Analysis of interfacial behavior in two-phase flow using image processing

Abstract

Two-phase flow has a wide range of application from petroleum to space industry. Gas-liquid two-phase flow in horizontal pipe commonly occurs in petro-chemical, nuclear and geothermal industry, where simultaneously gas and liquid are transported through pipelines. During the transportation of gas-liquid flow simultaneously, due to the interaction of two phases, slug forms from the stratified-wavy flow. Slug flow consists of strong aeration at the slug front which is responsible for pipe failure and hazards in industries. Thus, it is required to understand the phenomena of slug formation in industrial pipeline to avoid the catastrophic pipe failure. In the present research, image processing technique is used to accurately analyze the interfacial behavior of two-phase flow. The interfacial behavior plays crucial role, as it is the plane where the two phases interact and interaction of the phases leads to the transition of different two-phase pattern. Experimentally captured images are processed using image processing algorithm, to study the variation of liquid film thickness. With the help of liquid film thickness transition of the interface is analyzed for different superficial Reynolds number of liquid and gas. Further, a PDF analysis is reported to understand the mechanism of the growth of the wavy interface.