Gas-Newtonian and Gas-Non-Newtonian Slug Flow in Vertical Pipe, Part I: Gas Holdup Characteristics

Abstract

Studies on two-phase gas-liquid co-current flow with non-Newtonian liquid system has attracted the attention of researchers over the years due to its wide-spread applications and importance in various different processes in chemical and biochemical industries, such as the process of two-phase in oil and gas wells, transportation systems of crude and refined products, and food processing in biochemical engineering and bio-reactors. This article examines the sole objective of experimental studies on gas holdup in Newtonian and non-Newtonian liquid slug flow within a range of gas and liquid flowrate of 0.5×10-4 to 1.92×10-4 m3/s and 1.6×10-4 to 6.7×10-4 m3/s, respectively. The present data was analyzed with different models. To predict gas holdup, correlations have been developed for individual system with Newtonian and non-Newtonian liquid. A general correlation was also developed to predict the gas holdup combing both the Newtonian and non-Newtonian liquid systems. The study of the gas holdup characteristics in gas-Newtonian and non-Newtonian liquid systems may give insight into a further understanding and modeling of this slug flow characteristics in industrial applications.

Frictional Pressure Drop of Gas-Newtonian and Gas-Non Newtonian Slug Flow in Vertical Pipe

“…The vertical test section is of 19.05 mm internal diameter and 3.4 m length. The flow regime has been described in our earlier studies (Majumder et al, 2010). In the present study air and different types of liquids with their physical properties is shown in Table 1.…”

“…The detail of the schematic diagram of the experimental setup was described in our earlier studies (Majumder et al, 2010). The apparatus consists of different accessories with a test section.…”

“…The apparatus consists of different accessories with a test section. (Majumder et al, 2010) At steady state the readings for pressure drop calculation is taken from the manometers. The effective length of the pressure port is 3.0 m. The pressure port is at 20 cm above the bottom of the column.…”

Gas Holdup and Frictional Pressure Drop In a Modified Slurry Bubble Column

“…intense mixing, high heat and mass transfer, high residence time of gas etc. It is not yet recommended for industrial applications due to lack of understanding of complex multiphase phenomena like holdup, pressure drop, mixing, and heat transfer phenomena in the downflow system (Majumder et al, 2010). Three-phase pressure drop and holdup are essential elements for the design of process equipments which is the subject of numerous experimental and numerical studies.…”

“…To design and control such equipment efficiently, the values of pressure drops and volumetric fractions of phases must be determined (Begovich and Watson, 1978;Kato et al, 1981;Muroyama and Fan, 1985;Fan, 1989;Shah et al, 1982). Few experimental data on two-phase flow have been available in the downflow column (Marchese et al, 1992;Mandal et al, 2004;Majumder et al, 2006Majumder et al, , 2007Majumder et al, , 2010Sivaiah et al, 2010). There is a lack of studies on the phase fraction and pressure drops in this downflow system with gas-liquid-solid system.…”