Parametric experimental study of pressure drop of two-phase oil (D130)-water flow in 4" diameter pipe

The flow of two immiscible liquids oil and water in pipes has been a challenging research topic since several decades. Oil and water are often produced and transported together in pipelines over long distances. In oil and chemical industries, knowledge of the frictional pressure loss (FPD) of oil-water flows in pipes is necessary to specify the size of the pump required to pump the emulsions. The present parametric study reports pressure drops measurements of oil (D130)-water flow in a 4″ diameter stainless steel pipe at different flow conditions. Experiments were carried out for different water cuts (WC: 0-100%) and for different inclination angles (including 0°, 15°, and 30°). Oil-water flow rates were varied from 4000 to 8000 barrels-per-day in steps of 2000. For a given flow rate, the FPD has been found to increase (for all angles) from WC = 0-60%, and thereafter FPD decreases, this could be due phase inversion. For a given WC = 40%, the FPD has been found to increase with angle and flow rate. It has been noticed that inclination angle has appreciable effect on FPD. Also, it has been found that the FPD decreases for WC = 0-40% for 0° case. With further increase in WC, FPD increases, this may be due to phase inversion.