Flow Pattern, Liquid Holdup and Pressure Drop of Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow with Different Liquid Viscosities

Abstract

Heavy oil have attracted more and more attention. Experimental results show that the high viscosity gas-liquid two-phase flow behaviors are very different from the low viscosity. In this paper, experiments of oil-gas two-phase flow in vertical pipes with different viscosities (50,150,200 mPa s) were carried out in a diameter of 60 mm. The variation of flow pattern, liquid holdup and pressure drop with viscosity was analyzed, the transition flow (from slug to churn flow) was observed. Two empirical models and three mechanistic models were validated by experimental data, the performance of all five models become worse with the increase of viscosity and the performance of mechanistic models are better than that of empirical models. Future experimental and theoretical studies should focus on improve the accuracy of the closure relationships for high viscosity.