Experimental and numerical study of stratified viscous oil-water flow

Stratified two-phase flows of oil and water are important to the energy industry, and models capable of predicting this type of flow are primordial. Many studies focus on fluids with low viscosity, but a high viscosity oil in the mixture significantly changes its behavior. We gathered experimental data of pressure drop, volumetric fractions, and flow-pattern data of a stratified liquid-liquid flow with high viscosity ratio. In addition, a wire-mesh sensor provided tomographic views of the flow. The data were compared with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models using OpenFOAM and a one-dimensional model. CFD simulations used an interface capturing method, and turbulence damping was introduced to avoid high eddy viscosity at the interface region. Reynolds Average Navier-Stokes and large eddy simulations were used to account for turbulence, and they showed significant differences. The comparisons showed good overall results for pressure drop, volumetric fractions, and phase distributions between CFD and experiments.