Modeling Maximum Droplet Size In Gas-Liquid Annular Flow and Liquid–Liquid Dispersed Flow

Abstract

Hydrocarbon production is commonly associated as the dispersed flow of two and more immiscible phases starting from porous media to surface facilities. In the dispersed flow, one phase is usually dispersed into another dominating phase in terms of droplets. Accurate prediction of the droplet size distribution of a dispersed phase is critical in characterizing complex flow behavior in pipe flows. In the first part of this paper, we provide the analyses of open-source experimental data on the maximum droplet size in gas-liquid annular flow and evaluate the existing theoretical models and suggest an improvement based on the experimental data analyses to predict the maximum droplet size of the entrained liquid droplets in gas-liquid annular flow. In the second part of this paper, we cover the experimental results from the open-source literature data and in-house experimental data to give the general understanding on droplet formation concepts and evaluate the existing predictive models and present a new modeling approach to determine a maximum stable droplet size of the dispersed phase in the liquid-liquid dispersed flow under turbulent flow conditions.