Two- and three-phase mixtures of highly-viscous-oil/water/air in a 50 mm i.d. pipe

A three-phase flow of oil, water and gas through a pipeline often occurs in industry. It is important to study such flows in order to be able to design a three-phase flow pipeline. To that purpose experiments with oil, water and air in a 50 mm i.d. plastic pipe have been carried out to derive a new data set for a three-phase flow in horizontal configuration. First, we investigate the pressure drop showing the influence of air injection on the two-phase flow reference flow pattern. Then we underline the strong link between the qualitative behavior of the three-phase pressure drop reduction factor and the two-phase flow reference flow pattern.

► We present an experimental campaign on oil-water and oil–water–air flows. ► We use a high viscous oil. ► The work focus on core-annular flow with or without the presence of air. ► Except for the lowest oil flow rate the results agree with previous data.