Water Superficial Velocities Research Articles

Experimental Study of the Two-Phase Flow Patterns of Air-Water Mixture at Vertical Bend Inlet and Outlet

Air-water two-phase flow in pipes introduces a noticeable challenge due to the complexity of the fluids. Thus, to estimate the best design and reasonable financing cost of the transportation pipelines where the bends are presenting a part of their accessories, the investigators should have been able to estimate the flow regime occurring at different directions. An experiment was carried out by using a 90o bend fixed with two pipes where the flow was upstream from a vertical to a horizontal pipe which were representing the bend inlet and outlet respectively. Two wire-mesh sensors were used for obtaining the data of the void fractions (α) at water superficial velocities (Usl) which changed from 0.052 to 0.419m/s, and air superficial velocities (Usg) from 0.05 to 4.7m/s. Furthermore, the characterization of flow regimes of the air-water flow at both bend inlet and outlet were competed accurately by using void fraction analysis of the time series, Power Spectral Density (PSD), tomographic images observed by the sensor program, and the Probability Density Function (PDF) method. The flow regimes of vertical flow lines at the bend inlet were observed as bubbly, cap-bubble, slug, and churn flow, whereas the flow regimes of the horizontal flow line at the bend outlet were characterized as having stratified, stratified wavy, bubbly, plug, slug, wavy annular, and semi-annular flow due to the gravity and bend effects.

Monitoring Severe Slugging in Pipeline-Riser System Using Accelerometers for Application in Early Recognition.

The use of accelerometer signals for early recognition of severe slugging is investigated in a pipeline-riser system conveying an air–water two-phase flow, where six accelerometers are installed from the bottom to the top of the riser. Twelve different environmental conditions are produced by changing water and gas superficial velocities, of which three conditions are stable states and the other conditions are related to severe slugging. For online recognition, simple parameters using statistics and linear prediction coefficients are employed to extract useful features. Binary classification to recognize stable flow and severe slugging is performed using a support vector machine and a neural network. In multiclass classification, the neural network is adopted to identify four flow patterns of stable state, two types of severe slugging, and an irregular transition state between severe slugging and dual-frequency severe slugging. The performance is compared and analyzed according to the signal length for three cases of sensor location: six accelerometers, one accelerometer at the riser base, and one accelerometer at the top of the riser.

Wetted wall fraction of gas-liquid stratified co-current two-phase flow in a horizontal pipe with low liquid loading

An investigation of the wetted wall fraction of gas-liquid stratified co-current two-phase flow in a horizontal pipe with low liquid loading was carried-out experimentally. The pipe length and the inner pipe diameter were 10 m and 26 mm respectively. The tested fluids were air and water. The superficial water (JL) and air (JG) velocities ranged from (0.02–0.075) m/s and (4–16) m/s respectively. In the experiments, the circumferential liquid film thickness was measured by using developed parallel wire sensor, and verified by the analyzed image of the axial view of the visual observations. At the same time, the pressure gradient and liquid hold-up data were taken in order to determine the interfacial shear stress between gas and liquid. The results indicate that (1) JL and JG significantly affect the interfacial shape of gas and liquid stratified flow in a horizontal pipe, whereas starting from JG = 8 m/s the interfacial shape changes from flat-shaped to concave-shaped interfaces, (2) a new correlation to predict the wetted wall fraction (WWF) of gas-liquid stratified flow in a horizontal pipe was also proposed, and yielded the mean absolute prediction error (MAPE) of 20.6% in comparison with the obtained experimental data from the present study and the available data in open literatures.

Slug flow characterization in horizontal annulus

AbstractTo characterize slug flows in annuli channels and highlight the effect of the eccentricity on the flow behaviors, experiments were conducted in two horizontal annuli setups (a) concentric and (b) fully eccentric using air and water as the testing fluids. The range of air and water superficial velocities investigated were 0.45–3.49 m/s and 0.15–2.77 m/s, respectively. Slug parameters measured using conductance probes designed for this study include slug length, translational velocity, slug frequency, and slug holdup. It is found that the slug translational velocity is unaffected by the annulus eccentricity; however, parameters including slug frequency, slug holdup, and slug lengths have a higher value in the fully eccentric annulus when compared with the concentric one. We introduced a new definition of hydraulic diameter, which reconciles the correlation between the dimensionless mean slug length and the mixture velocity of the horizontal annuli with different setups.

