Anoop Sharma

Modeling of Hydrodynamics and Dispersions in Oil-Water Pipe Flow

Accurate prediction of oil-water flow characteristics, such as flow pattern, water holdup and pressure gradient is important in many engineering applications. However, despite their importance, liquid-liquid flow has not been explored to the same extent as gas-liquid flow. The objectives of this study are first to develop better model for oil-water flow which captures the physics behind the process, especially for transitions and between two flow patterns, and then to validate the model using available present experimental data.

A model has been developed to predict flow pattern and pressure gradient by considering the fact that each segregated layer (dispersed or single phase) in the pipe system has unique fluid properties and velocities. The system stabilizes to its minimized total energy and always satisfies combine momentum equation. If turbulence is not enough to cause any dispersion, the flow pattern will remain segregated. When any layer thickness falls below 1% of diameter, the thinner phase can be neglected leaving one phase dispersed fully in the other. In between, either partial dispersion flow pattern or dual dispersion flow pattern will exist. Two-fluid model will be used to calculate the pressure gradient, except for full dispersion, where homogeneous model will be used.

A preliminary code is already been written for the model. Currently, the model is being analyzed by comparing the results obtained by the code with the already present experimental data from previous TUFFP studies. After that, all necessary changes will be made in the code or model for better predictions.