J191543 DOI: 10.

2118/191543-PA Date: 19-April-19 Stage: Page: 1 Total Pages: 18

Pressure Effects on Low-Liquid-Loading

Oil/Gas Flow in Slightly Upward Inclined
Pipes: Flow Pattern, Pressure Gradient,
and Liquid Holdup
Hendy T. Rodrigues, University of Tulsa and Petrobras, and Eduardo Pereyra and Cem Sarica, University of Tulsa

Summary
This paper studied the effects of system pressure on oil/gas low-liquid-loading flow in a slightly upward inclined pipe configuration
using new experimental data acquired in a high-pressure flow loop. Flow rates are representative of the flow in wet-gas transport pipe-
lines. Results for flow pattern observations, pressure gradient, liquid holdup, and interfacial-roughness measurements were calculated
and compared to available predictive models. The experiments were carried out at three system pressures (1.48, 2.17, and 2.86 MPa) in
a 0.155-m-inside diameter (ID) pipe inclined at 2 from the horizontal. IsoparÔ L oil and nitrogen gas were the working fluids. Liquid
superficial velocities ranged from 0.01 to 0.05 m/s, while gas superficial velocities ranged from 1.5 to 16 m/s. Measurements included
pressure gradient and liquid holdup. Flow visualization and wire-mesh-sensor (WMS) data were used to identify the flow patterns.
Interfacial roughness was obtained from the WMS data.
Three flow patterns were observed: pseudo-slug, stratified, and annular. Pseudo-slug is characterized as an intermittent flow where
the liquid does not occupy the whole pipe cross section as does a traditional slug flow. In the annular flow pattern, the bulk of the liquid
was observed to flow at the pipe bottom in a stratified configuration; however, a thin liquid film covered the whole pipe circumference.
In both stratified and annular flow patterns, the interface between the gas core and the bottom liquid film presented a flat shape. The
superficial gas Froude number, FrSg, was found to be an important dimensionless parameter to scale the pressure effects on the meas-
ured parameters. In the pseudo-slug flow pattern, the flow is gravity-dominated. Pressure gradient is a function of FrSg and liquid super-
ficial velocity, vSL. Liquid holdup is independent of vSL and a function of FrSg. In the stratified and annular flow patterns, the flow is
friction-dominated. Both pressure gradient and liquid holdup are functions of FrSg and vSL. Interfacial-roughness measurements showed
a small variation in the stratified and annular flow patterns. Model comparison produced mixed results, depending on the specific flow
conditions. A relation between the measured interfacial roughness and the interfacial friction factor was proposed, and the results
agreed with the existing measurements.

Introduction
Low-liquid-loading gas/liquid flow in near-horizontal pipes is a common phenomenon in wet-gas transport pipelines. It is characterized
by the large ratio of gas- to liquid-volume flow. It is a common occurrence in offshore operations, because processing plants are less
efficient owing to size limitations, and the gas transport pipelines have a small positive inclination when connecting the offshore unit to
onshore facilities. Although the liquid volume is small, the liquid distribution can dramatically change the overall pipe pressure drop
when compared to single-phase gas flow (Badie et al. 2000; Meng et al. 2001; Vuong 2016).
Proper pressure-gradient and liquid-holdup predictions are crucial in the design of pipeline systems. The choice of pipe diameter,
boosting units, and receiving and processing facilities is largely impacted by these predictions. During the operation, flow-assurance
issues, such as corrosion and hydrate formation, occur. Chemical inhibitors are used to avoid these issues, and the correct description of
the flow pattern in which the phases are arranged is critical for the efficiency of these chemical treatments.
Within the normal operational ranges of low-liquid-loading flow, the phases were expected to be arranged in a segregated pattern:
either stratified or annular. Under these conditions, two of the main topics for modeling the flow are the geometrical distribution of
phases at the pipe cross-sectional area and the interfacial shear stress between liquid and gas. At earlier and later stages of the field
development, lower gas-flow rates are expected. In inclined pipes, this might lead to the formation of intermittent flows (large waves,
pseudo-slugs, or slug flow). In this case, flow parameters change dramatically when compared with segregated flow.
One of the most commonly used models for calculating flow parameters in segregated flow was proposed by Taitel and Dukler
(1976). They assumed that the phases were segregated in a stratified condition with a flat interface, as shown in Fig. 1a. Modeling a
force balance in a differential control volume in the axial direction, they developed the combined momentum equation. After solving
the combined momentum equation for the liquid holdup, pressure gradient was calculated with either liquid- or gas-phase momentum
equations. Several closure relationships were needed for the shear stresses at the liquid and gas walls and at the interface. For the wall
shear stresses, the usual approach is to use single-phase friction-factor models based on hydraulic diameters. The interfacial friction
factor is one of the most important parameters and is the subject of several studies. Other closure relationships are related to the geomet-
ric distribution of the phases in the cross-sectional area. Because Taitel and Dukler (1976) assumed a flat interface shape, the interfacial
length and liquid- and gas-wetted wall fractions relation with the holdup was straightforward.
Subsequent experimental studies of low liquid loading in small-diameter pipes showed that the interface was curved, not flat. Hart et al.
(1989) studied low-liquid-loading flow in a horizontal 0.051-m-diameter pipe and proposed liquid distribution geometry with a constant
liquid thickness (Fig. 1b). They proposed the ARS (apparent rough surface) model, in which only the gas momentum equation was solved
and the liquid phase was treated as a modified pipe roughness. Correlations for the wetted-wall fraction, SL, and the liquid holdup, HL, were
proposed. Grolman and Fortuin (1997) used the same liquid distribution geometry, but their model included the liquid momentum and
solved the combined momentum equation. A new correlation for the wetted-wall fraction performed better for nonhorizontal pipes.

Copyright V
C 2019 Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper (SPE 191543) was accepted for presentation at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Dallas, 24–26 September 2018, and revised for publication. Original
manuscript received for review 22 October 2018. Revised manuscript received for review 17 January 2019. Paper peer approved 18 January 2019.

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SG SG SG

SI

θ0 SI SI

SL SL SL
(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 1—Liquid distribution geometry: (a) Taitel and Dukler (1976), (b) Hart et al. (1989), and (c) Chen et al. (1997).

