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Liquid Entrainment in Annular Gas/Liquid Flow in Inclined Pipes

Article  in  SPE Journal · June 2012

DOI: 10.2118/134765-PA

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 Liquid Entrainment in Annular Gas/Liquid
Flow in Inclined Pipes
K.L. Magrini, SPE, Southwestern Energy; C. Sarica, SPE, University of Tulsa; A. Al-Sarkhi, SPE, King Fahd University of
Petroleum & Minerals; and H.-Q. Zhang, SPE, University of Tulsa
Summary
Entrainment fraction is one of the key parameters in many
applications, including wellbore and flowline design, separator
design, wellbore loading, and corrosion inhibition. This study
provides the first comprehensive entrainment data and their criti-
cal analysis for a full range of inclination angles ranging from
horizontal to vertical in 76.2-mm-internal-diameter (ID) pipes.
Experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of pipe in-
clination on entrainment fraction in air/water annular flow with
inclination angles of 0, 10, 20, 45, 60, 75, and 90 from horizon-
tal. Two techniques were used to measure the entrainment frac-
tion: film removal and isokinetic sampling. The experimental
results were compared with existing models and correlations,
and the best predicting methods were determined for all flow
orientations.
An inclination effect on entrainment fraction was observed.
This effect occurred at low superficial gas velocities and was
more prominent for higher superficial liquid velocities. Using the
present study data, the Paleev and Filipovich (1966) correlation
was found to be the most accurate in predicting entrainment frac-
tion. On the basis of all available data, the Pan and Hanratty
(2002b) correlation performed the best in predicting entrainment
fraction in all pipe orientations. For vertical annular flow, the
Oliemans et al. (1986) correlation predicted entrainment fraction
more accurately. The Pan and Hanratty (2002b) correlation was
the most accurate in predicting entrainment fraction for horizontal
annular flow. The Wallis (1969) correlation and the mechanistic
model developed by Mantilla (2008) most accurately predicted
the entrainment fraction for inclined annular flow.
Introduction
Annular flow usually occurs at high gas velocities and low-to-
medium liquid velocities. The liquid flows as a film along the
wall of the pipe and as droplets entrained in the gas core. The
interface between the gas core and liquid film is always wavy,
causing atomization and deposition of liquid droplets. Under equi-
librium conditions, the rates at which the droplets atomize and de-
posit become equal, resulting in a steady fraction of the liquid
being entrained as droplets, FE. This parameter is crucial to under-
standing and modeling the behavior of annular flow.
The liquid-droplet entrainment is affected by various factors,
such as pipe size, pipe orientation, fluid velocities, and fluid prop-
erties. The majority of existing correlations concentrate on verti-
cal flow where a symmetrical film is present. For horizontal flow,
gravitational force plays a much more significant role during the
deposition process compared with vertical flow. Asymmetric film
thickness and asymmetric droplet distribution in the gas phase
add complexity to an already difficult prediction problem. Few
studies are available in the literature addressing liquid-entrain-
ment fraction in inclined pipes. The following subsections review
the most commonly used correlations for horizontal-, vertical-,
and inclined-flow configurations.
Copyright V
C 2012 Society of Petroleum Engineers
This paper (SPE 134765) was accepted for presentation at the SPE Annual Technical
Conference and Exhibition, Florence, Italy, 19–22 September 2010, and revised for
publication. Original manuscript received for review 21 July 2011. Revised manuscript
received for review 22 September 2011. Paper peer approved 7 November 2011.
June 2012 SPE Journal
Horizontal Flow. Wicks and Dukler (1960) conducted experi-
ments on air and water in 25.4- and 76.2-mm-ID pipes using iso-
kinetic sampling. Superficial gas and liquid velocities ranged
from 12 to 62 m/s and 0.12 to 0.77 m/s, respectively, in the 25.4-
mm-ID pipe. Superficial gas and liquid velocities ranged from 4
to 8 m/s and 0.11 to 0.22 m/s, respectively, in the 76.2-mm-ID
pipe. Assuming similarity between single- and two-phase mass
and momentum transport, they developed a correlation for the
mass-flow rate of droplets, WLE, on the basis of their experimental
results. An entrainment group R in units of lbm ft3/lbf-hr was
derived as a function of WLE; a critical Weber number, NWecr; gas-
and liquid-flow rates; and the pressure gradient of gas flowing
alone, (dp/dL)G, as
 
