Cfd prediction of oil-water two-phase stratified flow in a horizontal channel: coupled level set - vof approach

The present work focuses on the investigation of the effects of (a) superficial oil velocity, and (b) inlet temperature to wall temperature ratio considering the two dimensional oil-water stratified flow in a horizontal pipe using ANSYS Fluent. Coupled level set and volume of fluid (CLSVOF) have been used to capture the evolving interface assuming unsteady, coaxial flow with constant fluid properties. For both cases, the radial variation of oil volume fraction, mixture velocity, total pressure, and pressure gradient has been studied. The stratified flow pattern has been obtained for both cases. The pressure gradient has not been found to be very much sensitive to the inlet to wall temperature ratio. The analysis can helpful in predicting & preventing the blockage of the oil pipeline due to wax formation, by managing to control the fall of oil temperature below wax appearance state. Hence these findings could be useful in designing the transportation pipeline in the petroleum industries, chemical industries etc. and also in pipeline flow control administration.