Chen et al. (1997) studied low-liquid-loading flow of air/kerosene in a horizontal 0.0779-m-diameter pipe. The authors proposed a
new liquid geometry distribution with a curved interface called a double-circle, represented in Fig. 1c. The model used the combined
momentum equation and the correlation proposed by Hart et al. (1989) for the wetted-wall fraction. Later, Fan et al. (2007) used both a
0.05-m- and a 0.155-m-ID facility with inclinations ranging from 62 from the horizontal flowing air and water in their experimental
investigation. The double-circle geometry was used, and a model for the wetted-wall-fraction calculation on the basis of the liquid grav-
ity center shift as a function of the liquid Froude number was proposed. Zhang and Sarica (2011) extended the model by Fan et al.
(2007) to unify the wetted-wall-fraction predictions and the transition to annular flow.
Meng et al. (2001) used a 0.05-m-diameter facility with inclinations that ranged 62 from the horizontal with air and light oil as
working fluids and measured several flow parameters. The authors measured the droplet-entrainment fraction and observed the flow pat-
tern change from stratified to annular flow owing to droplet deposition on the upper pipe wall. A two-fluid model and an interfacial-
friction model were proposed. The model used the combined momentum equations, with double-circle geometry, and included the
droplets-entrainment fraction, fE, in the properties of the gas-core flow.
More-recent studies focused on experiments with larger diameters and higher pressures. Diameter scaleup was attempted by Karami
et al. (2016) using a 0.155-m-ID low-pressure facility to study three-phase flow under low liquid loading in horizontal conditions.
Vuong et al. (2017) studied the effects of pressure on a two-phase low-liquid-loading flow in a 0.155-m-ID high-pressure (1.48–2.86 MPa)
facility with horizontal configuration and Isopar-L oil and nitrogen as flowing fluids. The observed flow patterns were stratified wavy and
annular flow, and measured flow characteristics that included liquid holdup, pressure gradient, wave characteristics, and wetted wall frac-
tion. Both Karami et al. (2016) and Vuong et al. (2017) observed that the interface in larger pipe diameters retained a flat shape, rather
than a curve. Moreover, annular flow pattern was obtained when the droplets were deposited on the pipe walls. The interface between the
bottom liquid film and the gas core was still flat-shaped, even in annular flow.
Tayebi et al. (2000) and Viana et al. (2016) focused on the entrainment fraction measurements, but also presented results for pres-
sure gradient and liquid holdup for low-liquid-loading flows at higher pressures.
Rodrigues et al. (2018) presented a model to improve the pressure-gradient calculations when the flow was in the stratified-to-
annular transition region. The model accounted for the thin film that formed in the gas/wall interface. Predictions were compared with
high-pressure large-diameter data available in the literature and showed improvements when compared with the results of other models.
At lower gas-flow rates in slightly inclined pipes, low-liquid-loading flows presented an intermittent flow behavior. Alsaadi et al.
(2015), Fan et al. (2015), and Fan et al. (2018) studied the onset of liquid accumulation in inclinations that ranged between 2 and 30
from the horizontal in a 0.0762-m-ID pipe with air and water as flowing fluids. Alsaadi et al. (2015) measured several parameters,
including the critical gas velocity where liquid started to accumulate. Alsaadi et al. (2015) also compared the predictions of available
flow pattern-transition models against their observations and found a poor agreement. Fan et al. (2015) investigated the onset of liquid
accumulation and the characteristics of pseudo-slug flow and showed that pseudo-slugs travel with a velocity greater than roll waves,
but lower than the expected translational slug velocity. Fan et al. (2018) proposed a model for calculating the onset of liquid accumula-
tion on the basis of the film reversal at the bottom of the pipe.
Langsholt and Holm (2007) studied the conditions where the liquid holdup exhibited an abrupt increase with decreasing superficial
gas velocities in slightly inclined pipes (0.5–5 ). Those authors used a 0.1-m-ID pipe facility with a three-phase flow of water, ExxsolÔ
D80 oil, and SF6 gas at system pressures of 3.5 and 7.1 bar. At these conditions, the corresponding gas densities were 22.6 and 46.9 kg/m3,
respectively. The superficial liquid velocity was kept at 0.001 m/s, while the gas superficial velocity varied from 1.5 to 4 m/s. The
authors presented results comparing the effects of pipe inclination, water fraction, and system pressure, and provided a comparison of
their results with OLGA commercial software predictions. The critical velocity was found to be lower for higher-pressure systems,
lower pipe inclinations, and lower water cuts.
Kjolaas et al. (2015) focused on the investigation of the existence and characteristics of multiple solutions for the liquid holdup in a
low-liquid-loading flow. The authors used the SINTEF (independent research organization based in Norway) large-scale multiphase
flow loop with diameters of 0.2 and 0.3 m and inclination angles of 1, 2.5, and 5 with the horizontal. Nitrogen was used as the gas
phase and naphtha, Exxsol D40, water, and a glycerol/water mixture were used as the liquid phases. The nominal system pressure was
6 MPa. The critical superficial gas velocity was obtained when liquid started to accumulate. One of the main conclusions was that, for a
given pipe inclination and liquid-flow rate, liquid accumulation occurred at a constant gas Froude number.
In the present study, an experimental program was performed to acquire data for low-liquid-loading flow in near-horizontal pipes at
system pressures up to 2.86 MPa, which was considered high when comparing to previous experiments (more than 20 times higher than
atmospheric conditions). The pipe diameter used, D ¼ 0.155 m, was larger than in the previous studies. The flowing conditions covered
stratified flow and transitioned to annular flow at higher gas-flow rates and pseudo-slug flow at lower gas-flow rates. Isopar-L oil was
used as the liquid phase, because its properties are similar to the properties of light condensate oils. Basic and advanced instrumentation
was used to obtain detailed information about the flow parameters.
Although experimental conditions presented in this study are still far from the real operational conditions, the results indicated
trends that helped to properly scale the effects of pressure and diameter. The unique data obtained in this study are useful for validation

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and modification of models and simulators to account for different system pressures and diameters. A relation between the wavy inter-
face roughness and the interfacial friction factor was proposed.

Experimental Program
The experimental program was conducted at the high-pressure large-diameter facility of the Tulsa University Fluid Flow Projects
(TUFFP). The facility was designed to perform upscaling studies on low-liquid-loading flows. The experimental conditions are pre-
sented in the following.

Fluids. In this experimental study, Isopar-L mineral oil was used as the liquid phase and nitrogen was used as the gas phase. Isopar-L
has low density and viscosity similar to gas-condensate systems. The relevant properties were considered constant and given as density
(qL) ¼ 760 kg/m3, viscosity (lL) ¼ 0.0013 Pas, and surface tension (r) ¼ 0.024 N/m.
Nitrogen was used instead of natural gas. It presents a lower health, safety, and environmental risk because it is inert. During the
experimental program, system pressure and temperature were varied, and the nitrogen properties were calculated for each flowing con-
dition. At different pressures and temperatures, nitrogen density was calculated with the equation given by Span et al. (2000). Accord-
ing to Span et al. (2000), this equation presents a maximum deviation of 60.001% for pressures up to 30 MPa. Nitrogen viscosity was
calculated with the correlation proposed by Seibt et al. (2006). The authors concluded that the uncertainty of this correlation was
approximately 60.2% when compared with their own experimental data.
The effects of pressure and temperature on the interfacial tension were considered negligible, on the basis of the studies of Nino
Amezquita et al. (2010) and Zolghadr et al. (2013) regarding nitrogen and hydrocarbon mixtures.

Experimental Facility. The facility was operated in a closed loop at pressures up to 2.86 MPa (400 psig), and was divided into two
main parts: the flow loop and the processing plant.
The flow loop is schematically shown in Fig. 2. It was made from a stainless-steel pipe with an ID of 0.155 m (6.1 in.). The main
test section was inclined at 2 from the horizontal and was 85 m long, which corresponded to an L/D ¼ 548. The total length was
160 m, including the horizontal section before, and the downward and horizontal sections after, the main section. Most of the instru-
mentation was installed at the downstream location of the main test section. Exceptions were the pressure-gradient measurements taken
in the middle of the main test section and the capacitance probes that were distributed along the test section.

WMS Main
test s
Cam ectio
era n, 2°
inclin
ed, 8
CP#19 an 5-m lo
CP#2 d 20 ng
0 and
Iso-k 21
ineticQCV CP#
17 a CP#
QCV nd 1 15
DP 8
Do CP#
wn 1 3
wa CP#
rd 8 C
flo P#4
w DP
To
proc
es
s
CP#9 CP#6
Oil/nitrogen
Horizontal section

Fig. 2—Flow-loop schematic. CP = capacitance probe; QCV = quick-closing valve.

After flowing through the flow loop, the fluids returned to the processing plant, shown schematically in Fig. 3. The gas and liquid
first arrived at a vertical separator and, from there, they followed different paths.

Air
cooler
To loop

Gas
Compressor Flowmeter
Suction Discharge
receiver receiver
From loop Gas

Oil
Oil pump Oil
Separator Oil tank Flowmeter

Fig. 3—Schematic of the processing facility.

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A level-control valve allowed the liquid to flow from the bottom of the separator into the tank. From the bottom of the tank, the
liquid was pumped through a Moyno model 2000 G1 progressing-cavity pump. After the pump, the control system operated two
valves—one for recirculation and the other into the flow loop to achieve the desired liquid-flow rate. Before reaching the flow loop, the
liquid-flow rate was measured with a Micro Motion CMF200 Coriolis mass flowmeter.
The gas flowed from the top of the separator into the suction receiver. From the suction receiver, it flowed through a control valve
before reaching the Sundyne BMC-343 EF gas compressor, which was a single-stage centrifugal compressor. After the compressor, a
heat exchanger was used to lower the gas temperature before it reached the discharge receiver. A recirculation valve controlled anti-
surge flowback from the discharge to the suction receiver. The remaining gas passed through a Micro Motion CMF300 Coriolis mass
flowmeter before it was mixed with the liquid.