Experimental investigation of multiphase separation in different flow regimes through T-junction with an expander section

The experimental data for phase separation of the air-water mixture in a T-Junction with the expander section after the branch arm is presented in this work. The main and run arms of the T-junction are directed along the horizontal plane with the branch arm positioned in the vertical plane. The diameter of the main arm is 74 mm, with diameter ratio(s) of, 0.67, and 0.33 in relation to branch arm. At the inlet section of the T-junction, the flow regimes generated were stratified, stratified wavy and slug flow. At the inlet, the air and water superficial velocities are in the range of 0.25 - 0.140 m/s and 0.14-0.78 m/s respectively. The effect of the expander section after the branch arm, the air superficial velocity USA and water superficial velocity USw on liquid carryover (WL3/WL1)max in branch arm have been studied. Based on the experimental data obtained for T-junction with expander section, complete phase separation of air and water was observed in stratified and stratified wavy flow for all superficial velocities and improved phase separation for slug flow. In slug flow, increasing the liquid superficial velocity improves the phase separation but increasing the gas velocity decreases the phase separation. Finally, the volume weighted phase in this new T-junction design is compared with the phase separation data of a simple T-junction.

Water–air flow in straight pipes and across 90∘ sharp-angled mitre elbows

Water–air flow in horizontal and vertical straight pipes and through 90∘ sharp-angled mitre elbows is investigated by visualizing the flow patterns by means of a high-precision camera and by measuring the pressure drop. The flow is studied in pipes with three diameters for about six hundred conditions of water–air flows, characterized by superficial velocities in the ranges of jL* = 0.3–1 m/s for water and jG* = 0.15–34 m/s for air. The portion of the pipe upstream of the elbow is always positioned horizontally, while the portion of the pipe downstream of the sharp bend is oriented horizontally or vertically with the flow moving upward. Plug, slug, slug-annular, and annular flows are visualized in horizontal straight pipes, while slug, churn, and annular regimes are recorded in vertical straight pipes downstream of the sharp bend. These patterns are well predicted by the Mandhane map (Mandhane et al., 1974) for horizontally oriented straight pipes and by the Hewitt–Roberts map (Hewitt and Roberts, 1969) for vertically oriented straight pipes. The changes of the flow patterns as the fluids pass through the mitre elbows are discussed. A multiple membrane flow structure is observed in the vertical upward flow at much higher Reynolds numbers based on the water superficial velocity than in the vertical downward case previously reported in the literature. A dimensional analysis is employed to obtain the non-dimensional parameters that describe the flows through the straight pipes and across the elbows. It is proved that a rigorous way to present the flow regimes and the pressure-drop coefficients of the water–air flow for a given geometry is the space of the Reynolds numbers based on the superficial velocities of air and water for fixed Froude number because the flow is incompressible and isothermal. By expressing the maps in scaled form, the prediction of the flow patterns along the straight portions of the pipe improves. The flow patterns through the elbows are expressed in terms of rescaled Mandhane maps, which, for the first time, simultaneously represent the flow patterns both upstream and downstream of the elbows. New pattern-based empirical correlations are obtained for the scaled pressure drops for the water–air flows through the horizontal and vertical pipes and through the elbows. The correlations are based on the flow patterns and do not rely on widely used prediction models, thereby predicting the pressure drop more accurately than the models presently available in the literature.

Experimental investigation of gas\u2013oil\u2013water phase flow in vertical pipes: influence of gas injection on the total pressure gradient

Experimental work has been conducted to study the influence of gas injection on the phase inversion between oil and water flowing in a vertical pipe. A vertical transparent pipe test section line of 40 mm ID and 50 cm length was used. The test fluids used were synthetic oil and filtered tap water. Measurements were taken for mixture velocity, superficial water velocity, superficial gas velocity, and input superficial oil velocity ranging from 0.4 to 3 m/s, 0.18 to 2 m/s, 0 to 0.9 m/s, and 0 to 1.1 m/s. Most of the experiments were conducted more than two times, and the reproducibility of the experiments was quite good. Special attention was given to the effect of oil and water concentration where phase inversion took place with and without gas injection. The results showed that the phase inversion point was close to water fraction of ~ 30%, for both water friction direction changes (from water to oil or from oil to water) and that the effective viscosity increases once the mixture velocity increases. On the other hand, the results with gas injection showed that gas injection had no effect on the oil or water concentration where phase inversion occurred. Furthermore, the study investigated the effect of gas–oil–water superficial velocity on the total pressure gradient in the vertical pipe. It was found that the total pressure gradient was fast and increased at high superficial gas velocity but was slow at low superficial gas velocity. When the superficial oil velocity increased, the total pressure gradient approached the pressure gradient of an oil–water two-phase flow. The obtained results were compared with few correlations found in the literature, and the comparison showed that the uncertainty of the flow pattern transition peak in this study is very low.