R ¼ ðqL =qG Þ NWe cr WLE =ðdp=dLÞG ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð1Þ
where NWecr ranges from 13 to 22. They correlated the entrainment
group R within a range of 0.5 to 200, with the Lockhart-Martinelli
parameter X.
R ¼ 168X2:05 ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð2Þ
where
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
X¼ ðdp=dLÞL =ðdp=dLÞG : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð3Þ
Paleev and Filipovich (1966) measured the deposition rate in a
horizontal channel using a film-removal technique. An empirical
correlation was developed on the basis of their and other research-
ers’ data:
FE ¼ 0:015 þ 0:44log½ðqC =qL ÞðlL vSG =rÞ2  104 ; . . . . . ð4Þ
where qC is the mixture density of the core defined as
qC ¼ qG ð1 þ FE ½vSL =vSG ½qL =qG Þ: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð5Þ
This correlation uses an iterative approach to solve for the entrain-
ment faction. Paleev and Flippovich (1966) stated that the correla-
tion is not sensitive to pipe diameter and is not valid near
maximum entrainment.
Pan and Hanratty (2002b) developed an entrainment correlation
for low-viscosity fluids based on balancing the rates of droplet
deposition and atomization. Effects of gravity and droplet size
on entrainment are considered. Their correlation is the only corre-
lation to explicitly consider a critical film-flow rate into the
maximum entrainment-fraction calculation. The entrainment cor-
relation is defined as
 3 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 1m m 1=ð2mÞ
FE =FE;max DvG qL qG qG lG
¼ A2 1þm
;
ð1  FE Þ=FE;max r d32 gqL
                   ð6Þ
where A2 is a constant, FE,max is the maximum entrainment
defined as
FE;max ¼ ð1  WF;cr Þ=WL : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð7Þ
617
WF,cr is the critical liquid-film-flow rate calculated using a corre-
lation based on experimental work by Andreussi et al. (1985):
WF;cr ¼ 0:25lL pdNReF; cr ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð8Þ
where
3 2
ReF;cr ¼ 7:3ðlogxÞ þ 44:2ðlogxÞ  263logx þ 439
                   ð9Þ
and
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
x ¼ ðlL =lG Þ qG =qL : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð10Þ
Values of 0, 0.6, or 1 are used for exponent m in Eq. 6, depending
on the drag-coefficient calculation method of the terminal velocity
of droplets. Eq. 9 was derived from data obtained for x values
from 1.8 to 28, and it should not be used outside this range, as
reported by Pan and Hanratty (2002b). However, Al-Sarkhi and
Sarica (2011) have pointed out critical limitations for this model
at low liquid-flow rate. The correlation for the critical film-flow
rate, WF,cr, has a serious problem at low liquid-flow rate and
results in a negative maximum fraction of entrainment, FE,max, for
low values of liquid flow.
The Sauter mean diameter, d32, is calculated using one of two
correlations presented in the work. Predictions of FE/FE,max were
compared to values obtained by Dallman (1978), Laurinat (1982),
Williams (1990), and Paras and Karabelas (1991). Results showed
good agreement with data for the 23.1-mm-ID pipe, underpredic-
tion for the 50.8-mm-ID data, and overprediction for the 95.3-
mm-ID data. This correlation is used for low gas velocities.
Mantilla (2008) conducted a study on entrainment fraction
using 50.8-mm- and 152.4-mm-ID pipes studying onset of entrain-
ment, maximum entrainment, entrainment fraction, and wave
characteristics. A mechanistic model was developed [see also
Mantilla et al. (2009)] for the prediction of entrainment fraction on
the basis of wave characteristics. The model consists of three com-
ponents: entrainment-onset model, maximum-entrainment model,
and entrainment-fraction model. The turbulent velocity profile was
integrated to determine the dimensionless film thickness in the
buffer sublayer region, and then it was implemented in a maxi-
mum-entrainment model to obtain the maximum fraction of
entrainment. The entrainment fraction between onset and maxi-
mum boundaries is calculated from the equilibrium between atom-
ization and deposition rates. Closure relationships used in these
submodels were developed for wave characteristics of celerity, fre-
quency, amplitude, and spacing.
Vertical Flow. Modifying the technique proposed by Paleev and
Flipovich (1966), Wallis (1968) substituted the liquid viscosity
for the gas viscosity and proposed the empirical correlation,
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
FE ¼ 1  exp½0:125  ð104 vSG lG =r qG =qL  1:5Þ:
                   ð11Þ
Oliemans et al. (1986) correlated vertical-annular-flow data
from the Harwell databank, which includes a wide variety of flow-
ing conditions. The databank covers pipe IDs of 6 to 32 mm, vary-
ing surface tensions of 0.012 to 0.073 N/m, and both laminar-
and turbulent-flow conditions. They determined the following
expression:
FE =ð1  FE Þ
0:18 0:27 0:28 1:8 1:72 0:7 1:44 0:46 : . . . ð12Þ
¼ 102:52 q1:08
L qG lL lG r d vSL vSG g
Ishii and Mishima (1989) correlated vertical-annular-flow data
sets of entrainment and derived the following correlation on the
basis of the Weber number of the gas phase and the Reynolds
number of the liquid:
FE ¼ tanhð7:25  107 NWe
1:25
N0:25
ReSL Þ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð13Þ
SG
618
B C
FE,Max=FE2
Entrainment Fraction (FE [-])
FE=FE,Max=fn(NReSL)
A
FE1
FE=fn(NReSL,NWeSG1.25)
FE=αNWeSG1.25
NWeSG,11.25 =fn(NReSL)
NWeSG,21.25 =fn(NReSL)
0 NWeSG,11.25 NWeSG,21.25
Modified Weber Number (NWeSG1.25 [-])
Fig. 1—Sawant et al. (2008) correlation methodology.
where
NWeSG ¼ qG v2SG d=r½ðqL  qG Þ=qG 1=3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð14Þ
and
NReSL ¼ qL vSL D=lL : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð15Þ
Pan and Hanratty (2002a) derived a correlation for entrainment
fraction in vertical flow on the basis of balancing the rates of
droplet deposition and atomization. The data used in the develop-
ment of the correlation cover pipe IDs from 10.6 to 57.2 mm, su-
perficial liquid velocities of 0.012 to 1.35 m/s, and superficial gas
velocities from 20 to 119 m/s. The entrainment-fraction correla-
tion for vertical flow is defined as
ðFE =FE;max Þ=ð1  FE =FE;max Þ
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
¼ 6  105 ½ð G   G;cr Þ2 d qL qG =r;           ð16Þ
where FE,max is calculated from Eq. 7. The critical gas velocity at
the onset of entrainment, vG,cr, is defined as
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
vG;cr ¼ 40 r=ðd qL qG Þ: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð17Þ
Sawant et al. (2008) developed a simple, explicit correlation
on the basis of the Weber number and liquid-phase Reynolds
number, as defined by Ishii and Mishima (1989). This correlation
was verified with experimental data for air and water collected in
a 9.4-mm-ID pipe at pressures of 1.2, 4, and 6 bar; superficial gas
velocities of 15 to 100 m/s; and superficial liquid velocities of
0.05 to 0.75 m/s. The proposed methodology for the modeling of
entrainment fraction is shown in Fig. 1. The entrainment-fraction
curve is divided into three regions—a Weber-number-dependent
Region O–A, a transition Region A–B, and a liquid-phase Reyn-
olds-number-dependant Region B–C. In the Region O–A, a rela-
tively thick liquid film is present. As the superficial gas velocity
increases, entrainment fraction also increases. Concurrently,
liquid-film-flow rate decreases as more liquid is entrained into the
gas core. Although the liquid-film-flow rate is decreasing, there is
no effect on the disturbance-wave characteristics. Therefore,
entrainment fraction is unaffected as long as a thick liquid film is
present. As a result, the entrainment fraction in this region is inde-
pendent of the liquid-phase Reynolds number. As the superficial
gas velocity is increased, a higher entrainment fraction results. At
Point A in Fig. 1, the first transition point, the liquid-film-flow
rate decreases sufficiently and the interfacial momentum transfer
is affected. Thus, in this part of the curve (A–B), the entrainment
fraction depends on both the liquid-phase Reynolds number and
the Weber number. The liquid-film-flow rate decreases further
with the increase in the superficial gas velocity. At Point B, the
June 2012 SPE Journal
 Fig. 2—Schematic of the test facility.
second transition point, there is no more interaction between the
gas core and the liquid film. The liquid film in this region (B–C)
gets submerged into the viscous sublayer of the core gas flow,
leading to the suppression of entrainment. In this region, the fur-
ther increase in the superficial gas velocity has no effect on the
entrainment fraction, which stays constant. The Sawant et al.
(2008) observed that the liquid-film-flow rate at both the transition
points and at the limiting entrainment-fraction region increases
with the increase in the liquid Reynolds number. They proposed
the following correlation for the prediction of the entrainment
fraction:
1:25
FE ¼ FE;max tanhðaNWe Þ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð18Þ
where FE,max is the maximum entrainment fraction defined as a
function of liquid Reynolds number and limiting liquid-film
Reynolds number,
FE;max ¼ 1  NReF;lim =NReSL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð19Þ
NReF;lim ¼ 250lnðNReSL Þ  1; 265: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð20Þ
Coefficient a accounts for the dependence of the transition Points
A and B on liquid-phase Reynolds number. On the basis of the ex-
perimental data, the following correlation was obtained
a ¼ 2:31  104 NRe
0:35
: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð21Þ
SL
Inclined Flow. Ousaka et al. (1996) conducted air/water annular-
flow experiments in a 25.4-mm-ID pipe. Superficial gas velocities
ranged from 15 to 40 m/s. Superficial water velocities ranged
from 0.06 to 0.2 m/s. They observed that a clear dependence of
entrainment fraction on pipe inclination exists. Adapting the Ishii
and Mishima (1989) correlation for vertical annular flow, they
proposed the following correlation for inclined annular flow on
the basis of the inclination angle, h:
FE ¼ tanh½ð4h þ 3Þ  107 NWe
1:25
SG
0:25
NRe SL
; . . . . . . . . . . . ð22Þ
Geraci et al. (2007) performed annular-flow-entrainment
measurements for inclined flow in a 38.1-mm-ID pipe. A film-
extraction technique was used to determine liquid-film-flow rate
and entrainment fraction. Air and water were used as fluids. Test-
ing conditions consisted of superficial water velocities from 0.007
to 0.033 m/s and superficial gas velocities from 15 to 21.5 m/s.
The entrainment fraction was very slightly influenced by pipe in-
clination for the flow rates studied. They proposed that the film
thickness at the bottom decreases and the wave activity of the film
June 2012 SPE Journal
increases as the inclination angle increases. The combination of
these two trends may balance out, resulting in the near insensitiv-
ity of entrainment fraction to pipe inclination.
Although entrainment fraction has been studied extensively
for both vertical and horizontal pipe orientations, few experimen-
tal efforts are available on the effect of pipe inclination on
entrainment fraction. Understanding this pipe inclination effect is
crucial to modeling annular flow in transportation pipelines and
deviated wellbores where a wide range of angles is present. The
majority of existing entrainment data was obtained using small-
diameter pipes (less than 38.1 mm), which raises the issue of scal-
ing up entrainment-fraction predictions on the basis of small-
pipe-diameter data. The main objective of this study is to acquire
and analyze entrainment-fraction data for various inclination
angles and evaluate existing methods for predicting entrainment
fraction in a relatively large-diameter pipeline.
Experimental Facility
A schematic of the test facility is shown in Fig. 2. The 76.2-mm-
ID facility is 17.5 m in length and is inclinable from 0 to 90 from
horizontal. Air and water were used as the working fluids. At
standard conditions, the water density, viscosity, and surface ten-
sion are 998 kg/m3, 0.001 Pas, and 0.073 N/m, respectively. The
compressed air was supplied by dry rotary screw and two-stage
compressors. Both gas and liquid were metered using Coriolis-
type mass flowmeters. The water is pumped using a progressiving
cavity pump. Both the air and water are relieved to the atmos-
phere at the outlet of the pipe section to decrease the backpressure
of the system and increase air velocities. A 76.2-mm gate valve is
located at the outlet to control the back pressure of the system.
The test section consisted of four major components—a quick-
closing valve section, isokinetic-sampling section, film-removal
section, and conductivity-probe section. Here, the isokinetic-sam-
pling and film-removal sections are discussed. It should be men-
tioned that the entrance has no effect on the entrained fraction
measured by the isokinetic sampling and film removal and the an-
nular flow at the measurement sections was fully developed.
Isokinetic-Sampling Section. An isokinetic-sampling system is
used to determine the liquid entrainment in the gas stream. This
section is located 11.6 m (L/d ¼ 152) downstream of the inlet.
A schematic and a photograph of the system are shown in Fig. 3.
The system consists of an isokinetic probe, a small container, and
a gas flowmeter. To ensure isokinetic conditions, two ball valves
control the sampling rate to ensure that the gas velocity in the
probe is approximately the same as the gas velocity in the pipe.
During each experiment, the isokinetic-sampling probe traverses
the pipe to obtain samples at different locations. The liquid
619
 1.5"
3" 0.3"

