viscosity
experiment
Finite element method
Fluid dynamics
Fluid flow
Hydrodynamics
Large eddy simulation
Liquid flow
Mathematical models
Oil
oil–water
Pressure drop
stratified flow
Turbulence
two‐phase flow
Viscosity
Viscosity ratio
Vortices
Water flow
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Summary:Stratified two‐phase flows of oil and water are important to the energy industry, and models capable of predicting this type of flow are primordial. Many studies focus on fluids with low viscosity, but a high viscosity oil in the mixture significantly changes its behavior. We gathered experimental data of pressure drop, volumetric fractions, and flow‐pattern data of a stratified liquid–liquid flow with high viscosity ratio. In addition, a wire‐mesh sensor provided tomographic views of the flow. The data were compared with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models using OpenFOAM and a one‐dimensional model. CFD simulations used an interface capturing method, and turbulence damping was introduced to avoid high eddy viscosity at the interface region. Reynolds Average Navier–Stokes and large eddy simulations were used to account for turbulence, and they showed significant differences. The comparisons showed good overall results for pressure drop, volumetric fractions, and phase distributions between CFD and experiments.
ISSN:0001-1541
1547-5905
DOI:10.1002/aic.17239