Statistical analysis of Egyptian oil shale column flotation

ABSTRACT Evaluation possibility of a low-quality Egyptian oil shale from Wadii El-Nakhil, Red sea region as an alternative clean fuel by advanced flotation technique via column flotation was investigated. XRD analysis showed that the non-clay minerals associated with the oil shale sample include; quartz, siderite, apatite, anhydrite, and calcite. Column flotation experiments were carried out and results were analyzed according to screening designs which are used when numerous parameters would affect a particular process. Reduced three-factor interactions (3 FI) two-level factorial experimental design were employed to evaluate the effects of the seven independent parameters. Besides, the contour plots were used to summarize the optimum reaction factors leading to a predicted maximum kerogen grade of 52.35% and kerogen recovery of 78.41%. The calculated optimum parameters were 15% solid concentration, 0 cm/s superficial wash water velocity, 0.49 cm/s feed superficial velocity, 40 ppm frother concentration, 40 cm froth depth, 0.67 cm/s superficial air velocity and 0.5 kg/ton kerosene collector dosage. The confirmation tests, at optimum conditions as predicted from the contour plots, gave approximately the same grade and recovery of about 54% and 80%, respectively.

Experimental investigation of high-viscosity oil\u2013water flow in vertical pipes: flow patterns and pressure gradient

Flow experiments have been conducted for two-phase flow in a vertical pipe. The experiments were made for highly viscous oil–water in a stainless pipe at 250 psig pressure through the laboratory-scale flow test equipment. The test section used is a vertical transparent tube of 50 cm length and 40 mm ID. The test fluid utilized in this experiments is synthetic oil (viscosity = 35 mPas, density = 860 kg/m3) and filtered tap water (interfacial tension 31 mN/m at 20 °C, viscosity 0.95 mPas at 25 °C). The measurements of superficial velocities of oil and water were varied between 0.01 to 3 m/s. According to the experimental observations using audiovisual recordings, a flow pattern map was identified at different condition. Measuring the variations in pressure gradient and flow patterns at different superficial velocities of two-phase flow, six typical flow patterns were categorized and mapped under two groups, oil-dominant region and water-dominant region, and categorized based on the variations of oil and water superficial velocities, and mixture fluid velocity, at different amount of the water holdup in the vertical tubing. The measurements of the total pressure gradient at five different mixture fluid velocities were conducted verses water holdup in vertical tubing. The results show that all the upward flows show an identical flow pattern, where the pressure gradients increase with increasing mixture fluid velocity and water cut with similar trend. The experiments show a clear peak in the pressure gradient as a result of the frictional factor, specifically at the point of flow patterns occurs (i.e., water holdup ~ 30%). The results concluded that the pressure gradient is significantly influenced by flow patterns and flow rates. Besides, the oil viscosity has a high effect on the pressure gradients; however, it is observed that at similar water and oil superficial velocities, there is a subsequent increase in the pressure gradient due to the increase in oil viscosity.

Numerical simulation of oil-water two-phase flow in a horizontal duct with a Venturi flow meter

The progressive depletion of on-shore and light-oil reserves is forcing an increased use of transitional and heavy oils, which implies new challenges both during the extraction and the transportation. Focusing on the latter, a technique to reduce the pressure drop is water injection in the oil stream to create the so-called core annular flow (CAF), a flow regime with an oil core enveloped in a water annulus wetting the pipe wall, so that the apparent viscosity of the mixture is considerably reduced. Behaviour of CAF in ducts with non-uniform sections is still under research. This work is devoted to a CFD investigation about the pressure drop, pressure gradients, velocity profiles and in situ volume fractions in a duct including a Venturi flow meter. Unsteady RANS simulations were carried out using the Volume-Of-Fluid interFoam solver of OpenFOAM. Numerical results were experimentally validated for oil superficial velocities in the range 0.25-0.75 m/s and water superficial velocities in the range 0.44-1.10 m/s and comparisons between different approaches and sensitivity analyses were performed. Satisfactory agreement was found for the pressure drop and pressure gradients, and also for the in situ volume fraction with respect to the predictions of the Arney correlation.