7"

Flow Probe
Meter

Container

Fig. 3—Isokinetic-sampling-system schematic and photograph.

Droplets
+
Gas
+
Film

Film
Removal

Fig. 4—Film-removal-device schematic.

droplets collected by the probe settle in the container, while the
gas sampled is vented to the atmosphere through the flowmeter.
The container is then weighed to obtain the entrained-droplet vol-
ume. This liquid volume and the sampling time are used to deter-
mine the entrainment flux.
Film-Removal Section. The film-removal section is located 13
m (L/d ¼ 172) downstream of the inlet. The section consists of a
film-removal device and film volume tank. The film-removal de-
vice is used to measure the entrainment fraction. The device uses
a long porous section and inserted sleeve to separate the liquid
film from the entrained droplets. Figs. 4 and 5 are a schematic
and a photograph of the film-removal device, respectively. The
flow passes through the porous section, and the liquid film, travel-
ing at a lower velocity than the gas core, is pushed through the po-
rous section. The high inertia of the entrained droplets, flowing
close to the gas velocity, prevents them from being removed
through the porous section. To ensure no droplets will escape, a
long sleeve was inserted close to where the liquid film dissipates.
This sleeve is able to move in and out in the pipe to make sure
that the liquid film passes under the sleeve and that only the gas
core with droplets passes through the test section. The film vol-
ume is collected in a small tank with a capacity of 22 L. The vol-
ume of water from the liquid film and the sampling time are
measured to determine the film-flow rate and entrainment
fraction.

Experimental Range. 140 annular two-phase-flow tests were

conducted for inclination angles of 0, 10, 20, 45, 60, 75, and 90
from horizontal. Superficial gas and liquid velocities range from
40 to 80 m/s and 0.0035 to 0.04 m/s, respectively. For each test,
the pressure at the film-removal device is held constant using the
gate valve at the outlet of the pipe. In addition, both liquid- and
gas-flow rates are held constant for each experimental run.

Entrainment Measurements. Isokinetic-sampling and film-re-

Fig. 5—Film-removal-device photograph.
moval techniques have been used extensively for the measure-
ment of entrainment. Isokinetic sampling tends to have a large
error when sampling near the gas/liquid interface. Therefore, iso-
kinetic-sampling tests were conducted only at low gas and liquid
velocities where a clear interface is evident. These conditions
include superficial liquid velocities of 0.0035 and 0.1 m/s and su-
perficial gas velocities of 40 and 50 m/s. For each isokinetic test,
the liquid entrainment is measured at five locations, as shown in
Fig. 6. These five locations are d/6, d/3, d/2, 2d/3, and 5d/6 from

620 June 2012 SPE Journal

 It should be noted here that the area in the integration is the area
covered by the droplets. So, the area of the liquid film was taken
into account. However, it is negligible even if included.
In the film-removal technique, the liquid film is removed
through a porous pipe section and collected. Once collected, the
liquid film is then weighed to determine the liquid volume. The
volume of liquid is measured as a function of time, usually 5 to 10
minutes, to determine the liquid-film-flow rate. This measurement
is repeated three times for each test point to ensure more-accurate
results.

Uncertainty Analysis. An uncertainity analysis is conducted on

Fig. 6—Isokinetic-sampling locations.
the bottom of the pipe. At each location, the test is conducted for
5 minutes. The container is then weighed to determine the liquid
volume. The collected volume, VE, and sampling time, ts, are used
to determine the entrainment flux, Ex, at each location as
the basis of the method provided by Dieck (2002). The results
indicate that uncertainties are within an acceptable range (Magrini
2009). The uncertainty analysis for the parameters in this study
can be found in Table 1. The uncertainty analysis for the entrain-
ment fraction measured by the film-removal device can be found
in Appendix A of Magrini (2009).

