Experimental investigation of liquid viscosity's effect on the flow behaviour and void fraction in a small diameter bubble column: How much do we know?

Journal article


Abdulkadir, M., Kajero, O., Zhao, D., Al–Sarkhi, A. and Hunt, A. (2021). Experimental investigation of liquid viscosity's effect on the flow behaviour and void fraction in a small diameter bubble column: How much do we know? Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering. 207, p. 109182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2021.109182
AuthorsAbdulkadir, M., Kajero, O., Zhao, D., Al–Sarkhi, A. and Hunt, A.
Abstract The viscosities of heavy oils and bitumen are significantly above those of water and light crude oil and are found in the oil and gas, polymer, metallurgical, and process industries. Unfortunately, little research attention has been given to the void fraction, and the behaviours of such flows as bubbles rise over them in bubble columns. How the liquid viscosity influences the behaviour of these flows and void fraction were examined using the electrical capacitance tomography (ECT), level swell technique and visual technique with a high-speed camera. It was found that: an excellent agreement was achieved within ±10% for comparison between the obtained void fraction using both techniques for all the liquid viscosities considered. In contradiction to previous findings, an increase in liquid viscosity provokes a corresponding increase in the void fraction, yet the influence is seen to reverse for gas superficial velocities beyond 0.25 m/s. In concordance with Mori et al. (1999)'s observations, a liquid viscosity increment brings about a corresponding decrease in the bubble frequency. The Taylor bubble's rise velocity was heavily dependent on the liquid viscosity range, whereby increases in liquid viscosity bring about a rise in the flow distribution coefficient. The bubble drift velocity, on the contrary, reduces with increasing liquid viscosity.
KeywordsVoid fraction; liquid viscosity; flow behaviour; level swell; ECT; Bubble column
Year2021
JournalJournal of Petroleum Science and Engineering
Journal citation207, p. 109182
PublisherElsevier
ISSN09204105
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2021.109182
Publication dates
PrintDec 2021
Online06 Jul 2021
Publication process dates
Deposited09 Jul 2021
Accepted28 Jun 2021
Accepted author manuscript
File Access Level
Open
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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