Study on key factors affecting separation performance of aerated fluidized bed

ABSTRACT Although extensive research has been done on improving the separation performance of coarse coal in the minerals processing industry, there is still a gap between the current recovery of the coarse coal and the optimal separation performance. We developed a lab-scale aerated fluidized bed in this paper to investigate the effects of slurry concentration, superficial water velocity, aeration rate, concentration of frother and concentration of collector on the separation performance of coarse coal (1–0.125 mm). The aerated fluidized bed has an inside diameter of 0.15 m, a total height of 0.85 m, and a cross-sectional area of 0.018m2. The test result showed that the ash separation degree increased initially and then decreased with the increase of slurry concentration, aeration rate, superficial water velocity, concentration of frother and concentration of collector, respectively. The optimal separation performance was achieved in an aerated fluidized bed under the conditions of 500g/L slurry concentration, 30mm/s superficial water velocity, 0.36 m3/h aerated rate, 0.06285mmol/L concentration of frother, and 200g/t-coal concentration of collector. Compared to the conventional liquid-solid fluidized bed, the use of the aerated fluidized bed in this study produced a much higher yield of clean coal, reduced tailings, and achieved 29.12% higher recovery of coarse particles.

Study of viscous oil-water-gas slug flow in a horizontal pipe

Slug flow characteristics for viscous oil-water-air are experimentally conducted in a horizontal pipe with a 40 mm ID and 12 m long. Results of experimental pressure gradient are presented, taking into account μo = 0.83 Pa s. Water and air superficial velocities ranged 1.02–2.1 m s−1 and 0.22–1.9 ms−1, respectively. Flow patterns were observed and images captured by using a video camera. New data-sets on such flow that include translational bubble velocity, slug and elongated bubble length, total slug unit length and frequency are experimentally provided. Translational velocity of slug units is measured by means of optical probes and video camera, and compared with modified Nicklin (1962) correlation. Moreover, slug body, elongated bubble and slug unit lengths are measured by optical probe. Statistical analysis was adopted based on measured data of slug length to develop probability density function (PDFs). As a result, a new expression to compute slug unit length in terms of liquid, gas superficial velocities, and pipe diameter was proposed.

Visualization Study of Air-Water Two-Phase Flow Pattern in Upward Vertical Flow of Square Channel

An important two-phase flow experiment study is carried out as a consideration in the application of piping system design that depends on two-phase flow. The purpose of this study was to determine the air-water flow pattern formed in a small square channel with vertical flow direction and to know the flow configuration. Channel 5 mm hydraulic diameter was used in this study. Bubble, slug, churn, and annular flow patterns are formed in the air superficial velocity range 0.33 - 7.31 m/s and superficial velocity of water is 0.13 - 1.2 m/s. A flow pattern map produced has not similarities with the mini-channel flow pattern map in previous studies. The velocity of bubbles and void fractions increases with the increase of superficial air velocity. The void fraction of present research has a good correlation to the results of predictions proposed by previous studies.

Quantitative Modeling of the Effect of Oil on Foam for Enhanced Oil Recovery

SummaryThe effectiveness of foam for mobility control in the presence of oil is key to foam enhanced oil recovery (EOR). A fundamental property of foam EOR is the existence of two steady-state flow regimes: the high-quality regime and the low-quality regime. Experimental studies have sought to understand the effect of oil on foam through its effect on these two regimes. Here, we explore the effect of oil on the two flow regimes for one widely used foam model.The STARS (CMG 2015) foam model includes two algorithms for the effect of oil on foam: In the “wet-foam” model, oil changes the mobility of full-strength foam in the low-quality regime, and in the “dry-out” model, oil alters the limiting water saturation around which foam collapses. We examine their effects as represented in each model on the two flow regimes using a Corey relative permeability function for oil. Specifically, we plot the pressure-gradient contours that define the two flow regimes as a function of superficial velocities of water, gas, and oil, and show how oil shifts behavior in the regimes.The wet-foam model shifts behavior in the low-quality regime with no direct effect on the high-quality regime. The dry-out model shifts behavior in the high-quality regime but not the low-quality regime. At fixed superficial velocities, both models predict multiple steady states at some injection conditions. We perform a stability analysis of these states using a simple 1D simulator with and without incorporating capillary diffusion. The steady state attained after injection depends on the initial state. In some cases, it appears that the steady state at the intermediate pressure gradient is inherently unstable, as represented in the model. In some cases, the introduction of capillary diffusion is required to attain a uniform steady state in the medium. The existence of multiple steady states, with the intermediate one being unstable, is reminiscent of catastrophe theory and of studies of foam generation without oil.