Ex ¼ VE =ðAprobe ts Þ: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð23Þ Experimental Results

Film-Removal Entrainment Results. Figs. 7 through 10 dis-
The entrainment-fraction measurement can then be calculated as play the results of the entrainment-fraction measurements using
ð  the film-removal technique. Superficial Reynolds liquid number
  and superficial Weber gas number as defined in Eqs. 14 and
FE ¼ Ex @A = Apipe vSL : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ð24Þ 15, respectively, are used as correlating parameters. These two

TABLE 1—UNCERTAINTY-ANALYSIS RESULTS

Random Systematic Combined

Parameter Instrument Uncertainty Uncertainty Uncertainty

Liquid-flow rate Micro Motion flow meter 0.23% 0.05% 0.46%

Gas-flow rate Micro Motion flow meter 0.37% 0.04% 0.74%
Pressure Rosemount pressure transmitter 0.41% 1.10% 1.37%
Pressure drop Rosemount differential pressure transmitter 0.22% 1.00% 1.10%
Temperature Rosemount temperature transmitter 0.06 C 0.5 C 0.52 C
Liquid holdup Quick-closing valve section 1.68% 5.60% 6.53%
Liquid entrainment Isokinetic sampling system 3.84% 5.8% 9.58%
Liquid film height Flush mounted conductance probe 0.015mm 0.025mm 0.039mm
Diameter () 0.01% 0.07% 0.07%
Gas velocity () 0.62% 1.83% 2.21%
Liquid velocity () 0.34% 0.76% 1.02%

0.50

0.40
Entrainment Fraction (FE )

0.30

0.20 0 Degrees
10 Degrees
20 Degrees
45 Degrees
0.10
60 Degrees
75 Degrees
90 Degrees
0.00
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000

Superficial Gas Weber Number (N We SG)

Fig. 7—Film-removal entrainment results (N ReSL 5 265).

June 2012 SPE Journal 621

 0.60

0.50

Entrainment Fraction (FE )

0.40

0.30

0 Degrees

0.20 10 Degrees
20 Degrees
45 Degrees

0.10 60 Degrees
75 Degrees
90 Degrees
0.00
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000
Superficial Gas Weber Number (N We SG)

Fig. 8—Film-removal entrainment results (NReSL 5 760).

0.70

0.60
Entrainment Fraction (FE )

0.50

0.40

0.30
0 Degrees
10 Degrees
0.20 20 Degrees
45 Degrees
60 Degrees
0.10
75 Degrees
90 Degrees
0.00
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000
Superficial Gas Weber Number (N We SG)

Fig. 9—Film-removal entrainment results (NReSL 5 1,520).

0.70

0.60
Entrainment Fraction (FE )

0.50

0.40

0.30
0 Degrees
10 Degrees

0.20 20 Degrees
45 Degrees
60 Degrees
0.10
75 Degrees
90 Degrees
0.00
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000
Superficial Gas Weber Number (N We SG)

Fig. 10—Film-removal entrainment results (NReSL 5 3,048).

622 June 2012 SPE Journal

 case1 case2 case3 case4 case5 case6 case7 case8 case9 case10

0.50 0.60

0.40 0.50
0.40
0.30
FE
0.30

FE
0.20
0.20
0.10
0.10
0.00
0.00
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
(a) Inclination Angle (degree) (b) Inclination Angle (degree)

case11 case12 case13 case14 case15 case16 case17 case18 case19 case20
0.70 0.80
0.60
0.50 0.60
0.40
0.40
FE

FE
0.30
0.20 0.20
0.10
0.00 0.00
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
(c) (d)
Inclination Angle (degree) Inclination Angle (degree)

Fig. 11—Variation of fraction of entrainment with angle of inclinations.

dimensionless numbers are used frequently in analyzing the
entrainment fraction. They encompass the most significant forces
that govern the entrainment process.
Each plot displays the data obtained at each inclination angle.
As shown in the figures, and as will be explained in more detail in
the next subsection, there is a clear effect of pipe inclination on
entrainment. In general, as the pipe inclination from horizontal is
increased, the entrainment fraction is increased. The entrainment
fraction reaches the maximum value at 90 from horizontal. The
pipe inclination significantly affects the entrainment at lower su-
perficial gas velocities and higher superficial liquid velocities. At
lower superficial gas velocities and horizontal, a thick liquid film
is present at the bottom of the pipe. As the inclination angle from
TABLE 2—CASES STUDIED
Group Case vSL (m/s)
horizontal is increased, the film becomes more axi-symmetrical.
The transition of the liquid-film distribution from a thick film at
the bottom of the pipe to an even symmetrical film increases the
liquid surface area from which droplets are entrained. Gravita-
tional settling also becomes less dominant at high inclination
from horizontal. As a result, the entrainment fraction increases as
the inclination angle increases. At high gas velocities, a symmet-
ric liquid film is present despite the inclination angle, and the
gravitational settling of the droplets is prevented by the high ki-
netic energy of the gas flow. This is evident in Figs. 7 through 10,
where a common entrainment value is approached with the
increase of gas velocity at all inclination angles.
The inclination-angle effect is also dependent on the superfi-
cial liquid velocity. At low superficial liquid velocities, there is
less inclination effect on the entrainment fraction. This is can be
seen in Fig. 7. As the superficial liquid velocity is increased, the
effect of the inclination is magnified at lower superficial gas
vSG (m/s) velocities. This can be seen in Figs. 8 through 10.

1 1 0.0035 40 Inclination-Angle Effect. FE sensitivity to inclination angle is

2 0.0035 50 shown in Fig. 11 for the flow rates studied in this paper. Table 2
3 0.0035 60 describes the cases studied; for every case in Table 2, experiments
4 0.0035 70 have been conducted over all pipe inclination angles from 0
5 0.0035 80 through 90 . Therefore, Fig. 11 shows the measured FE values at
2 6 0.01 40 the same VSL and different VSG (legends) variation with the angle
7 0.01 50 of inclination. FE is insensitive to the pipe inclination only at very
8 0.01 60 high gas velocity and lowest-to-medium liquid superficial veloc-
ity. FE is less sensitive to the pipe inclination angle at the highest
9 0.01 70
gas velocity and low liquid velocity. FE is very sensitive to the
10 0.01 80
pipe inclination for lower gas velocities and higher liquid veloc-
3 11 0.02 40 ities. The higher the inclination is, the larger the entrainment is.
12 0.02 50 This is also observed by Ousaka et al. (1996). The limited avail-
13 0.02 60 able studies on the effect of pipe inclination angle on the entrain-
14 0.02 70 ment fraction, especially Geraci et al. (2007), have not seen the
15 0.02 80 effect of pipe inclination angles because they did not cover a wide
4 16 0.04 40 range of superficial liquid and gas velocities or they did not cover
17 0.04 50 all inclination angles from horizontal to vertical. Not seeing the
18 0.04 60 effect of pipe inclinations on the entrainment fraction may also be
interpreted as the gas velocities not being high enough to reach
19 0.04 70
the maximum entrainment fraction, which in the present case is at
20 0.04 80
or above 80 m/s, and it can be seen clearly from Fig. 11 that the

June 2012 SPE Journal 623

 25
0 Degrees
10 Degrees
20 Degrees
20 45 Degrees
60 Degrees
75 Degrees

EX (10 ×m /(s.m ))
90 Degrees

2
15
3
–4

10

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

h/d

Fig. 12—Entrainment flux profile (vSL 5 0.0035 m/s, vSG 5 40 m/s).

