Experimental and numerical studies on emulsion (oil-in-water) flow in rectangular cross-sectional area S-shaped diffusers have been carried out. The effects of different parameters including area ratio, curvature ratio, turning angle, flow path, inflow Reynolds number, oil concentration and emulsion status (stable/unstable) on the static pressure distributions and energy loss coefficient are considered. The numerical study is carried out using ANSYS R-15.0 software Fluid Flow Fluent (FFF) 3D with different turbulence models. The comparisons between the numerical results and experimental data show good agreement. The results indicate that the S-diffuser energy-loss coefficient is affected by the geometrical parameters of S-diffuser, and the flow parameters. The energy-loss coefficient for the case of stable emulsion is found to be greater than that of the unstable emulsion flow. A general correlation of energy-loss coefficient including geometrical and flow parameters for the validated studied cases of S-diffusers is developed in this paper.
KEY WORDSHoldup;emulsion flow; turn angle; energy losses; S-shaped diffusers.