FLOW OF SURFACTANT-STABILIZED OIL-IN-WATER EMULSIONS THROUGH WEDGE METERS AND SEGMENTAL ORIFICE METERS

Abstract

The flow of surfactant-stabilized oil-in-water emulsions through wedge meters and segmental orifice meters was investigated experimentally. A flow loop consisting of wedge meters and segmental orifice meters of different shapes and sizes was designed and developed. The discharge coefficients were determined for various differently concentrated stable oil-in-water emulsions. The dispersed phase (oilrpar; concentration of emulsions was varied from 0 to 76,14° by volume. At low to moderate values of the dispersed phase concentration, the emulsions were Newtonian in nature. At high oil concentrations of 65.16° and 76.14° by volume, the emulsions were non-Newtonian pseudoplastic in nature. The single phase calibration curves of discharge coefficient versus Reynolds number are found to be applicable to surfactant stabilized oil-in-water emulsions, both Newtonian and non-Newtonian. However, in the latter case. one needs to use the power-law Reynolds number instead of the conventional one. Based on the experimental data obtained in this study, empirical expressions for the wedge and orifice discharge coefficients are given. These expressions can be used to predict the discharge coefficients for the emulsions provided that the emulsions are similar in nature to those investigated in the present work.