Studies on low viscous oil-water flow through return bends

In the present work, investigations have been carried out on the hydrodynamics of kerosene-water flow through return bends connecting two horizontal conduits. Extensive experiments are performed on two bend geometry (U and rectangular) and three flow directions through the bend (up, down and horizontal flow). It is observed that bend geometry has a strong influence on the downstream phase distribution while the direction of flow through the bend does not significantly affect the same. The pressure drop has been observed to be higher in the rectangular as compared to the U bend. The loss coefficients have been estimated for each of the cases. They have been found to be independent of flow patterns for all cases. Two different pressure drop correlations have also been proposed for each bend geometry to estimate liquid-liquid pressure drop across bend. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.