Numerical Simulation of the Oil-Water Two-Phase Flow in Horizontal Bend Pipes

Flow field of oil-water two-phase flow is very complex and precision of data obtained from experiments is limited. Therefore, in this paper, the flow characteristics of oil-water two-phase flow in horizontal bend pipe were simulated by computational fluid dynamics method. Then the distributions of oil-water two-phase flow field at different levels of water content ratio were obtained. Simulation results indicated that pressure was difference in inside and outside of the elbow, which gave birth to the secondary flow and low-speed zone formed downstream. The pressure and velocity had changed markedly in the elbow, variation degree of which is closely related with water content ratio. The higher is water content ratio, the more obvious is the change. Analysis results may provide some references to the operation of oil transportation.