Test Matrix. The test matrix is representative of the low-liquid-loading flow of natural gas with condensate in production pipelines.
Three system pressures, 1.48 MPa (200 psig), 2.17 MPa (300 psig), and 2.86 MPa (400 psig), were used. The liquid superficial veloc-
ities varied between 0.01 and 0.05 m/s in increments of 0.01 m/s. The gas superficial velocities varied from 1.5 to 16 m/s. The maxi-
mum and minimum gas superficial velocities varied depending on the system’s pressure, because the gas compressor had mass-flow-
rate limitations.

Measured Parameters. Several instruments were used to measure flow parameters. Fig. 2 shows their position along the main test sec-
tion, while Fig. 4 shows the detailed location of some of the measurement equipment that was located inside the quick-closing valve
(QCV) section. The first QCV was located at a distance approximately 65 m from the beginning of the main inclined test section.

Camera
WMS

Capacitanc
QCV e
Flow
QCV

HS
camera

3.53 m DP
0.87 m 0.97 m 0.2 m

Fig. 4—Instrumentation inside the trapped section.

System pressure was measured with a RosemountÔ 3051-CG pressure transmitter with a systematic error uncertainty of 60.15% of
the transmitter full range. System temperature was measured by a resistance temperature detector connected to a Rosemount 3144P
temperature transmitter. Measurement uncertainty was the highest between 60.25% of the measurement range and 60.25 C. Both sys-
tematic uncertainties were obtained from vendor datasheets. During a test, pressure and temperature variations through the main test
section were lower than 0.024 MPa and 2 C at extreme conditions. These variations were small in comparison to the system’s absolute
pressure and temperature; therefore, the fluid properties did not change when flowing through the main test section. However, between
different test points, pressure and temperature change on the basis of ambient conditions and a variation of liquid volume inside the
pipe. Hence, the system pressure and temperature were used to correct the fluid properties for each data point.
A Rosemount 3051S differential-pressure transmitter located in the middle portion of the main test section was used to measure the
pressure gradient. The differential-pressure reading was corrected by the transmitter zero value—when there was no flow and both
tubes connecting the transmitter to the pressure taps were filled with oil—and then divided by the distance between the two pressure
taps, 7.7 m. During the experiments, it was noted that the transmitter’s zero value varied with temperature. Collecting data points for
the zero value under different system pressures and temperatures determined that its variation with temperature followed a linear trend,
as shown in Fig. 5 (left) for the three different system pressures. For each pressure, a corresponding equation was used to correct the
measured differential pressure before calculating the pressure gradient:
8
< 10:1T  1607:8; if P ¼ 1:48 MPa
>
DP0 ¼ 11:2T  1485:4; if P ¼ 2:17 MPa
>
:
10:6T  1441:3; if P ¼ 2:86 MPa;                                                 ð1Þ

where DP0 is in Pa, T is the system temperature in  C, and P is the system pressure. When measuring the DP0, care was taken to ensure
that both lines connecting the pressure taps to the transmitter were filled with liquid. It can only be speculated that the variations of DP0
with regard to pressure and temperature were owing to a combination of liquid-property variation in the lines (expected to be small)
and internal uncertainty of the transmitter.
Pressure-gradient measurements for single-phase gas flow were made and compared with standard calculation methods. Fig. 6
presents the comparison between the measured pressure gradient and the pressure gradient calculated using the friction-factor equation
proposed by Churchill (1977). The pipe roughness used for this calculation was e/D ¼ 3.6110–5. This value agreed with earlier studies
conducted in the same facility. Churchill (1977) presented a noniterative equation that covers all Reynolds-number ranges with good
approximation of Colebrook’s equation in the turbulent regime (Asker et al. 2014).

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–1500 4650
1.48 MPa 1.48 MPa
–1600 2.17 MPa 4600 2.17 MPa
2.86 MPa 2.86 MPa
–1700 4550

DPT0 (Pa)
DP0 (Pa)
–1800 4500

–1900 4450
DP0 = –10.1 T – 1607.8
–2000 R 2 = 0.94 4400
DP0 = –11.2 T – 1485.4
R 2 = 0.96
–2100 DP0 = –10.6 T – 1441.3 4350 DPT0 = –5.9 T + 4,617.9
R 2 = 0.94 R 2 = 0.97
–2200 4300
0 10 20 30 40 50 0 10 20 30 40 50
Temperature (°C) Temperature (°C)

Fig. 5—Variation of the differential pressure value at rest with temperature for all system pressures for the pressure gradient (left)
and liquid holdup (right) measurements. R 2 5 coefficient of determination.

160
DP Calculated (Pa/m)

120

80

40

0
0 40 80 120 160
DP Measured (Pa/m)

Fig. 6—Comparison of measured and calculated pressure gradient for single-phase gas flow.

Two QCVs were located at a downstream portion of the main test section to measure the liquid holdup. When the two-phase-flow
condition was stable, the two valves were closed and the local instantaneous liquid and gas volume were trapped between the valves.
Liquid holdup was obtained by measuring the trapped liquid volume and dividing it by the total volume of the trapped section. A
differential-pressure transmitter was used to measure the liquid volume. One pressure tap was located at the bottom of the lower end of
the trapped section, and the other was located at the top of the higher end, as shown in Fig. 4. Calibration was performed to relate
the liquid holdup to the measured differential pressure, as shown in Fig. 7. A total of eight different calibration runs were executed by
filling and draining the closed section with known amounts of liquid. The final equation obtained to calculate the liquid holdup was
given as
   
HL;QCV ¼ 2:48107 DP2T þ 2:763105 DPT ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð2Þ

where HL,QCV is the liquid holdup measured through the QCV system, and DPT is the pressure differential measured at the trapped sec-
tion, in Pa.

10
HL = 2.48×10–7 DP 2 + 2.763×10–5 DP

8
Run #1
Run #2
Holdup (%)

6 Run #3
Run #4
Run #5
4 Run #6
Run #7
Run #8
2

0
0 200 400 600
DP (Pa)

Fig. 7—Calibration of liquid holdup as a function of the measured pressure differential.

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During the experiments, the measured differential pressure was corrected with the differential pressure when there was no liquid in the
trapped section (DPT zero). Similar to the pressure-gradient measurement, it was noted that the DPT zero varied with temperature. A collec-
tion of data for DPT zero at different system pressures and temperatures is shown in Fig. 5 (right). In this case, the system pressure did not
affect the DPT zero; however, the temperature did. The following fitting equation was used to correct the liquid-holdup calculation:

DPT0 ¼ 5:9T þ 4; 617:9: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð3Þ

A WMS was used to measure the liquid and gas distribution at a cross section of the pipe over time. It was made of a bundle of
32 parallel wires in the vertical direction and another bundle of 32 parallel wires in the horizontal direction. The two wire bundles were
offset from each other, as shown in Fig. 8. An electronic signal was transmitted through the vertical wires and measured by the receiver
through the horizontal wires. The returning signal had information about the capacitance of the fluid between each of the 1,024 wire
crossings. The frequency of acquisition was 2500 Hz, and the data were recorded for 4.5 minutes for the pseudo-slug pattern and
30 seconds for the stratified and annular flow patterns.

Offset

32 wires
32 wires

Receiver

Receiver
Transmitter
Tra
nsm
itte
r

Fig. 8—Schematic of the wire-mesh sensor.

Calibration files were obtained with the pipe full of liquid and full of gas, which determined the capacitance at each of the
1,024 points when there was only liquid or gas, and were used to interpolate the measured data and obtain a local liquid holdup at each
of the points. A MATLAB code was used for further post-processing of the data. Reconstruction of the interface was achieved by using
a threshold for the liquid holdup at each of the measured points. The interface was defined at the boundaries of the liquid and gas
points. The details of the interface reconstruction using WMS are described in Schleicher et al. (2015). After the interface was recon-
structed, the other variables, such as liquid holdup, liquid height, interfacial length, wetted-wall fraction, and interfacial roughness,
were calculated over time.
The Canty visualization system was composed of a high-speed camera and a high-resolution camera mounted onto a swivel, as sche-
matically represented in Fig. 9. The two cameras were positioned at 180 from each other with two light sources located at the other
quadrants. The swivel allowed for rotation of the camera around the pipe perimeter. The high-resolution camera showed a wider image
and was the main way to visualize the flow, while the high-speed camera was used to analyze details of the flow. The high-speed
camera recorded videos up to 5,000 frames per second. The cameras were positioned at a 45 angle from the vertical, with the high-
speed camera focused at the liquid/gas interface and the high-resolution camera focused on the upper wall of the pipe, as shown
in Fig. 9.

