FLOW REGIMES, HOLD-UP AND PRESSURE-DROP FOR 2 PHASE FLOW IN HELICAL-COILS

Experimental results on flow pattern, hold–up and pressure drop are presented for cocurrent upward and downward air water flow in helical coils. A tube of 0.01 m internal diameter was used and the ratio of coil to tube diameter was varied from 11 to 156.5. Water flow rate was varied from 4.9 × 10‐6 m3/s to 92 × 10‐6 m3/s while the range of gas flow rate covered was 83 × 10‐6 m3/s to 610 × 10‐6 m3/s. A new mechanistic approach is proposed to correlate pressure drop data in coils. The proposed model retains the identity of each phase and separately accounts for the effects of curvature and tube inclination resulting from the torsion of the tube. This makes it possible to use a single model to predict pressure drop for both upward and downward two–phase flow in coiled tubes. Required correlations for hold–up, interfacial friction factor and friction factors for individual phases are provided. Copyright © 1990 Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering