Chemical Engineering Research & Design, Vol.84, No.A10, 895-904, 2006
Liquid-liquid two phase flow through a horizontal T-junction
The present study reports investigations of liquid-liquid two phase flow at a horizontal dividing T-junction. The work is primarily confined to the stratified orientation of the liquids. Kerosene and water are selected as the test fluids. The experiments are conducted over a wide range of superficial phase velocities from 0.05 m s(-1) to 2.0 m s(-1) such that the flow regimes encountered are stratified smooth, stratified wavy, plug and 'oil in water and water' flow patterns. The results show that an increase in kerosene velocity (U-SK) and decrease in water velocity (U-SW) increases the water take off in the stratified smooth and wavy stratified flow regimes with decreasing influence of water velocity at higher values of U-SW. The effect of phase velocities reduces further in the plug and 'oil in water and water' flow regimes. The influence of the pressure at the T and diameter ratio of the side to main arm were also investigated. Attempts have been made to predict the split for liquid-liquid systems by the model proposed by Shoham et al. (1987). The model has initially been formulated from geometrical considerations and subsequently modified using a force balance by centripetal and inertial forces. It has been observed that the prediction obtained by the geometrical model gives better results for liquid-liquid systems in the present study.