Prediction of curved oil–water interface in horizontal pipes using modified model with dynamic contact angle

Abstract

Abstract In this study, interface shapes of horizontal oil-water two-phase flow are predicted by using Young-Laplace equation model and minimum energy model. Meanwhile, the interface shapes of horizontal oil-water two-phase flow in a 20 mm inner diameter pipe are measured by a novel conductance parallel-wire array probe (CPAP). It is found that, for flow conditions with low water holdup, there is a large deviation between the model-predicted interface shape and the experimentally measured one. Since the variation of pipe wetting characteristics in the process of fluid flow can lead to the changes of the contact angle between the fluid and the pipe wall, the models mentioned above are modified by considering dynamic contact angle. The results indicate that the interface shapes predicted by the modified models present a good consistence with the ones measured by CPAP.