High-resolution
camera
Light source

Rotation

High-speed
camera
Light source

Fig. 9—Schematic of the Canty visualization system rotated at 458 from vertical.

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The overall measurement uncertainty is summarized in Table 1.

Measured V ariab le Un c ertai nty

Liquid superficial velocity U = ±0.0003 (m/s)
Gas superficial velocity U = ±0.01 × vSg (m/s)
Pressure gradient U = ±2.7 (Pa/m)
QCV liquid holdup (no pseudo-slugs) U = ±0.0021 (–)
WMS liquid holdup (pseudo-slugs) U = ±0.0109 ln(HL) + 0.0714

Table 1—Measurement-uncertainty summary.

Experimental Results
This section presents the experimental results: flow pattern analysis on the basis of the flow visualization and WMS data and pressure-
gradient, liquid-holdup, and interfacial-roughness measurements. Comparison of the measurements to existing predictive models was
also presented. The error bars shown represented the combined systematic (usually vendor data sheet or calibration) and random (repeat
data, when available) uncertainty measurements. Further results and details were presented by Rodrigues (2018).

Flow Pattern. Three distinct flow patterns were observed during the experiments. At moderate superficial gas velocities, vSg, a strati-
fied flow pattern was observed. At lower vSg, the gas momentum was not large enough to overcome gravity to drag the liquid in a strati-
fied configuration, thus resulting in an intermittent behavior. Liquid accumulated at several locations in the test section until it was
pushed downstream of the pipe by the gas. These liquid accumulations did not touch the upper part of the pipe wall; hence, they were
called pseudo-slugs. For the higher range of superficial gas velocities, the deposition of the entrained liquid droplets created a thin
liquid film along the entire pipe wall circumference. At some point, this thin film became thicker and faster, and this pattern was defined
as annular. Even for the annular pattern, it was still noticeable that the majority of the liquid flowed at the pipe bottom in a
stratified configuration.
The flow patterns were identified on the basis of video observations. Images were included here to describe the observed flow pat-
terns. In the figures, both cameras were positioned as depicted in Fig. 9, with the high-speed camera focused on the interface and the
high-resolution camera focused on the upper part of the pipe wall.
Fig. 10 shows images of the flow in the stratified configuration. The high-speed-camera image shows the liquid film at the bottom
and the gas flowing over the liquid. Two red lines are included—the continuous line represents the main liquid/gas interface, while the
dashed line represents a small film that was created owing to the passage of waves. Above the dashed line there was no noticeable
liquid flow. In the high-resolution-camera image, there is a red arrow pointing to the liquid/gas interface, which was easy to distinguish.
The red circle shows a position at the top of the pipe. In the videos, this position was observed to identify any moving liquid film. In the
case of stratified flow, there was no noticeable film moving at this position.

Fig. 10—High-speed- (left) and high-resolution (right) -camera image of flow in stratified pattern (P 5 2.86 MPa, vSL 5 0.03 m/s,
vSg 5 5 m/s).

Images of the flow in an annular flow pattern are shown in Fig. 11. This figure represents the lowest superficial gas velocity, classi-
fied as annular flow (for p ¼ 2.86 MPa and vSL ¼ 0.03 m/s), while Fig. 12 represents the largest superficial-gas-velocity data point
obtained (for the same pressure and superficial liquid velocity). Both were classified as annular flow owing to the visible moving liquid
film at the upper pipe wall—the position highlighted with a red circle in the high-resolution-camera image. The high-speed camera
showed one continuous red line to represent the interface between the bottom liquid film and the gas core. However, above the red line
there was another liquid film, much thinner, but still moving. Although not possible to see in the pictures, the videos that were analyzed
showed that this “thin film” flowing at the upper part of the pipe was distinct from the bottom “thick film.” Its thickness, velocity and
waviness were different from that seen at the bottom. This thin film was created by liquid droplets that were deposited on the pipe wall.
The flow pattern was denoted annular because of this thin film covering the entire circumference. However, the main liquid flow was
still at the pipe bottom. The differences in the images of Figs. 11 and 12 are because of the thin film that is thicker and faster and that
there were more entrained droplets at higher vSg.

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Fig. 11—High-speed- (left) and high-resolution (right) -camera image of flow in the beginning of the annular pattern (P 5 2.86 MPa,
vSL 5 0.03 m/s, vSg 5 8 m/s).

Fig. 12—High-speed- (left) and high-resolution (right) -camera image of flow in the annular pattern (P 5 2.86 MPa, vSL 5 0.03 m/s,
vSg 5 11 m/s).

For the pseudo-slug flow pattern, one image cannot completely describe the flow. Therefore, Fig. 13 shows a sequence of images of
a pseudo-slug passage. The first image (from left to right) shows the moment before the pseudo-slug arrival when the flow was similar
to the stratified flow. However, the recorded high-speed videos showed that, at some point, the bottom layers of the liquid film started
flowing backward. The second image shows the moment a pseudo-slug arrives, and the third image shows the pseudo-slug body. The
fourth image shows the flow after the pseudo-slug is gone. A stratified-like pattern was re-established with a higher liquid height than
the previous one. With time, the liquid height decreased until the cycle started again.

Fig. 13—Sequence of images of a pseudo-slug passage from high-speed (top) and high-resolution (bottom) cameras (P 5 2.86 MPa,
vSL 5 0.03 m/s, vSg 5 2.5 m/s).

Analysis of the WMS data was also useful for the flow pattern definition. Fig. 14 presents the time-averaged interface geometry for
the same flowing conditions, as presented in the previous images. Although only a few experimental conditions are shown here, the
results were representative of other experimental conditions considered in this study.

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80

60 Pseudo-slug (vSg = 2.5 m/s)

Stratified (vSg = 5 m/s)

y (mm)
40 Annular (vSg = 8 m/s)
Annular (vSg = 11 m/s)
20 Pipe wall

0
–80 –60 –40 –20 0 20 40 60 80
x (mm)

Fig. 14—Time-averaged interface geometry obtained with the wire-mesh sensor for P 5 2.86 MPa and vSL 5 0.03 m/s.

The most important feature in Fig. 14 is the characteristic flat geometry of the interface. Previous studies, of smaller-diameter pipes,
assumed that the transition from stratified to annular flow pattern was a result of phenomena such as wave spreading or secondary flow.
For this case, the main interface should become curved (such as the ARS or double-circle models) until the curvature was large enough
to cover the whole pipe wall perimeter. The results of Fig. 14 showed a different configuration for the conditions considered in this
study. The main interface retained the flat geometry even when the thin film was flowing at the pipe upper wall. This led to the conclu-
sion that the transition from stratified to annular flow patterns in larger-diameter pipes is because of the entrained droplets that flowed
to the top of the pipe and were deposited at the wall. The distance between wires in the WMS, 4 mm, was assumed capable of detecting
any curvature of the main bottom interface. However, it was not enough to detect the thin film at the pipe wall in the annular pattern.
In Fig. 14, the pseudo-slug interface shows an increase in liquid toward the sides. This was because of the pseudo-slug passage,
when a great portion of liquid wets the wall and slowly flows back to the bottom. Moreover, the figure shows a time-averaged value,
which was not the best way to represent the pseudo-slug interface.
On the basis of the flow pattern definition previously mentioned, the entire data set was classified and plotted in a flow pattern map,
qg v2Sg
as shown in Fig. 15. The horizontal scale represents the superficial gas Froude number, given as FrSg ¼ , where qg
ðqL  qg Þ gDcosb
and qL are the gas and liquid densities, vSg is the superficial gas velocity, D is the pipe diameter, b is the pipe inclination angle, and g is
the gravitational acceleration constant.

