Begell House Inc.
Visualization of Mechanical Processes: An International Online Journal
VMP
9
1
2019
REVIEW OF EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES FOR CHARACTERIZATION OF TWO-PHASE IMMISCIBLE LIQUID-LIQUID FLOW IN HORIZONTAL AND INCLINED PIPES
0
10.1615/VisMechProc.2019029545
Oscar
Carlson
Norwegian Research Centre (NORCE)
Marcelo Souza
de Castro
School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Campinas, Campinas, São
Paulo 13083-896, Brazil
liquid-liquid flows
experimental techniques
flow pattern identification
holdup measurement
optical-based measurements
irradiation and electrical methods
In a wide range of operations in the petroleum industry, co-current flow of two immiscible liquids commonly occurs; therefore, an in-depth knowledge regarding these phenomena is highly necessary to predict the flow behavior during production and transportation of oil in pipeline systems. To this end, numerous researchers have applied different experimental techniques for the characterization of liquid-liquid flows in horizontal and inclined pipes. For reliable design methods, this paper reviews some of the existing experimental techniques and their applications, strengths, and limitations and gives some direction for future studies. Two main aspects of these approaches have been abundantly discussed, with an emphasis on the second one: the first section focuses on fluid physical properties and geometrical and operational variables of liquid-liquid flow experimental systems; the second one reviews the main two-phase immiscible liquid-liquid characterization methods used for flow pattern identification, velocity, and phase distribution measurements, including optical-based, irradiation, electrical, and thermal methods.