Simulation of core annular downflow through CFD—A comprehensive study

Water lubricated transport of high viscous oil is one of the energy efficient technologies in the energy sector. In the present work, a computational fluid dynamic study has been performed to simulate core annular downflow through vertical pipes. The CFD software package FLUENT 6.3.26 [1] is used and a satisfactory match between the simulated data and experimental results has been obtained. A comprehensive study has been made to generate the profiles of velocity, pressure, volume fraction and wall shear stress over a wide range of inlet oil and water velocities.