1
Annular, 1.48 MPa Annular, 2.17 MPa Annular, 2.86 MPa
Stratified, 1.48 MPa Stratified, 2.17 MPa Stratified, 2.86 MPa
Pseudo-slug, 1.48 MPa Pseudo-slug, 2.17 MPa Pseudo-slug, 2.86 MPa

0.1
vSL (m/s)

0.01

0.001
0.01 0.1 1 10
FrSg

Fig. 15—Experimentally observed flow pattern map.

The results in Fig. 15 show that the superficial gas Froude number is a good dimensionless number for representing flow pattern
transitions at different system pressures for a given superficial liquid velocity. The Froude number represents the ratio of the gas inertial
forces, which contribute to the drag at the interface, to the buoyancy (gravity) force acting in the liquid phase. Both flow pattern transi-
tions were well-represented by this ratio. The stratified-to-pseudo-slug transition occurs when the gravity, acting at the bottom liquid
layer, is dominant over the gas inertia that drags the liquid through the interface, thus resulting in liquid accumulation. Al-Sarkhi et al.
(2017) used Kelvin-Helmholtz linear instability in oil/water stratified flow and obtained the mixture Froude number, FrM, as the corre-
lating number when making the equations dimensionless. They used data from several flow patterns to show that the FrM correlated
well with the flow transitions from stratified to nonstratified. Because the vSL was much smaller than the vSg in the present study, the
mixture Froude number and superficial gas Froude numbers were practically the same. The stratified-to-annular transition occurred
when the entrained droplets reached the top of the pipe. Gravity acts on the liquid droplets to keep them at the bottom, but when gas
inertia is dominant, the associated turbulence pushes the droplets to the top.

Pressure Gradient. Fig. 16 (left) shows the measured pressure gradient as a function of vSg and vSL for the system pressure of
2.17 MPa, and is representative of the other pressures. The dashed lines represent the flow pattern transitions: pseudo-slug-to-stratified
(PS-ST) and stratified-to-annular (ST-AN). The calculated single-phase gas pressure gradient was also included for comparison.

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350
P = 2.17 MPa
300 vSL = 0.01 m/s 300
vSL = 0.02 m/s
vSL = 0.03 m/s
250
vSL = 0.04 m/s

dp/dL (Pa/m)

dp/dL (Pa/m)
vSL = 0.05 m/s
200 Single-phase 200

150
PS-ST vSL (cm/s), P (MPa):
100 100 1, 1.48 1, 2.17 1, 2.86
2, 1.48 2, 2.17 2, 2.86
3, 1.48 3, 2.17 3, 2.86
50
4, 1.48 4, 2.17 4, 2.86
ST-AN
PS-ST ST-AN 5, 1.48 5, 2.17 5, 2.86
0 0
0 4 8 12 16 0 1 2 3 4 5
vSg (m/s) FrSg

Fig. 16—Experimentally observed pressure gradient as a function of vSg for the system pressure of 2.17 MPa (left) and as a func-
tion of the superficial gas Froude number for all the system pressures (right).

The pressure-gradient results showed two different trends, depending on the flow pattern. In the pseudo-slug flow pattern, the flow is
gravity-dominated. A decrease in the gas superficial velocity represents a lower gas fraction in the flow, which increases the pressure
gradient. In stratified and annular flow patterns, the flow is friction-dominated, and an increase in the superficial gas velocity increases
the pressure gradient. In both regions, vSL had a minor effect on pressure gradient when compared with vSg.
Comparing the values with the calculated single-phase gas flow confirmed the fact that even a small amount of liquid greatly
increases the pressure gradient. Errors are very high when assuming a single-phase gas flow for the pseudo-slug pattern, and are consid-
erable for the highest vSg in the segregated pattern.
Fig. 16 (right) shows the pressure gradient for all the experimental conditions as a function of the superficial gas Froude number.
The results showed a linear trend for stratified and annular flow patterns. Data at different system pressures collapsed for the same vSL,
which showed that the superficial gas Froude number was an important parameter for scaling the pressure gradient at different
system pressures.
A useful way to combine the data and analyze the effect of system pressure, superficial liquid velocity, and pipe diameter was given by
rffiffiffiffiffi
Dðdp=dLÞ vSL qL
Al-Sarkhi and Sarica (2010). The authors proposed the definition of the dimensionless parameters P ¼ 1 2
and X 
¼ .
2 qL vSL
vSg qg
Fig. 17 presents the pressure-gradient results for all the system pressures using these dimensionless parameters. In the segregated flow
pattern, the data for all the system pressures and vSL collapsed into one line with a negative slope, represented by the black dashed line.
This agreed with the findings of Al-Sarkhi and Sarica (2010) when proposing the scaling parameters. In the pseudo-slug flow pattern, the
data for different system pressures collapsed into a line for each vSL. Although the lines for different vSL did not collapse with each other,
they all presented the same slope, as represented in the figure by the colored dashed lines. This observation was surprising, because the
scaling parameters were obtained from a stratified flow model. Finally, the colored arrows indicate the X* that corresponded to the liquid-
film reversal, as modeled by Fan et al. (2018) for each vSL. The film reversal was related to the onset of pseudo-slug flow. The figure shows
that the onset calculated by the Fan et al. (2018) model was in good agreement with the observed initiation of pseudo-slug flow.

10000
vSL (m/s), P (MPa):
0.01, 1.48 0.01, 2.17 0.01, 2.86
0.02, 1.48 0.02, 2.17 0.02, 2.86
0.03, 1.48 0.03, 2.17 0.03, 2.86
1000 0.04, 1.48 0.04, 2.17 0.04, 2.86
0.05, 1.48 0.05, 2.17 0.05, 2.86
P*

100

10

1
0.001 0.01 0.1 1
X*

Fig. 17—P * as a function of X * for this study data. Open symbols indicate data in segregated pattern, and filled symbols indicate
data in the pseudo-slug pattern.

Fig. 18 presents a comparison of this study’s data with other available data obtained with different pipe diameters, fluid properties, and
flow rates. The scaling variables X* and P* were used. Only this study and Fan (2005) data were obtained with a pipe inclination of 2 .
The other data sets correspond to horizontal configurations, but with different pipe diameters and fluid properties. The data from this study

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and from Fan (2005) present similar trends. Vuong (2016) used the same facility and similar flow conditions as the present study, but in a
horizontal configuration. Therefore, the difference in the results was a result of the pipe inclination. The data from Karami (2015) and
Viana (2017) agreed with each other. Because their data were obtained under horizontal flow conditions, it was expected that the P*
would agree with the Vuong (2016) data, which did not. Tayebi et al. (2000) used a different range of P*, and the comparison was
not conclusive.

10000

1000

100
P*

Tayebi et al. (2000)

10
Fan (2005)
Karami et al. (2016)
1 Vuong (2016)
Viana (2017)
Present study
0.1
0.001 0.01 0.1 1
X*

Fig. 18—P * as a function of X * for this study and other data.

Liquid Holdup. For the high vSg range, where the flow pattern was either stratified or annular, the liquid holdup was measured with
the trapped liquid by the QCVs. For the lower vSg range, when pseudo-slugs occurred, using QCV became questionable because of the
comparable size of the pseudo-slugs and the trapped section. For this case, the trapped volume did not represent a good sample of the
flow. Thus, the liquid holdup was measured through the post-processing of the WMS data for the pseudo-slug region.
Results are shown in Fig. 19 (left) for the liquid holdup variation as a function of both superficial velocities and system pressure in
the range where the QCVs were used. In the stratified and annular flow patterns, the liquid holdup was largely affected by both super-
ficial liquid and gas velocities. The superficial-liquid-velocity effect was larger than the pressure effect because data points for the same
vSL at different pressures were closer when compared with the same pressure but a different vSL case.
The measured liquid holdup for the lower range of vSg, measured with the WMS, is shown in Fig. 19 (right) for the three system
pressures. When the flow pattern was pseudo-slug, the holdup was largely affected by the superficial gas velocity, but not much by the
superficial liquid velocity. Results were similar for the same system pressure, regardless of the superficial liquid velocities.