effect of the inclination angles in this case is minor, especially at
low liquid superficial velocities.
Geraci et al. (2007) concluded that, for the flow rates studied,
the entrainment fraction was slightly influenced by pipe inclina-
tion. They proposed that, as the inclination angle increases, the
film thickness at the bottom decreases, but the wave activity of
the film increases. The combination of these two trends may bal-
ance out resulting in near insensitivity of entrainment fraction to
pipe inclination. This conclusion is not completely correct for all
pipe inclination angles and for a wide range of superficial liquid
and gas velocities. This conclusion may be applied only at high
gas velocity or at certain operational conditions and pipe inclina-
tion angles. Geraci et al. (2007) covered only a very narrow range
of superficial gas velocity (only 15 and 21.5 m/s) resulting in low
entrainment. The measured entrainment fractions are less than
0.08, which are very low and do not cover any significant range in
the entrainment curve from the onset to the maximum of
entrainment.
Isokinetic-Sampling Entrainment Results. Isokinetic sampling
is also used in this study to measure the entrainment fraction. A
sampling tube is inserted into the pipe at various radial distances.
The liquid sampled from the gas core is separated and collected in
a graduated cylinder. From these measurements, the droplet-
entrainment flux profile is determined. The entrainment fraction is
then calculated by integrating this flux profile. The isokinetic-
sampling probe works best under low liquid-flow rates where a
more distinct division between the gas core and liquid film exists.
Therefore, tests were conducted at each inclination angle for su-
perficial gas velocities of 40 and 50 m/s and superficial liquid
velocities of 0.0035 and 0.01 m/s. The entrainment flux profiles
for these flow conditions are shown in Figs. 12 through 15.
These figures exhibit the effect of pipe inclination on the
entrainment-flux and droplet-concentration profiles. Because of
gravity and the asymmetry of the liquid film at horizontal, droplet
concentration is much higher at the bottom of the pipe. As the
pipe is inclined, the droplet-concentration and entrainment-flux

40
0 Degrees
10 Degrees
35
20 Degrees
45 Degrees
30 60 Degrees
75 Degrees
EX (10 ×m /(s.m ))

90 Degrees
2

25
3

20
–4

15

10

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

h/d

Fig. 13—Entrainment flux profile (vSL 5 0.0035 m/s, vSG 5 50 m/s).

624 June 2012 SPE Journal

 80
0 Degrees
10 Degrees
70
20 Degrees
45 Degrees
60 60 Degrees
75 Degrees

EX (10 ×m /(s.m ))
90 Degrees

2
50

3
40
–4

30

20

10

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

h/d

Fig. 14—Entrainment flux profile (vSL 5 0.01 m/s, vSG 5 40 m/s).

profile become more symmetrical. Even droplet-concentration
and entrainment-flux profiles exist at vertical because of the sym-
metry of the liquid film and vanishing of the gravity effect across
the pipe section. This clearly shows that at horizontal, all the
droplet atomization and deposition occurs at the bottom of the
pipe, especially at low-to-moderate gas velocities. When the incli-
nation angle is increased, the film becomes more symmetrical,
leading to the atomizing and depositing of the droplets across the
entire inner circumference of the pipe. The increase in surface
area for gas/water interaction leads to a uniform droplet-concen-
tration and even entrainment-flux profile across the pipe. This also
gives insight into how the increase in the pipe inclination angle
increases the entrainment fraction.
Comparison of Entrainment-Measurement Methods. The
film-removal technique and isokinetic sampling have been the
predominant methods used by researchers to assess the entrain-
ment fraction. However, the two methods have rarely been com-
pared before. Fig. 16 displays the results for the comparison of
the entrainment measurements from the isokinetic-sampling and
film-removal techniques.
The absolute average actual difference between the two
methods is 17.7%. The isokinetic-sampling measurements are
systematically lower than the film-removal measurements. This
comparison cannot specify which technique is more accurate.
Nevertheless, it may give more insight when comparing the avail-
able entrainment results from the two measurement techniques.
Both techniques have their advantages and shortcomings. Iso-
kinetic sampling is a direct measurement of the entrainment frac-
tion and is simple in its design. However, the calculation of the
entrainment fraction is quite complex. The integration of the
entrainment-flux profile in only one direction is also a concern.
Sampling of the disturbance waves at the interface may also cause
large errors in the measurement. The film-removal technique is an
indirect measurement of the entrainment fraction and is more dif-
ficult to construct. It is difficult to prevent the drainage of rede-
posited droplets and the continuation of tall waves through the
porous section. However, the removal of the liquid film can be
accurately controlled by regulating the pressure drop across the

100
0 Degrees
10 Degrees
20 Degrees
80 45 Degrees
60 Degrees
75 Degrees
EX (10 ×m /(s.m ))

90 Degrees
2

60
3
–4

40

20

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

h/d

Fig. 15—Entrainment flux profile (vSL 5 0.01 m/s, vSG 5 50 m/s).

June 2012 SPE Journal 625

 0.50

+20%

0.40

FE (Isokinetic Sampling)
–20%
0.30

0.20

0.10

0.00
0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50

FE (Film Removal Technique)

Fig. 16—Comparison of film-removal and isokinetic-sampling techniques.

sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
porous section. It is also much easier to visually determine the ef- X N XN XN
ficiency of the instrument, and this can be done much faster. e3 ¼ ðeri  e1 Þ2 =ðN  1Þ, e4 ¼ N1 ðei Þ, e5 ¼ N1 jei j, and
i¼1
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi i¼1 i¼1

Model Comparison
Entrainment-fraction data are compared with several models and
correlations developed for horizontal, vertical, and inclined annu-
lar flows. Horizontal models and correlations used in the compari-
son are Paleev and Flipovich (1966), Pan and Hanratty (2002b),
and Mantilla (2008). Vertical-flow correlations analyzed include
Wallis (1969), Oliemans et al. (1986), Ishii and Mishima (1989),
Pan and Hanratty (2002a), and Sawant et al. (2008). The Ousaka
et al. (1996) correlation, developed for all inclinations, is also
used in the evaluation.
Statistical Parameters. Statistical parameters are used to compare
the performance of the models and correlations. The parameters are
calculated using two error types—relative and actual. The relative
and actual errors are expressed in Eqs. 25 and 26, respectively:
eri ¼ ð½FEi;Cal  FEi;Mea =FEI;Mea Þ  100; . . . . . . . . . . ð25Þ
ei ¼ FEi;Cal  FEi;Mea : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð26Þ
The average percentage relative, absolute average relative,
standard deviation about relative average, average actual, ab-
solute average actual, and standard deviation about actual average
X
N X
N tion is simple and takes into account the predominant fluid proper-
errors are defined respectively as e1 ¼ N1 ðeri Þ, e2 ¼ N1 jeri j,
i¼1
X N
e6 ¼ ðei  e4 Þ2 =ðN  1Þ.
i¼1
Present-Study Evaluation. The 140 entrainment tests from this
study are compared with the selected models and correlations
developed for varying pipe inclinations. Table 3 displays the
results of these comparisons. On the basis of statistical parameters
e2 and e5, the correlation derived by Paleev and Flipovich (1966)
performed the best. However, as Wallis (1968) discussed, the cor-
relation does not take into account liquid-viscosity effect and per-
forms poorly when fluids other than water are used. Wallis (1969)
later took into account viscosity effect in his correlation inspired
by the work of Paleev and Flipovich. His correlation performed
satisfactorily with e2 and e5 values of 18.25% and 0.09. The
Sawant et al. (2008) correlation performed well because of its
accurate prediction of the maximum entrainment value. However,
because of its hyperbolic tangent functionality, the correlation has
a tendency to overpredict entrainment. The mechanistic model
developed by Mantilla (2008) performed reasonably well. This
model, although more complex in nature, takes into account the
effect of wave characteristics on entrainment fraction. On the ba-
sis of the experimental results from this study, the correlation by
Wallis (1969) best predicts the entrainment fraction. This equa-
ties and forces governing the entrainment fraction.
i¼1

