Film thickness measurement in oil–water pipe flow using image processing technique

•Film thickness measurements using high speed camera.•Experimental study of flow near the pipe wall in highly dispersed oil–water flow.•Application of digital image processing techniques to quantify the film thickness near the wall.•New image processing methodology for highly dispersed oil–water flo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Experimental thermal and fluid science 2015-11, Vol.68, p.330-338
Main Authors: Bonilla Riaño, Adriana, Rodriguez, Iara H., Bannwart, Antonio C., Rodriguez, Oscar M.H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algorithms
Dispersed oil–water flow
Dispersion
Film thickness
Fluid flow
Image improvement
Image processing
Image segmentation
Pipe
Turbulence
Turbulent flow
Two-phase flow
Walls
Water-film thickness
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Summary:•Film thickness measurements using high speed camera.•Experimental study of flow near the pipe wall in highly dispersed oil–water flow.•Application of digital image processing techniques to quantify the film thickness near the wall.•New image processing methodology for highly dispersed oil–water flow images.•Comparisons of the proposed methodology with a phenomenological model and gold standard images. Dispersed oil–water flow was studied in a 12m long horizontal acrylic pipe, with 26mm of internal diameter, using mineral oil (828kg/m3 of density and 220cP of viscosity) and tap water. Experiments with a high-speed video camera were performed to obtain images of the flow near the pipe wall in highly dispersed oil–water flow. A visualization section was properly designed and installed in the pipeline for that purpose. The technique applied in the present work is based on the acquisition of images of the flow, and then the application of digital image processing techniques in order to quantify the film thickness near the wall. A thin water film was detected at the top and bottom of the pipe at highly turbulent oil–water flow. A pre-processing enhancement algorithm and a combined segmentation algorithm are being proposed to measure the film thickness. A comparison with a phenomenological model is also presented. The combined method performs better when compared with the results obtained from the application of the traditional techniques individually.
ISSN:0894-1777
1879-2286
DOI:10.1016/j.expthermflusci.2015.05.004