0.06 0.5
vSL (cm/s), P (MPa):
1, 1.48 1, 2.17 1, 2.86
0.05 2, 1.48 2, 2.17 2, 2.86
0.4 3, 1.48 3, 2.17 3, 2.86
4, 1.48 4, 2.17 4, 2.86
0.04 5, 1.48 5, 2.17 5, 2.86
HL QCV

0.3
HL WMS

0.03

0.2
0.02

0.1
0.01

0 0
0 4 8 12 16 0 2 4 6 8
vSg (m/s) vSg (m/s)

Fig. 19—Liquid holdup measured with the QCV (left) and WMS (right) for all the system pressures. The legend applies to
both graphs.

The combined effects of pressure and superficial velocities are seen in Fig. 20, where all the liquid-holdup results are plotted as a
function of the superficial gas Froude number. There were three different trends that were related to the flow patterns. For the pseudo-
slug pattern, the data collapsed into one curve because the superficial liquid velocity had less influence in the liquid holdup, and the
superficial gas Froude number was a good dimensionless number to capture the pressure effect. When the flow was in the segregated
pattern, the superficial gas Froude number was still good at capturing the pressure effects. The data for the same vSL at different pres-
sures collapsed in a single line (in log-log scale). However, different vSL showed different trends of liquid holdup. The lines had a simi-
lar slope. At very high Froude numbers, the HL no longer followed a linear relation. This occurred earlier at a lower vSL. One possible
reason for this result was that the resolution of the liquid-holdup measurements was lower at lower holdups.

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1×100

1×10–1

1×10–2

HL
vSL (m/s), P (MPa):
0.01, 1.48 0.01, 2.17 0.01, 2.86
1×10–3 0.02, 1.48 0.02, 2.17 0.02, 2.86
0.03, 1.48 0.03, 2.17 0.03, 2.86
0.04, 1.48 0.04, 2.17 0.04, 2.86
0.05, 1.48 0.05, 2.17 0.05, 2.86
1×10–4
1×10–2 1×10–1 1×100 1×101
FrSg

Fig. 20—Liquid holdup for all the system pressures as a function of FrSg. Open symbols indicate data in the segregated pattern,
and the filled symbols indicate data in the pseudo-slug pattern.

Interfacial Roughness. Interfacial roughness was obtained by analyzing the time series of the liquid height obtained ffithrough the
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
1X n
WMS. Roughness can be defined in several ways. In this study, the root-mean square (RMS), RRMS ¼ ðxi  xÞ2 , was used,
n i¼1
where n is the number of measured liquid-height values, xi is the ith measured liquid-height value, and x is the average liquid height.
Fig. 21 (left) shows the RRMS for a system pressure of 2.17 MPa as a function of vSg and vSL and is representative of the other system
pressures. The lower vSg represents the pseudo-slug flow pattern where large liquid structures increased the roughness. Once the flow
pattern became stratified and annular, the interfacial roughness tended to be constant and independent from vSg and vSL. This was an
important observation that the roughness of the waves did not change with both parameters. Fig. 21 (right) highlights this effect by
showing the roughness for all the data as a function of the superficial gas Froude number. A constant value of approximately 2 mm was
reached for almost all the conditions. The exception was the lowest vSL at higher vSg. This was because of the very small amount of
liquid flowing at the bottom liquid film. The WMS resolution was not sufficient to detect the waves, and the roughness calculation
was compromised.

P = 2.17 MPa vSL (cm/s), P (MPa):

16 16 1, 1.48 1, 2.17 1, 2.86
vSL = 0.01 m/s 2, 1.48 2, 2.17 2, 2.86
vSL = 0.02 m/s 3, 1.48 3, 2.17 3, 2.86
4, 1.48 4, 2.17 4, 2.86
vSL = 0.03 m/s
12 12 5, 1.48 5, 2.17 5, 2.86
vSL = 0.04 m/s
R RMS (mm)

R RMS (mm)

vSL = 0.05 m/s

8 8

4 4

0 0
0 4 8 12 16 0 1 2 3 4 5
vSg (m/s) FrSg

Fig. 21—Measured interfacial RMS roughness as a function of vSg for the system pressure of 2.17 MPa (left) and as a function of
the superficial gas Froude number for all the system pressures (right).

A comparison between current and the horizontal flow data reported by Vuong (2016) is shown in Fig. 22. The main difference was
noted in the low vSg range, because the horizontal data showed a transition from a smooth interface (RRMS  0), whereas the inclined
data showed the very high pseudo-slug roughness. However, both data reached a similar value for a stratified and annular flow:
FrSg > 0.5. This result showed that the interfacial roughness was constant with a value of RRMS  2 mm, regardless of vSg, vSL, system
pressure, and inclination.

Comparison With Existing Models. A comparison between the experimental results for flow pattern, pressure gradient, and liquid
holdup against other models is presented in this subsection. The TUFFP’s Unified Model 2017, commercial flow simulator OLGA ver-
sion 7.3.5, and Rodrigues et al. (2018) model were used for this comparison. The model proposed by Fan et al. (2018) for the onset of
pseudo-slugs was also included in the flow pattern comparison.
Fig. 23 shows the experimentally obtained flow pattern map for the system pressures of 1.48 and 2.86 MPa, respectively, along with
the model predictions. The unified model predicted the transition from stratified to annular at gas superficial velocities much higher
than experimentally observed. The stratified-to-annular transition criteria in the unified model were based on the increase of the wetted-

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wall fraction with the gas Froude number. The double-circle model was used to identify when the wetted-wall fraction reached the
whole perimeter. The experimentally observed mechanism for transition was the droplet entrainment, which occurred earlier than the
increase in the wetted-wall fraction. This transition was not shown for the OLGA simulations. The simulator used the term “segregated
flow” for these conditions, and the specific annular term was used only for pipes with larger inclinations.

18
Vuong (2016), 1.48 MPa
16
Vuong (2016), 2.17 MPa
14 Vuong (2016), 2.86 MPa
This study, 1.48 MPa
12
This study, 2.17 MPa

RRMS (mm)
10 This study, 2.86 MPa

0
0 1 2 3 4 5
FrSg

Fig. 22—Comparison between interfacial roughness measurements in this study and the results of Vuong (2016) for all the system
pressures and vSL.

1 Annular 1 Annular
P = 1.48 MPa Stratified P = 2.86 MPa Stratified
Pseudo-slug
Pseudo-slug
Unified Model
Unified Model
OLGA 7.3.5
OLGA 7.3.5 Fan et al. (2018)
0.1 Fan et al. (2018) 0.1
vSL (m/s)

vSL (m/s)

0.01 0.01

0.001 0.001
1 10 100 1 10 100
vSg (m/s) vSg (m/s)

Fig. 23—Observed and predicted flow pattern map for the system pressures of 1.48 and 2.86 MPa, respectively.

Both models, OLGA and the unified model, did not consider pseudo-slug as a flow pattern. The pseudo-slug flow was included
within the slug flow pattern once stratified flow was no longer present. Experimentally, the transition to slug flow was not achieved in
this study. This transition occurs at either lower superficial gas velocity or larger superficial liquid velocity. Here, a comparison was
made for the beginning of the intermittent flow region (pseudo-slug flow in the experiments and slug flow in the models). The unified
model gave a good prediction for this transition, especially for lower vSL. OLGA prediction showed a larger effect of vSL in the transi-
tion; however, it always predicted the transition at lower vSg than results obtained experimentally. Both models showed better prediction
at higher system pressures. The model used by Fan et al. (2018) for the onset of pseudo-slug flow showed very good predictions for the
considered experimental data.
Fig. 24 (left), Fig. 25 (left), and Fig. 26 (left) show a comparison between the measured and calculated pressure gradients using the
unified model, OLGA simulator, and the Rodrigues et al. (2018) model, respectively. The comparison showed two different results for
segregated and pseudo-slug flows. When the flow was in the segregated pattern, the unified model underpredicted the pressure gradient
for the whole range. OLGA presented good agreement for the lower and higher pressure-gradient ranges, and slightly underpredicted
the data in the midrange of pressure gradient. The Rodrigues et al. (2018) model results were compared with the data only in the strati-
fied and annular flow patterns. The prediction was good, except for a few points in the very low range of vSg when the flow was starting
to transition to pseudo-slug flow. When the flow is in the pseudo-slug pattern, the unified model showed a good agreement while the
OLGA slightly overpredicted the data.
Fig. 24 (right), Fig. 25 (right) and Fig. 26 (right) show the liquid-holdup comparison between the experiments and the calculations
of the unified model, OLGA, and Rodrigues et al. (2018), respectively. For lower liquid holdups, when the flow pattern was stratified
and annular, the unified model underpredicted the data while OLGA gave a good agreement. At the highest experimental holdups, the
flow was similar to slug flow and both models gave good predictions. In the intermediate region, the flow pattern was transitioning to
the pseudo-slug. For this case, both models considered slug flow relationships, which overpredicted the holdup. The Rodrigues et al.
(2018) comparison was made only for the stratified and annular flow patterns and the agreement was good.

