Investigation of Horizontal Two-Phase Gas-Liquid Pipe Flow Using High Viscosity Oil: Comparison with Experiments Using Low Viscosity Oil and Simulations

Two-phase gas-oil experiments with a low (Exxsol D80) and a high (Nexbase 3080) viscosity oil and SF₆ gas were compared with OLGA point-model simulations. Good agreement was found for Exxsol D80 pressure drop and holdup, although OLGA overpredicted slug flow. For Nexbase 3080 OLGA predicted slug flow for most data points observed as stratified flow. The holdup was predicted too low and the pressure drop too high. Dynamic simulations with slug-tracking improved the results somewhat. The correlation of Andritsos and Hanratty (1) for interfacial friction factor agreed well with estimated values for Nexbase 3080, but underpredicted the Exxsol D80 experiments.