Analysis of Gas and Liquid Two-Phase Slug Flow Production Logging Interpretation Model in near Horizontal Shale Gas Wells

The development of shale gas reservoir is mainly based on horizontal well production. Slug flow of gas-liquid two-phase is invariably encountered in inclined wells and horizontal wells of a producing environment. Due to gravitational differentiation, oil-water two-phase flow pattern, the local velocity and local phase holdup along the radial direction of pipe in near horizontal wells will perform complicatedly. This paper presented the results of an experimental study and a theoretical analysis of two-phase gas/water flow in horizontal and highly inclined systems. Extensive experiments were conducted using a test loop made of 124 mm diameter acrylic pipe with inclination angles from the horizontal of 0°, 5°, 15°, 45°, -2°, -5° and -10°, and with the total flow rate ranging from 50 to 800 m3/day. Based on the research on the law of slug flow dynamics model for gas-water two-phase flow in near horizontal pipeline, the theoretical analysis and experimental researches were done to propose the expressions of stable and exact production logging interpretation model for two-phase flow in near horizontal pipeline. The performance of the proposed method for estimating water holdup and water superficial velocity is in good agreement with our measurements. As a result, the slug flow dynamics model of gas-water two-phase flow in near horizontal wellbore was developed. The application effect of production logging in near horizontal wells had been improved.

Numerical simulation of two-phase separation in T-junction with experimental validation

Liquid carryover in T-junction due to splitting nature of two-phase flow causes serious issues for downstream equipment which is not designed to handle excessive liquid. In this paper, the phenomena of liquid carryover in T-junctions were analyzed using the Volume of Fraction (VOF) together with the k-ε turbulence model. T-junction separation efficiency was measured through mass flow rate fraction of air and water between the branch and main arm over a range of diameter ratios 0.6 to 1.0, water superficial velocity 0.186 to 0.558 m/s and air superficial velocity 4 to 8 m/s. The results showed simulation model was successfully validated with average deviation of less than 5% and can be used to predict phase split of slug flow in T-junction. The numerical model confirmed the significant influence of diameter ratio and superficial velocities of air and water on phase split. Reduced T-junction delivers better separation performance compared to regular T-junction. In slug flow regime, T-junction’s performance can be improved by either decreasing air velocity or increasing water velocity. A new dimensionless parameter, namely the area under the curve of separation efficiency (S), was proposed and proved as a qualified judging criteria for evaluating phase separation efficiency of T-junctions.

CFD simulations of gas-liquid-liquid three-phase co-current flow in horizontal pipe by tracking volume fractions using VOF model

The gas-liquid-liquid three-phase co-current flow is frequently observed in upstream petroleum pipelines. The identification of three-phase flow patterns is important to characterize three-phase flow dynamics. The three-phase flow patterns change with the pipe diameter, superficial velocities and physical properties of the fluids. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of three-phase flow through 0.1524 m diameter and 3.5 m long horizontal pipe has been conducted. The superficial velocity ranges of gas-oil-water were 0.5-4, 0.08-0.32 and 0.08-0.32 m/s respectively. The volume of fluid (VOF) model was used to simulate the three-phase interfacial structures. According to the results, the three-phase flow patterns have been successfully simulated. Three-phase flow regime map has been constructed to analyze the flow pattern transition with the superficial velocities. The three-phase flow pressure drop increased with the superficial velocities of oil and water. However, the drop in pressure first increased and then decreased with the increase in superficial velocity of the gas.

The Visualization Study on the Slug Flow Mechanisms of the Air-Water Two-Phase in a 50 mm Horizontal Pipe

The slug flow phenomena are often encountered in various industrial applications such as petroleum, process, and power plant. The presence of slug flow should be avoided as it causes structural damage due to resonance, corrosion and pipes blast. From the view point of multiphase flow, the understanding of the slug initiation mechanism is very important in pipeline design. This research is conducted using horizontal transparent acrylic pipes with diameters of 50 mm with a variation on the superficial velocity of water between 0,1 m/s and 0,77 m/s and superficial velocity of air between 0,31 m/s and 6,2 m/s. In the present experimental study, the slug initiation mechanisms was explained by visual observation by using high speed video cameras. As the results, the slug flow initiation mechanism were clarified. Furthermore, the proposed of flow initiation map was introduced.

Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Oil on Steady-State Foam Flow in Porous Media

Summary Foam flow in porous media without oil shows two regimes depending on foam quality (gas fractional flow). Complexity and limited data on foam/oil interactions in porous media greatly restrict understanding of foam in contact with oil. Distinguishing which regimes are affected by oil is key to modeling the effect of oil on foam. We report steady-state corefloods to investigate the effect of oil on foam through its effect on the two flow regimes. We fit the parameters of a widely used local-equilibrium (LE) foam model to data for concurrent foam/oil flow. This research provides a practical approach and initial data for simulating foam enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in the presence of oil. To ensure steady state, oil is coinjected with foam at a fixed ratio of oil (Uo) to water (Uw) superficial velocities in a Bentheimer Sandstone core. Model oils used here consist of a composition of hexadecane, which is benign to foam stability, and oleic acid (OA), which can destroy foam. Varying the concentration of OA in the model oil allows one to examine the effect of oil composition on steady-state foam flow. Experimental results show that oil affects both high- and low-quality regimes, with the high-quality regime being more sensitive to oil. In particular, oil increases the limiting water saturation (Sw*) in the high-quality regime and also reduces gas-mobility reduction in the low-quality regime. Unevenly spaced ▿p contours in the high-quality regime suggest either strongly shear-thinning behavior or an increasingly destabilizing effect of oil. In some cases, the pressure gradient (▿p) in the low-quality regime decreases with increasing Uw at fixed gas superficial velocity (Ug), either with or without oil. This might reflect either an effect of oil, if oil is present, or easier flow of bubbles under wetter conditions. Increasing the OA concentration extends the high-quality regime to lower foam qualities, indicating more difficulty in stabilizing foam. Thus, oil composition plays as significant a role as oil saturation (So). A model fit assuming a fixed Sw* and including shear thinning in the low-quality regime does not represent the two regimes when the oil effect is strong enough. In such cases, fitting Sw* to each ▿p contour and excluding shear thinning in the low-quality regime yield a better match to these data. The dependency of Sw* on So is not yet clear because of the absence of oil-saturation data in this study. Furthermore, none of the current foam-simulation models captures the upward-tilting ▿p contours in the low-quality regime.

Oil/Water Pipe-Flow Dispersions: From Traditional Flow Loops to Real Industrial-Transport Conditions

Summary In this paper we present a study on oil/water pipe-flow dispersions. There are two main objectives of this work: The first objective is to gain more knowledge on the behavior of oil/water dispersions in pipe flow; the second objective is to validate a new methodology to characterize dispersion properties at realistic industrial conditions. The characteristics of oil/water flows such as the development of the phase-fraction profiles, droplet-chord lengths, and pressure gradient were studied in a 0.069-m-diameter and 50-m-length horizontal pipe at the Multiphase Flow Laboratory of SINTEF in Norway. The fluid system consisted of a model oil (Exxsol® D80) with and without surfactants, and tap water. A comparison of the experiments with and without a mixing valve was performed. The experiments were conducted at different superficial liquid velocities (Usl) and five different water-cut (WC) values (with WC defined as the ratio of the water superficial velocity to the liquid superficial velocity). In addition, experiments on a wheel-shaped flow loop were conducted at selected conditions. The wheel mimics realistic pipe-flow conditions for the oil/water dispersions. This methodology allows us to identify flow-developing time scales and long-term behavior, which cannot be studied in a shorter test section. Furthermore, it is possible to have an indication of the viscosity increment when dispersions form. The results from the pipe-flow experiments show that the effective viscosity of the mixed flow increases by the dispersion formation promoted by the valve. As a result, the pressure gradient in the downstream pipe increases dramatically compared with the same conditions without premixing. For the studied cases, the surfactant concentration did not have any significant effect on the pressure drop in the pipe. However, differences in the phase-fraction profiles were observed, especially with respect to flow development along the pipe. A possible explanation is that the effective viscosity of the created dispersion is not high enough to produce an increase in the pressure drop. Flow development along the pipeline (oil/water separation) is observed only for selected cases without surfactant. For the rest of the experiments, especially with surfactant, the test section was not long enough to observe flow development. With the wheel, it is simple and fast to study both the formation and the stability of dispersions with real fluids at realistic conditions. There are indications that the energy-dissipation rate could be used as a scaling parameter between pipe-flow experiments and the wheel experiments. Wheel experiments can be used cost-efficiently to investigate dispersion characteristics and long-term flow development, which cannot be observed in traditional pipe-flow loops because of their restrictions.