Proceedings of the Second International Energy 2030 Conference,
November 4-5, 2008, Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.

Turbulent Dynamics of Particle-laden Pipeline Flow

Ken Kiger
University of Maryland, USA

Abstract
Multiphase, multicomponent flow is a common occurrence in oil transport and handling processes. This regime of multiphase flow is a relatively poorly studied flow condition, and one largely based on empirical fits to limited data. As a start on a more complete understanding, two-phase experiments consisting of solid/liquid suspensions have been conducted to study the detailed turbulent flow behavior of two-phase multicomponent flow (liquid/solid), and their resulting coupling effect on the equivalent singlephase flow. Advanced quantitative imaging techniques of particle image velocimetry (PIV) for multiphase systems has been used to provide instantaneous measures of the constituent phase geometry, volume fraction, and velocity, which can then be averaged to examine the detailed turbulence properties of the flow and the important inter-phase transport terms in the equations of motion describing the system. Results of these measurements are used to explain the suspended concentration of particulates and their effect on the effective wall stress.