An Analysis of Pressure Drop and Holdup for Liquid-Liquid Upflow through Vertical Pipes

The present study has attempted to investigate pressure drop and holdup during simultaneous flow of two liquids through a vertical pipe. The liquids selected were kerosene and water. The measurements were made for phase velocities varying from 0.05–1.2 m/s for both liquids. The pressure drop was measured with a differential pressure transducer while the quick closing valve (QCV) technique was adopted for the measurement of liquid holdup. The measured holdup and pressure drop were analyzed with suitable theoretical models according to the existing flow patterns. The analysis reveals that the homogeneous model is suitable for dispersed bubbly flow whereas bubbly and churn‐turbulent flow pattern is better predicted by the drift flux model. On the other hand, the two fluid flow model accurately predicts the pressure drop in core annular flow. The simultaneous flow of water and oil up a vertical pipe, such as occurs during exploitation of petroleum fields, results in flow patterns which are determined by the physical properties of the immiscible fluids, the mixing ratio and flow rate, and pipe diameter. A flow model is compared with experimental results from a test rig.