Abstract
The onset to separated water-layer in three-phase gas-oil-water stratified flow in horizontal pipes is studied theoretically and experimentally. The objective is to determine the transition boundary between the separated liquid-phase and the dispersed liquid-phase in three-phase stratified flow. An experimental facility was constructed, enabling data acquisition under horizontal three-phase stratified flow. A total of 75 experimental runs were conducted varying the water cut between 5% and 40%. The results are presented in the form of flow pattern maps, including the transition boundary between the two liquid-phase flow configurations. The transition mechanism is the occurrence of large waves at the oil-water interface, which reach the bottom of the pipe, swiping the water layer and dispersing it. A mechanistic model was developed for the prediction of the transition boundary between the separated and dispersed liquid-phase under three-phase stratified flow. The proposed model requires as input the three-phase stratified flow variables, which are determined based on the Taitel et al. (1994) model. The transition boundary is then predicted based on the proposed flow mechanism, utilizing a simple Froude number criterion. The model predictions of the transition boundary between the separated and dispersed liquid-phase flow show a good agreement with the acquired experimental data.
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© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
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Er, M., Mohan, R., Pereyra, E., Shoham, O., Kouba, G., Avila, C. (2015). Onset of Separated Water-Layer in Three-Phase Stratified Flow. In: Constanda, C., Kirsch, A. (eds) Integral Methods in Science and Engineering. Birkhäuser, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16727-5_16
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16727-5_16
Publisher Name: Birkhäuser, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16726-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16727-5
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