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0.5
vSL (cm/s), P (MPa):
1, 1.48 1, 2.17 1, 2.86
300 2, 1.48 2, 2.17 2, 2.86
3, 1.48 3, 2.17 3, 2.86 0.4

dp/dL Unified Model (Pa/m)

4, 1.48 4, 2.17 4, 2.86
5, 1.48 5, 2.17 5, 2.86

HL Unified Model
0.3
200

0.2

100
0.1

0 0
0 100 200 300 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
dp/dL Measured (Pa/m) HL Measured

Fig. 24—Comparison of measured pressure gradient and liquid holdup calculated with the unified model. Open symbols indicate
data in the segregated pattern, and the filled symbols indicate data in the pseudo-slug pattern. The legend applies to both graphs.

0.5
vSL (cm/s), P (MPa):
1, 1.48 1, 2.17 1, 2.86
300 2, 1.48 2, 2.17 2, 2.86
3, 1.48 3, 2.17 3, 2.86 0.4
4, 1.48 4, 2.17 4, 2.86
5, 1.48 5, 2.17 5, 2.86
dp/dL OLGA (Pa/m)

0.3
HL OLGA

200

0.2

100
0.1

0 0
0 100 200 300 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
dp/dL Measured (Pa/m) HL Measured

Fig. 25—Comparison of measured pressure gradient and liquid holdup calculated with the OLGA 7.3.5. Open symbols indicate
data in the segregated pattern, and the filled symbols indicate data in the pseudo-slug pattern. The legend applies to both graphs.

0.5
vSL (cm/s), P (MPa):
dp/dL (Rodrigues et al. 2018) (Pa/m)

1, 1.48 1, 2.17 1, 2.86

300 2, 1.48 2, 2.17 2, 2.86
HL (Rodrigues et al. 2018)

3, 1.48 3, 2.17 3, 2.86 0.4

4, 1.48 4, 2.17 4, 2.86
5, 1.48 5, 2.17 5, 2.86

200 0.3

0.2

100
0.1

0 0
0 100 200 300 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
dp/dL Measured (Pa/m) HL Measured

Fig. 26—Comparison of measured pressure gradient and liquid holdup calculated with the Rodrigues et al. (2018) model. The
legend applies to both graphs. Only data in the stratified and annular patterns are shown.

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Model predictions are reasonable for stratified and annular flows, while they present larger errors for the pseudo-slug pattern. How-
ever, when the flow is in the pseudo-slug pattern, it is better to use a slug-flow model than a stratified flow model.

Interfacial Friction Factor. The shear stress between the liquid and gas phases is one of the most important closure relations in a sep-
arated two-phase flow, and it has been thoroughly studied by several authors. However, since direct measurement was not available, the
studies used different methods to calculate the friction factor. In the earlier models, such as those by Taitel and Dukler (1976), it was
assumed that the interfacial friction factor was equal to the gas-wall friction factor. This assumption gave good results when the inter-
face was smooth (i.e., there are no interfacial waves).
One of the first detailed studies on the interfacial friction factor in wavy interfaces was performed by Cohen and Hanratty (1968).
The authors used a channel 0.3 m wide and 0.0254 m high and measured the pressure gradient and gas local velocities at different verti-
cal positions and interfacial wave characteristics. They presented the RMS wave roughness as a function of superficial gas velocities
and the measured interfacial friction factor. The interfacial friction factor was obtained by fitting a turbulent velocity profile to the
measured local velocities in the gas phase. When evaluating the variation of interfacial friction factor as a function of the increase in
superficial gas velocity, their results showed a rapid increase in friction at small gas velocities; after that, the friction reached a constant
value for large gas velocities.
Later, Shoham and Taitel (1984) used Cohen and Hanratty’s results and assumed a constant value for the friction factor when small
interfacial waves occurred. By converting the original number to Fanning’s friction factor, they obtained a value of fi ¼ 0.0142. Later,
Newton et al. (1999) and Liu et al. (2007) presented back-calculated interfacial-friction-factor results based on pressure-gradient meas-
urements. Both studies followed the same trend as presented by Cohen and Hanratty (1968)—increasing the interfacial friction factor
with increasing flow rates up to an approximate value of 0.0142. Analysis of the data presented by Karami et al. (2016) and Vuong
et al. (2017) also agreed with this constant value.
Andritsos and Hanratty (1987) proposed a model for the interfacial friction factor on the basis of the wave regime. When the gas
velocity is lower than a transition velocity, vSg,t ¼ 5 m/s (qg0/qg)0.5, the interface is smooth and fi ¼ fg. For higher velocities, waves are
formed and the friction factor increases with the gas velocity. Andritsos et al. (2008) revisited this concept and divided the model into
three regions: smooth interface, 2D waves, and Kelvin-Helmholtz (K-H) waves. When the interface is smooth, fi ¼ fg is used. After a
critical gas velocity, vSg,2D, small 2D waves are formed and the friction factor increases. Further increase of the superficial gas velocity
leads to the generation of K-H waves and the friction factor is calculated with another function.
Another approach is to consider the interface as a solid wall with the waves represented by a sand-grain equivalent roughness. The
earlier study of Nikuradse (1933) with roughened-wall pipes is a cornerstone of friction-factor pipes studies. The author carried out a
comprehensive experimental study with different pipe diameters, sand-grain sizes, and flow rates, and measured the velocity profile and
pressure gradient. The obtained results showed a unique graphical relationship between the friction factor and the Reynolds number.
Although his results were mainly used for small-scale roughness in pipes, it is important to realize that his experiments included sand
grains with diameters up to 1.6 mm. He concluded that, at some point, the friction factor was not a function of the Reynolds number any-
more, but only of the dimensionless pipe roughness. This happened when the laminar sublayer height inside the turbulent boundary layer
was smaller than the roughness itself, and was called the fully rough flow. In this case, the friction factor was given as a unique function
of the pipe equivalent sand-grain roughness, ks. The pipe roughness was assumed to be the average projected area formed from rounded
sand particles glued to the pipe walls. Nikuradse proposed Eq. 4, which relates the friction factor with the sand-grain roughness, ks:
0:25
fI ¼  2 : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð4Þ
ks
1:74  2log
R

