Experimental validation of a simple model for gas-liquid slug flow in horizontal pipes

In this work, the simple submodel of Taitel and Barnea (Chem. Eng. Sci. 45 (1990) 1191) for horizontal gas-liquid slug flow has been reformulated. An additional source of pressure loss suggested by Cook and Behnia (Chem. Eng. Sci. 55 (2000) 4699) was incorporated in the model, thus improving its predictive accuracy. The proposed model was tested extensively against 12 pressure gradient and eight liquid holdup data sources for both air-water and air-oil slug flow in smooth and rough pipes over a wide range of operating conditions. The very good agreement between the predicted and experimental results substantiates the general validity of the model.