TABLE 3—EVALUATION OF CORRELATIONS AND MODELS AGAINST ENTRAINMENT-FRACTION DATA OF PRESENT STUDY

Model/ Correlation e1 (%) e2 (%) e3 (%) e4 () e5 () e6 ()

Ishii and Mishima 1989 (vertical) 105.76 105.76 35.42 0.47 0.47 0.08
Wallis 1969 (vertical) 14.72 18.25 15.84 0.07 0.09 0.08
Oliemans et al. 1986 (vertical) 50.65 50.65 30.26 0.23 0.23 0.09
Pan and Hanratty 2002a (vertical) 4.80 46.74 61.24 0.01 0.20 0.24
Sawant et al. 2008 (vertical) 15.14 20.59 21.40 0.07 0.09 0.10
Paleev and Flipovich 1966 (horizontal) 1.23 11.26 14.73 0.01 0.05 0.07
Pan and Hanratty 2002b (horizontal) 26.78 39.96 47.00 0.10 0.17 0.20
Mantilla 2008 (horizontal) 15.34 25.29 25.10 0.05 0.11 0.12
Ousaka et al. 1996 (inclined) 73.87 97.44 75.10 0.34 0.44 0.31

626 June 2012 SPE Journal

 TABLE 4—AVAILABLE EXPERIMENTAL ENTRAINMENT-DATA CONDITIONS

Source Angle ( ) Fluids d (m) vSG (m/s) vSL (m/s) qG (kg/m3) qL (kg/m3) r (mN/m)

Dallman 1978 0 Air-Water 0.0231 15–88 0.007–0.9 1.6–2.75 1000 73

Laurinat 1982 0 Air-Water 0.0508 11–131 0.016–0.6 1.3–2.5 1000 73
Williams 1990 0 Air-Water 0.0953 26–88 0.03–0.12 1.3–1.85 1000 73
Paras and Karabelas 1991 0 Air-Water 0.0508 30–65 0.03–0.2 1.2–2.3 1000 73
Ousaka and Kariyasaki 1992 0 Air-Water 0.026 15–40 0.06–0.2 1.2–1.4 1000 73
Tayebi et al. 2000 0 Oil-SF6, Water-SF6 0.1 4–7 0.25 22–46.5 820–1000 22–73
Mantilla 2008 0 Air-Water, 0.0508 20–80 0.0035–0.1 2.5 988–1128 35–73
Air-Water-But.
Air-Water-Gly.
Owen 1985 90 Air-Water 0.0317 17–75 0.05–0.4 2.93 1000 73
Schadel 1988 90 Air-Water 0.025–0.042 19–116 0.015–0.104 1.38–1.69 1000 73
Deryabina et al. 1989 90 Air-Water 0.013–0.052 10–80 0.018–0.505 3.58 1000 73
Fore and Dukler1995 90 Air-Water 0.0508 24–36 0.015–0.059 1.24–1.37 1000 73
Harwell 90 Various 0.006–0.032 2.7–166 0.005–5.11 1.23–55.5 40–1300 12–74
Ousaka et al. 1996 0, 30, 45, 60, 75 Air-Water 0.026 15–40 0.06–0.2 1.3–2.2 1000 73

TABLE 5—EVALUATION OF MODELS AND CORRELATIONS AGAINST ALL ENTRAINMENT DATA EXCLUDING THE
HARWELL DATABANK (724 DATA POINTS)

Model/Correlation e1 (%) e2 (%) e3 (%) e4 () e5 () e6 ()

Ishii and Mishima 1989 (vertical) 95.4 106.9 217.0 0.24 0.27 0.23
Wallis 1969 (vertical) 64.5 109.9 563.2 0.05 0.16 0.23
Oliemans et al. 1986 (vertical) 160.2 162.0 553.0 0.18 0.19 0.19
Pan and Hanratty 2002a (vertical) 21.4 56.0 117.0 0.00 0.12 0.17
Sawant et al. 2008 (vertical) 25.8 119.9 882.2 0.10 0.31 1.17
Paleev and Flipovich 1966 (horizontal) 70.8 93.0 322.7 0.05 0.13 0.20
Pan and Hanratty 2002b (horizontal) 20.1 37.0 45.9 0.06 0.12 0.16
Mantilla 2008 (horizontal) 18.2 44.4 78.7 0.02 0.12 0.15
Ousaka et al. 1996 (inclined) 1.6 81.5 90.2 0.00 0.35 0.41

Entrainment-Databank Evaluation. An extensive statistical
anlaysis was conducted using the present study and other avail-
able entrainment data to evaluate the previously mentioned mod-
els and correlations. Table 4 lists all available entrainment data,
including the working fluids, pipe orientation, and flow conditions
of each study. Tables 5 and 6 display the statistical parameters
for each model or correlation against all the entrainment data.
In Table 5, the Harwell databank is omitted to avoid a biased
evaluation toward vertical-flow correlations. Tables 7 and 8 con-
tain the statistical parameters for the models and correlations
against all available vertical entrainment data. Once again, the
Harwell databank is omitted from Table 7 to avoid a biased evalu-
ation toward the Oliemans et al. (1986) correlation, which was
developed on the basis of the Harwell databank. The Harwell
databank is included in the vertical entrainment evaluation shown
in Table 8. Tables 9 and 10 present the evaluations of the models
and correlations for available horizontal and inclined data,
respectively.
On the basis of parameters e2 and e5 in Table 5, the correlation
by Pan and Hanratty (2002b) for horizontal flow and the mecha-
nistic model developed by Mantilla (2008) most accurately pre-
dict the entrainment fraction at all pipe inclinations. The
correlation by Pan and Hanratty systematically underpredicts the
entrainment fraction, while the Mantilla model overpredicts the
values. Although these models perform the best, an approximately
40% absolute average relative error is associated with their

TABLE 6—EVALUATION OF MODELS AND CORRELATIONS AGAINST ALL ENTRAINMENT DATA INCLUDING THE
HARWELL DATABANK (1,449 DATA POINTS)

Model/Correlation e1 (%) e2 (%) e3 (%) e4 () e5 () e6 ()

Ishii and Mishima 1989 (vertical) 47.6 74.8 170.9 0.12 0.22 0.25
Wallis 1969 (vertical) 52.8 92.8 407.4 0.00 0.19 0.24
Oliemans et al. 1986 (vertical) 86.2 97.8 400.8 0.08 0.13 0.18
Pan and Hanratty 2002a (vertical) 6.9 48.0 91.2 0.08 0.15 0.18
Sawant et al. 2008 (vertical) 24.0 98.2 625.8 0.22 0.33 0.85
Paleev and Flipovich 1966 (horizontal) 58.2 102.0 264.6 0.00 0.21 0.28
Pan and Hanratty 2002b (horizontal) 14.0 47.4 61.0 0.06 0.17 0.20
Mantilla 2008 (horizontal) 61.8 81.9 158.1 0.11 0.18 0.22
Ousaka et al. 1996 (inclined) 59.6 103.0 151.8 0.16 0.34 0.36