Paras et al. (1994) and Vlachos et al. (1997) studied horizontal stratified flow with measurements of the interfacial RMS roughness.
They proposed models for the friction factor on the basis of the fully rough flow concept and designed an equation for the equivalent
sand-grain roughness.
Afzal (2007) and Adams et al. (2012) proposed correlations to obtain equivalent sand-grain roughness in pipes from measurable
parameters, such as the RMS roughness. However, these studies were concerned with the small-scale-commercial-pipe roughness. The
proposed correlations might not be able to produce good results for larger wave roughness.
Other authors experimentally and numerically studied the effect of wave-like walls in the pipe friction factor. Hudson et al. (1996)
carried out experiments in a rectangular-shaped channel with a cross section of 5.08  61 cm with the bottom wall following a sinusoi-
dal wave geometry with a wave length of 5.08 cm and an amplitude of a ¼ 2.54 mm. They measured the velocity at different distances
from the wall and fitted a logarithmic equation following the turbulent law of the wall. Pressure-gradient measurements were also con-
ducted. The authors concluded that the friction factor given by Eq. 4 could be used if the equivalent sand-grain roughness was equal to
the total amplitude (peak-to-peak), ks ¼ 2a ¼ 5.1 mm. This means that the equivalent sand-grain roughness was, indeed, related to the
average projection of the roughness, as Nikuradse stated. In the case of wave-like shapes, the average projection of roughness was the
total amplitude 2a.
Cherukat et al. (1998) used direct numerical simulation to relate a wavy-wall to the wall roughness. They used the same geometrical
configurations reported in the work by Hudson et al. (1996). The authors presented several parameters and velocity distributions along
the simulation domain. However, the most important result for this study was that the equivalent roughness also matched the same
results as presented by Hudson et al. (1996), and Eq. 4 could be used if ks ¼ 2a.
In the experimental results from the present study, the interfacial RRMS roughness reached a constant value of approximately
RRMS ¼ 2 mm. This occurred at an FrSg number greater than 0.5 at all system pressures and vSL. If the interfacial waves were assumed to
be sinusoidal, the total amplitude was related to the RMS as 2a ¼ 2.83RRMS. For a value of 2 mm, the total amplitude was 2a ¼ 5.66 mm.
Using the value of ks ¼ 2a ¼ 5.66 mm in Eq. 4, the value of fI ¼ 0.0155 was obtained. This was very close to the commonly used value of
0.0142. Since the experiments showed a constant interfacial roughness, the interfacial factor was expected to be constant as well. This
result showed that the interfacial friction factor can be related to the measured roughness through the fully-rough-regime equation.

Conclusions
Two-phase gas/liquid-flow experiments were carried out in a 6-in.-ID pipe with an inclination of 2 with the horizontal at three different
system pressures (1.48, 2.17, and 2.86 MPa). The superficial liquid and gas velocities were that of low-liquid-loading flow, which is
common in gas/condensate pipelines. Several instruments were used to measure the relevant flow parameters.

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Three distinct flow patterns were observed during the experiments: pseudo-slug, stratified, and annular. In the stratified flow pattern, the
two phases were segregated with the liquid flowing at the bottom and the gas on the top of the liquid. The interface between the two phases
was flat with roll waves in the axial direction. The flow was gas-dominated and much more affected by vSg changes than for changes in vSL.
Liquid-holdup variations were small and affected by both superficial velocities. Pressure effects on the pressure gradient and liquid holdup
were captured by the superficial gas Froude number. In annular flow, a thin liquid film covered the whole pipe wall circumference. However,
the bulk of the liquid still flowed segregated at the pipe bottom and the flow was very similar to the stratified pattern.
Transition from the stratified to the annular flow pattern occurred when the liquid droplets entrained in the gas core reached the
upper part of the cross section. The droplets were deposited at the upper pipe wall, creating a liquid film that covered the entire pipe
wall circumference. The effect of pressure in this flow pattern transition was captured by the superficial gas Froude number.
For the stratified and annular flow patterns, the interfacial roughness was measured and found to reach a constant value for larger
vSg. It was shown that this constant roughness value can be used to estimate the interfacial friction factor by converting the wave rough-
ness into an equivalent sand-grain roughness.
Transition from stratified to pseudo-slug flow pattern occurred at lower superficial gas velocities. The intermittent flow was different
from the conventional slug flow pattern because the liquid slugs did not reach the top of the pipe. Therefore, the pattern was called
pseudo-slug. The effect of pressure on this transition was captured by the superficial gas Froude number.
The present study was an attempt to obtain insights regarding the flow at upscaled conditions (higher pressures, large diameter,
inclined). The results are analyzed with the Froude number, which carried the system pressure in the form of the gas density, qg, and
both the pipe diameter and inclination. The validity of the results, when compared with different inclinations, should be considered
carefully. When compared with horizontal flows, the main difference was the appearance of another flow pattern (i.e., pseudo-slug
flow), whereas for stratified and annular conditions, the results should compare well. For higher pipe inclinations, it was expected that
the results were still valid as long as the flow kept its strong gravitational effect perpendicular to the flow direction. The transition
between flow patterns should change considerably with inclination, owing to gravitational force parallel to flow direction. Examples
can be seen in Fan et al. (2015) for flow at atmospheric conditions.
The main feature regarding the pipe-diameter effect was the identification of a flat interface. This indicated that the phenomena that
generated a curved interface (interfacial tension, secondary flow, and wave spreading) were less pronounced than in small-diameter pipes.
When extrapolating these results to larger diameters (up to 1 m in real-gas pipelines), these phenomena were expected to have an even
lower effect, and the interaction between the phases reached conditions more similar to a 2D flow (i.e., small effect from the boundaries).

Nomenclature
AN ¼ annular flow pattern
D ¼ pipe diameter, m
DP ¼ differential pressure, Pa
DP0 ¼ differential pressure zero measurement, Pa
dP/dL ¼ pressure gradient, Pa/m
DPT ¼ differential pressure measurement in the trapped section, Pa
DPT0 ¼ differential pressure zero measurement in the trapped section, Pa
fE ¼ entrainment fraction, 
fg ¼ gas/wall friction factor, 
fi ¼ interfacial friction factor, 
FrSg ¼ superficial gas Froude number, 
g ¼ gravitational acceleration, m/s2
HL ¼ liquid holdup, 
ID ¼ pipe inner diameter, m
ks ¼ sand-grain equivalent roughness, m
P ¼ pressure, Pa
P* ¼ dimensionless pressure gradient, 
PS ¼ pseudo-slug flow pattern
R ¼ pipe radius, m
RRMS ¼ root-mean-square roughness, m
SG ¼ gas-wet pipe perimeter, m
SI ¼ interfacial perimeter, m
SL ¼ liquid-wet pipe perimeter, m
ST ¼ stratified flow pattern
T ¼ temperature,  C
U ¼ uncertainty, 
vSg ¼ superficial gas velocity, m/s
vSL ¼ superficial liquid velocity, m/s
X* ¼ dimensionless gas/liquid Froude numbers ratio, 
b ¼ pipe inclination angle, degrees
e ¼ pipe roughness, m
lL ¼ liquid viscosity, Pas
qL ¼ liquid density, kg/m3
r ¼ interfacial tension, N/m

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank TUFFP member companies and Petrobras for their support.

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Hendy T. Rodrigues is a petroleum engineer in the Flow Assurance and Artificial Lift Group at the Petrobras R&D Center. His
research interests include multiphase flow in pipes, flow assurance, gas lift, and chemical-injection systems. Rodrigues holds BS
and MS degrees in mechanical engineering from the Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná in Brazil, and a PhD degree
in petroleum engineering from the University of Tulsa.
Eduardo Pereyra is an assistant professor at the McDougall School of Petroleum Engineering and associate director at the Fluid
Flow Project and Horizontal Wells Artificial Lift Projects of the University of Tulsa. His research interests are multiphase flow systems
and transport, flow assurance, artificial lift, and separation technologies. Pereyra holds BE degrees in mechanical engineering
and system engineering, both from the University of Los Andes, Merida, Venezuela. He holds MS and PhD degrees in petroleum
engineering from the University of Tulsa.
Cem Sarica is the F. H. “Mick” Merelli/Cimarex energy professor of petroleum engineering at the University of Tulsa. He is currently
serving as the director of three industry-supported consortia at the university: fluid flow, paraffin deposition, and horizontal well
artificial lift projects, and his research interests include production engineering, multiphase flow in pipes, flow assurance, and hor-
izontal wells. Sarica has authored or coauthored more than 150 publications. He holds BS and MS degrees in petroleum engi-
neering from Istanbul Technical University and a PhD degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Tulsa. Sarica
currently serves as a member of the SPE Projects, Facilities, and Construction Advisory Committee and has previously served on
various other SPE committees as a member or chair. In addition, he was a member of the SPE Journal Editorial Board, an associ-
ate editor of JERT of ASME, and is a member of the Technical Advisory Committee of British Hydrodynamics Research Group
(BHRg) Multiphase Production Conferences. Sarica was the Technical Program Chair of BHRg at the 2008 and 2012 Conferen-
ces. He is the recipient of the 2010 SPE International Production and Operations Award. Sarica was also recognized as a Distin-
guished Member of SPE in 2012 and received the SPE John Franklin Carll Award and SPE Cedric K. Ferguson Certificate in 2015.

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