Sayeed Rushd , MSc student in Chemical Engineering
Lubricated pipe flow (LPF) is a flow regime characterized by a viscous oil core enveloped by a lubricating water annulus. One of the most significant technical challenges in long-distance transport of bitumen froth and heavy oil by this economic technology is flow instability caused by (i) the formation of a wall-coating of viscous oil and (ii) thinning and/or loss of the lubricating water layer. Our research is intended to test capacitance sensors to quantify both the wall coating- and annular water-layer thickness. The responsiveness of capacitance measurements for the configurations of fluids comparable to the flow conditions involved in LPF have been investigated with two geometrically different laboratory-scale sensors: a bench-scale concentric pipe-spool set-up and a rectangular flow cell. The experimental results are in good agreement with simulations produced using COMSOL Multiphysics. Our research suggests that information about the thickness of the wall coating- and annular water-layer can be reliably obtained using capacitance sensor.
Lubricated pipe flow (LPF) is a flow regime characterized by a viscous oil core enveloped by a lubricating water annulus. One of the most significant technical challenges in long-distance transport of bitumen froth and heavy oil by this economic technology is flow instability caused by (i) the formation of a wall-coating of viscous oil and (ii) thinning and/or loss of the lubricating water layer. Our research is intended to test capacitance sensors to quantify both the wall coating- and annular water-layer thickness. The responsiveness of capacitance measurements for the configurations of fluids comparable to the flow conditions involved in LPF have been investigated with two geometrically different laboratory-scale sensors: a bench-scale concentric pipe-spool set-up and a rectangular flow cell. The experimental results are in good agreement with simulations produced using COMSOL Multiphysics. Our research suggests that information about the thickness of the wall coating- and annular water-layer can be reliably obtained using capacitance sensor.
