Experimental Study of Single Taylor Bubble Rising in Stagnant and Downward Flowing Non-Newtonian Fluids in Inclined Pipes

Yaxin Liu, Eric R. Upchurch and Evren M. Ozbayoglu
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Yaxin Liu: Tulsa University Drilling Research Project, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA
Eric R. Upchurch: Chevron Energy Technology Company, Houston, TX 77002, USA
Evren M. Ozbayoglu: Tulsa University Drilling Research Project, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-28

Abstract: An experimental investigation of single Taylor bubbles rising in stagnant and downward flowing non-Newtonian fluids was carried out in an 80 ft long inclined pipe (4°, 15°, 30°, 45° from vertical) of 6 in. inner diameter. Water and four concentrations of bentonite–water mixtures were applied as the liquid phase, with Reynolds numbers in the range 118 < Re < 105,227 in countercurrent flow conditions. The velocity and length of Taylor bubbles were determined by differential pressure measurements. The experimental results indicate that for all fluids tested, the bubble velocity increases as the inclination angle increases, and decreases as liquid viscosity increases. The length of Taylor bubbles decreases as the downward flow liquid velocity and viscosity increase. The bubble velocity was found to be independent of the bubble length. A new drift velocity correlation that incorporates inclination angle and apparent viscosity was developed, which is applicable for non-Newtonian fluids with the Eötvös numbers ( E 0 ) ranging from 3212 to 3405 and apparent viscosity ( μ a p p ) ranging from 0.001 Pa∙s to 129 Pa∙s. The proposed correlation exhibits good performance for predicting drift velocity from both the present study (mean absolute relative difference is 0.0702) and a database of previous investigator’s results (mean absolute relative difference is 0.09614).

Keywords: Taylor bubble; non-Newtonian; countercurrent flow; drift velocity correlation; inclined pipe (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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