This paper gives an overview of the issues posed by the science and technology of transporting heavy oils in a sheath of lubricating water. It touches on measures of energy efficiency, industrial experience, fouling, stability, models of levitation, and future directions.

Results are given for experiments on water-lubricated pipelining of 6.01 P cylinder oil in a vertical apparatus in up- and downflow in regimes of modest flow rates, less than 3 ft/s. Measured values of the flow rates, holdup ratios, pressure gradients and flow types are presented and compared with theoretical predictions based on ideal laminar flow and on the predictions of the linear theory of stability. New flow types, not achieved in horizontal flows, are observed: bamboo waves in upflow and corkscrew waves in downflow. Nearly perfect core–annular flows are observed in downflows and these are nearly optimally efficient with values close to the ideal. The holdup ratio in upflow and fast downflow is a constant independent of the value and the ratio of values of the flow rates of oil and water. A vanishing holdup ratio can be achieved by fluidizing a long lubricated column of oil in the downflow of water. The results of experiments are compared with computations from ideal theory for perfect core–annular flow and from the linear theory of stability. Satisfactory agreements are achieved for the celerity and diagnosis of flow type. The wave is shown to be nearly stationary, convected with the oil core in this oil and all oils of relatively high viscosity. These results are robust with respect to moderate changes in the values of viscosity and surface tension. The computed wavelengths are somewhat smaller than the average length of the bamboo waves which are observed. This is explained by stretching effects of buoyancy and lubrication forces induced by the wave. Other points of agreement and disagreement are reviewed.

The stability of core-annular flow (CAF) in pipes is analysed using the linear theory of stability. Attention is confined to the potentially stable case of lubricated pipelining with the less viscous liquid, say water, in the annulus. The effects of surface tension and density are included, but gravity is excluded. We find upper and lower branches of the neutral curve in a Reynolds number (ℝ) vs. wavenumber (α) plane. A window of parameters is identified in which CAF is stable to small disturbances. When ℝ is below the lower critical value, CAF is destabilized by surface tension and long waves break up into slugs and bubbles. The sizes of slugs and bubbles of oil in water observed by Charles, Govier & Hodgson (1961) are given by the wavelength of the fastest growing long wave. This long-wave instability is a capillary instability, modified by shear, which reduces to Rayleigh's instability in the appropriate limit. At higher ℝ, the capillary instability is stabilized by shear. At yet higher ℝ, above the upper critical value, the flow is unstable to generally shorter waves which leads to emulsification, water droplets in oil. The theory agrees with experiments. The analysis seems to be applicable to the design of lubricated pipelines; for example, there is an optimum viscosity ratio for stability, greater stability can be obtained by using heavy liquid as a lubricant when the flow is unstable to capillary modes on the lower branch and by using light liquids when the flow is unstable to emulsifying disturbances on the upper branch.

Wave formation in the gravity-driven low-Reynolds number flow of two liquid films down an inclined plane is studied by a linear stability analysis. Wavy motion can appear due to an instability of either the fluid–fluid interface or the fluid-air free surface. It is shown that the flow is always unstable and wavy motion can occur when the less viscous layer is in the region next to the wall for any Reynolds number and any finite interface and surface tensions. Stability can be achieved for the configuration with the more viscous component adjacent to the wall in the presence of interfacial tension when Reynolds number is small enough.

We demonstrate a method to measure surface charge density and particle height using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) detection. It is based on two facts: (1) The equilibrium height of a charged particle over a charged surface depends on the electrostatic interaction between the particle and the surface; and (2) SPR is extremely sensitive to the height of the particle. We perform numerical simulations to establish the relations between the SPR signal and the particle height, and between the particle height and the surface charge density, and carry out systematic experiments, including effects of different buffer concentrations, particle sizes, and concentrations, to examine the relations. The simulation and experimental results are in good agreement with each other. Using the method, we determine surface charge density of gold surface functionalized with different molecules. If the surface charge density is known, the method can also be used to determine the charges of the particles.