June 2012 SPE Journal 627

 TABLE 7—EVALUATION OF MODELS AND CORRELATIONS AGAINST VERTICAL ENTRAINMENT DATA EXCLUDING THE
HARWELL DATABANK (213 DATA POINTS)

Model/Correlation e1 (%) e2 (%) e3 (%) e4 () e5 () e6 ()

Ishii and Mishima 1989 (vertical) 22.3 42.0 55.3 0.14 0.19 0.25
Wallis 1969 (vertical) 28.0 33.7 40.2 0.14 0.16 0.20
Oliemans et al. 1986 (vertical) 16.8 22.3 29.4 0.06 0.09 0.11
Pan and Hanratty 2002a (vertical) 15.6 21.8 31.8 0.06 0.09 0.13
Sawant et al. 2008 (vertical) 82.4 84.1 101.1 0.36 0.36 0.39
Paleev and Flipovich 1966 (horizontal) 7.7 24.7 34.6 0.05 0.10 0.12
Pan and Hanratty 2002b (horizontal) 28.9 37.4 48.8 0.06 0.09 0.13
Mantilla 2008 (horizontal) 62.9 63.7 68.8 0.31 0.32 0.36
Ousaka et al. 1996 (inclined) 0.9 23.3 38.1 0.01 0.11 0.18

TABLE 8—EVALUATION OF MODELS AND CORRELATIONS AGAINST VERTICAL ENTRAINMENT DATA INCLUDING THE
HARWELL DATABANK (938 DATA POINTS)

Model/Correlation e1 (%) e2 (%) e3 (%) e4 () e5 () e6 ()

Ishii and Mishima 1989 (vertical) 4.8 42.4 77.2 0.03 0.17 0.22
Wallis 1969 (vertical) 25.3 66.1 115.0 0.00 0.20 0.24
Oliemans et al. 1986 (vertical) 13.2 31.0 64.4 0.00 0.08 0.10
Pan and Hanratty 2002a (vertical) 30.6 35.8 47.2 0.13 0.15 0.21
Sawant et al. 2008 (vertical) 100.0 111.4 204.4 0.23 0.28 0.34
Paleev and Flipovich 1966 (horizontal) 33.3 91.4 171.6 0.05 0.24 0.30
Pan and Hanratty 2002b (horizontal) 12.6 53.1 68.2 0.07 0.18 0.23
Mantilla 2008 (horizontal) 67.0 106.7 201.4 0.08 0.27 0.33
Ousaka et al. 1996 (inclined) 109.5 115.5 192.9 0.33 0.34 0.38

prediction of entrainment. This error shows the inability of one correlation emerges because of the biased evaluation toward verti-
model or correlation to be used for all pipe inclinations for the cal flow correlations. However, the Pan and Hanratty horizontal
prediction of the entrainment fraction. With the addition of the flow correlation still most accurately predicts the entrainment
Harwell databank in Table 6, the Pan and Hanratty vertical-flow fraction for all pipe inclination angles.

TABLE 9—EVALUATION OF MODELS AND CORRELATIONS AGAINST HORIZONTAL ENTRAINMENT DATA (318 DATA POINTS)

Model/Correlation e1 (%) e2 (%) e3 (%) e4 () e5 () e6 ()

Ishii and Mishima 1987 (vertical) 152.8 155.1 288.8 0.28 0.28 0.22
Wallis 1969 (vertical) 156.4 187.4 784.7 0.01 0.19 0.29
Oliemans et al. 1986 (vertical) 281.8 282.0 759.9 0.25 0.25 0.22
Pan and Hanratty 2002a (vertical) 58.5 80.5 151.1 0.05 0.12 0.17
Sawant et al. 2008 (vertical) 104.8 184.5 1241.3 0.03 0.39 1.64
Paleev and Flipovich 1966 (horizontal) 148.8 161.3 441.0 0.13 0.18 0.23
Pan and Hanratty 2002b (horizontal) 7.1 32.1 45.7 0.01 0.09 0.14
Mantilla 2008 (horizontal) 40.8 59.3 99.7 0.05 0.12 0.16
Ousaka et al. 1996 (inclined) 74.1 80.6 36.4 0.35 0.35 0.24

TABLE 10—EVALUATION OF MODELS AND CORRELATIONS AGAINST INCLINED ENTRAINMENT DATA (148 DATA POINTS)

Model/ Correlation e1 (%) e2 (%) e3 (%) e4 () e5 () e6 ()

Ishii and Mishima 1989 (vertical) 60.9 82.7 94.8 0.30 0.34 0.39
Wallis 1969 (vertical) 27.3 30.0 39.8 0.08 0.09 0.11
Oliemans et al. 1986 (vertical) 69.0 69.4 105.7 0.19 0.20 0.22
Pan and Hanratty 2002a (vertical) 16.9 45.9 59.3 0.03 0.16 0.21
Sawant et al. 2008 (vertical) 39.5 43.0 55.8 0.11 0.13 0.17
Paleev and Flipovich 1966 (horizontal) 6.3 23.9 39.9 0.01 0.06 0.07
Pan and Hanratty 2002b (horizontal) 39.9 49.0 61.0 0.11 0.16 0.20
Mantilla 2008 (horizontal) 10.0 30.5 36.9 0.02 0.11 0.13
Ousaka et al. 1996 (inclined) 73.3 80.3 92.5 0.34 0.34 0.40

