Abstract

Anexperimental study is conducted using a 0.075-m ID pipe to investigate characteristics of two-and three-phase stratified flow in a horizontal pipeline. Experiments are conducted under low to medium liquid loading conditions which is common in wet-gas andlongtransportation pipelines. The flow characteristics investigated include flow pattern, liquid holdup and pressure drop. The experimental range covers superficial gas Reynolds numbers from 6314 to 200,734, superficial liquid Reynolds numbers from 160 to4391andwater-cut values from 0 to90%.Differential pressure transducers, quick closing valves and a high-speed camera are utilized to obtain the relevant data and the trends investigated. The observed flow patterns are stratified smooth, stratified wavyandstratified-annular flow. The transitions between flow patterns vary as a function of water-cut. The effect of water-cut on liquid holdup and pressure drop were relatively negligible especially at low water-cut conditions and the fine mixing of the oilwater mixture may bepartially responsible for this. As a result, with the exception offlow pattern transitions, the performances of classical two-phase flow models (for the prediction of liquid holdup and pressure drop) appear unaffected when applied to airoil–water 3-phase flows especially at high water-cuts.