Upward flow of air-oil-water mixture in vertical pipe

The results of an experimental study into three-phase air-oil-water flow carried out in a vertical pipe with 0.03 m diameter are reported. The experiments were conducted with the input superficial phase velocity: water from 0.02 to 1.07 m/s, oil from 0.001 to 0.63 m/s and gas from 0.01 to 16.40 m/s. In order to investigate the influence of gas injection on an oil-water two-phase flow, the mean in situ phase fraction and pressure drop were measured. This was accompanied by performing flow pattern observations. Consequently, new methods were obtained with a practical potential for application in phase fraction and pressure drop predictions of gas-liquid-liquid three-phase flow through a vertical pipe. A good conformity between calculated and measured data in this work was obtained.