628 June 2012 SPE Journal

 On the basis of the unbiased evaluation in Table 7, the Olie- Although the most-accurate correlations have been determined for
mans et al. (1986) correlation and the vertical correlation by Pan each pipe orientation, absolute average relative errors of 20 to
and Hanratty (2002a) most accurately predict the entrainment 50% are associated with these models and correlations. Overall,
fraction. Both correlations had e2 and e5 values of approximately the statistical analysis has shown the need for improvement of
22% and 0.09, repectively. The Oliemans et al. correlation sys- entrainment prediction.
tematically overpredicts the data, while the correlation by Pan and
Hanratty underpredicts the entrainment. The horizontal-flow cor- Nomenclature
relation by Paleev and Flipovich (1966) also adequately predicts Apipe ¼ cross-sectional area of pipe, m2
the entrainment fraction. With the addition of the Harwell data- Aprobe ¼ cross-sectional area of probe, m2
bank in Table 8, the Oliemans et al. correlation most accurately d ¼ diameter, m
predicts the entrainment fraction, as expected. d32 ¼ Sauter mean diameter, m
The Pan and Hanratty (2002b) horizontal correlation most eri ¼ relative error, (-)
accurately predicts entrainment fraction for the available horizon- ei ¼ actual error
tal entrainment data. As shown in Table 9, this correlation has EX ¼ liquid entrainment flux, (m3/s)/m2
absolute average relative and actual errors of 32.1% and 0.09, FE ¼ entrainment fraction, (-)
respectively. Based on e1 and e4 values, the correlation has a tend- g ¼ acceleration because of gravity, m/s2
ency to underpredict the entrainment fraction. L ¼ length, m
In the evaluation shown in Table 10, more than two-thirds of m ¼ exponent for Pan and Hanratty (2002b) correlation, (-)
the data are from the present study. Therefore, the statistical analy- N ¼ number of elements in a population, sample size, (-)
sis is biased toward the analysis presented in the preceding subsec- NRe ¼ Reynolds number, (-)
tion. This effect shows the need for more inclined entrainment data NWe ¼ Weber number, (-)
to prevent the dominance of one study on the analysis. On the basis p ¼ pressure, Pa
of the evaluation in Table 10, the correlation by Paleev and Flipo- q ¼ volumetric-flow rate, m3/s
vich (1966) most accurately predicts the entrainment fraction. ts ¼ sampling time, s
However, as discussed earlier, this correlation is unable to account v ¼ velocity, m/s
for entrainment variation because of change of fluids. Therefore, VE ¼ collected liquid-entrainment volume, m3
the correlation developed by Wallis (1969) and the model by Man- w ¼ mass-flow rate, kg/s
tilla (2008) are better choices for the prediction of entrainment in X ¼ Lockhart-Martinelli parameter, (-)
inclined pipes. Both have similar error associated with their predic- e1–e6 ¼ statistical parameters, (-)
tions and systematically underestimate the entrainment fraction. h ¼ inclination angle, degrees
The Wallis correlation is more simplistic in nature. q ¼ density, kg/ m3
r ¼ surface tension, N/m
Conclusions l ¼ viscosity, Pas
Inclination effect on entrainment fraction in water/air two-phase
pipe flow was experimentally investigated. A 76.2-mm-ID test fa- Subscripts
cility was constructed to conduct water/air two-phase annular- cr ¼ critical
flow experiments. A total of 140 tests were conducted for various C ¼ gas core
air- and water-flow rates. The superficial liquid and air velocity Cal ¼ calculated
ranges were 0.0035 to 0.04 m/s and 40 to 80 m/s, respectively. E ¼ entrained
The tests were performed at inclination angles of 0, 10, 20, 45, F ¼ film
60, 75, and 90 from horizontal. The entrainment fraction was G ¼ gas
measured using two methods—film removal and isokinetic sam- lim ¼ limiting
pling. A clear inclination effect on entrainment fraction was L ¼ liquid
observed. This effect occurred at low superficial gas velocities LE ¼ liquid entrained
and was more prominent at higher superficial liquid velocities. max ¼ maximum
Isokinetic-sampling tests gave insight into the effect inclination Mea ¼ measured
has on the droplet-concentration and entrainment-flux profile in SG ¼ superficial gas
the pipe. At horizontal, this effect was because of gravity and the SL ¼ superficial liquid
asymmetry of the liquid film. As the pipe was inclined, the film
became more symmetrical and an even distribution was finally
Acknowledgments
observed when the inclination angle reached vertical.
The statistical analysis conducted in this study demonstrates The authors wish to thank the Tulsa University Fluid Flow Proj-
the inability of one correlation or model to accurately predict the ects member companies for supporting this research project. Ivan
entrainment fraction for all inclination angles. Furthermore, by Mantilla of Chevron is recognized for his constructive suggestions
using a specific model or correlation on the basis of the pipe incli- during the course of this study.
nation angle, more-accurate entrainment predictions can be
achieved. On thebasis of the statistical analysis for vertical annular References
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for inclined annular flow, the Mantilla (2008) model and Wallis Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow. PhD dissertation, University of Illinois
(1969) correlation have shown similar prediction abilities. The at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois.
Wallis correlation may be better used because of its simplistic Deryabina, O.N., Semenenko, V.F., and Medvedev, A.E. 1989. Distribu-
form. However, the Mantilla model encompasses wave character- tion of the Liquid Phase in Dispersed-Annular Flow. Therm. Eng. 36
istics, which is an important aspect of the entrainment process. (12): 207–235.

June 2012 SPE Journal 629

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Kyle Magrini is a planning engineer with Southwestern Energy
Company in Houston. He has reservoir and production experi-
ence in tight gas reservoirs in East Texas and is currently part of
Southwestern’s Corporate Development Division, working on
capital budget and planning, short- and long-term forecasts
and field valuations. He holds a BS degree in electrical engi-
neering and an MS degree in petroleum engineering from the
University of Tulsa.
Cem Sarica is a professor at the McDougall School of Petro-
leum Engineering. He is also the director of two industry sup-
ported consortia at the University of Tulsa (TU): Tulsa University
Fluid Flow Projects (TUFFP) and Tulsa University Paraffin Deposi-
tion Projects (TUPDP). Moreover, he serves as coprincipal inves-
tigator of Tulsa University High Viscosity Oil Projects (TUHOP). He
was as an associate professor of petroleum and natural gas
engineering at The Pennsylvania State University and an assist-
ant professor of petroleum and natural gas engineering at Is-
tanbul Technical University (ITU) before joining TU. He holds BS
and MS degrees in petroleum engineering from ITU, and a PhD
degree in petroleum engineering from TU. He currently serves
as a member of SPE Projects, Facilities, and Construction Advi-
sory Committee. He is a member of SPE Production and Opera-
tions Award Committee. He has previously served as a
member of SPE Production Operations and Books Committees,
and was a member of SPE Journal Editorial Board between
1999 and 2007. He served as Associate Editor of ASME’s Journal
of Energy Resources Technology (JERT) between 1998 and
2003. He is a member of Technical Advisory Committee of Brit-
ish Hydrodynamics Research Group (BHRg) Multiphase Produc-
tion Conferences. He was the Technical Program Chair of
BHRg 2008 Conference. He is the recipient of 2010 SPE Interna-
tional Production and Operations Award. He has over 100 pub-
lications mostly in SPE Journals and Proceedings, and his
research interests are production engineering, multiphase flow
in pipes, flow assurance and horizontal wells.
Abdelsalam Al-Sarkhi is a professor of mechanical engineering
at the King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) in
Saudi Arabia. Before joining KFUPM, he was a research associ-
ate at the University of Tulsa. Al-Sarkhi served as an assistant
and associate professor and chairman of the department of
mechanical engineering at Hashemite University. He also
worked as a research associate at University of Illinois Urbana-
Champaign. He is a consistent contributor to the literature of
multiphase flow and thermal sciences. He holds BS and MS
degrees in mechanical engineering from Jordan University of
Science and Technology, and a PhD degree in mechanical
engineering from Oklahoma State University. He has published
over 48 papers in reputed international journals in addition to
more 22 presented papers in international conferences.
Hong-Quan Zhang is an associate professor of petroleum engi-
neering at the University of Tulsa, the director of the Tulsa Uni-
versity Artificial Lift Projects (TUALP), and principal investigator
of the Tulsa University High-viscosity Oil Projects (TUHOP). His
research interests include artificial lift methods and strategies
for petroleum production, multiphase pipe flow, heat and
mass transfers, heavy oil and emulsion rheology, and flow
assurance. Zhang holds BS and MS degrees from Xian Jiao-
tong University and a PhD degree from Tianjin University,
China. He is currently an associate editor for SPE Journal and
an associate editor for the Journal of Energy Resources
Technology.
June 2012 SPE Journal