Investigation of pressure drop in horizontal pipes with different diameters

Abstract

The pressure drop has a significant importance in multiphase flow systems. In this paper, the effect of the volumetric quality and mixture velocity on pressure drop of gas-liquid flow in horizontal pipes of different diameters are investigated experimentally and numerically. The experimental facility was designed and built to measure the pressure drop in three pipes of 12.70, 19.05 and 25.40 mm. The water and air flow rates can be adjusted to control the mixture velocity and void fraction. The measurements are performed under constant water flow rate (CWF) by adding air to the water and constant total flow rate (CTF) in which the flow rates for both phases are changed to give same CTF. The drift-flux model is also used to predict the pressure drop for same cases. The present data is also compared with a number of empirical models from the literature. The results show that: i) the pressure drop increases with higher volumetric qualities for the cases of constant water flow rate but decreases for higher volumetric qualities of constant total flow rate due to the change in flow pattern. ii) The drift-flux model and homogenous model are the most suitable models for pressure drop prediction. KEYWORDS: Air-water flow, pressure drop, horizontal pipes, experimental measurement, drift-flux model Highlights: 1. The pressure drop in three horizontal pipes of 12.70, 19.05 and 25.40 mm is studied. 2. The pressure drop increases with higher volumetric qualities for the cases of constant water flow rate but decreases for higher volumetric qualities of constant total flow rate due to the change in flow pattern 3. The drift-flux model and homogenous model are the most suitable models for pressure drop prediction.

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