Two-Phase Flow Patterns of Air – Water and Oil in Mini Channel Against Horizontal Position

Abstract

Two-phase flow is the simplest form of multi-phase flow or multi-component flow. Inside a two-phase flow, two phases or components flow simultaneously. The most important thing to ensure is not to let a flow pattern occur that can increase the flow pressure to increase very extremely so that it will damage the piping system or channel, both on the mini, small channels, and large channels. The flow pattern’s main parameters include superficial velocity, fluid density, and viscosity. Therefore, it is crucial to examine how influential these parameters are in forming flow patterns. This experimental study used an acrylic pipe 160 mm long with a diameter of 1.6 mm in a horizontal position. The liquid solution used is a water-coconut oil emulsion of 350 mg/dl and a water-oil emulsion of 500 mg/dl. The superficial velocity of the gas (JG) = 0.083 m/s - 76.604 m/s and the superficial velocity of the liquid (JL) = 0.041 m/s - 4.145 m/s. The resulting Flow Pattern is Plug, Slug Annular, Annular, and churn. Changes in the mixture of water emulsions and coconut oil have little effect on the flow pattern of a plug, slug annular, and annular and significantly affect the flow pattern of churn. This significant influence occurs because the variation in the mixture of water and oil emulsions greatly affects the difference in viscosity of liquids, namely 130.00 Cp and 161.66 Cp, thus affecting the type of flow pattern. In this study, a bubbly flow pattern was not found. This case was due to the absence of laminar to turbulent transitions because higher oil concentrations resulted in lower Reynolds values.