An Empirical Model to Predict the Transition Between Stratified and Nonstratified Gas–Liquid Two-Phase Flow in Horizontal and Downward Inclined Pipes

Abstract

The specific objective of this work is to develop an empirical model to predict the existence of stratified flow in horizontal and downward inclined gas-liquid two-phase flow. The proposed model is in nondimensional form and attempts to emulate the qualitative trend of the Taitel and Dukler mechanistic model. The key advantage of the proposed method is that it is explicit in nature and, unlike Taitel and Dukler, it does not require use of a graphical or iterative solution. The empirical parameters used in the proposed model account for the effect of pipe diameter, pipe orientation, and the liquid density on the transition line between stratified and nonstratified flow. The accuracy of the proposed model is verified against the flow visualization data collected from more than 16 data sources consisting of 8 fluid combinations, pipe diameter in a range of 8.9 to 300 mm, liquid density in a range of 780 to 1420 kg/m3, and all downward pipe inclinations including horizontal.