THE STUDY OF DYNAMIC SLUG FLOW CHARACTERISTICS USING DIGITAL IMAGE-ANALYSIS - PART I - FLOW VISUALIZATION

This paper reports the application of novel, digital image analysis te chniques in the study of slug flow characteristics, under dynamic cond itions in two-phase gas-liquid mixtures. Water and an oil of viscosity 18 cP were used for the liquid phase and carbon dioxide was used for the gas phase. Flow in a 75-mm i.d., IO-m long acrylic pipeline system was studied. Images of slugs were recorded on video by S-VHS cameras, using an audio-visual mixer. Each image was then digitized frame-by-f rame and analyzed on a SGI(TM) workstation. Detailed slug characterist ics, including liquid film heights, slug translational velocity, mixin g length, and, slug length, were obtained.