Flow regime and volume fraction of kerosene-water flows through an inclined macro-channel tube coupled with return bend – An experimental approach

The aim of the present work is to capture the effect of bend inclination on low-viscosity oil-water flows through a macro channel. This experiment involved two immiscible liquids kerosene and water flowing through a return bend at 0° and 30° inclinations, with oil-water superficial velocities ranging from 0.07 to 0.66 m/s and a comparative study has been done. The test section was categorized into three parts namely Upstream, Downstream & Bend Section. It was noticed that the flow patterns in the upstream, downstream, and bend sections were greatly affected by the change in inclination of the test section at different superficial velocities. However, least affected in the bend for different sets of kerosene-water superficial velocities. The volume fraction of the kerosene was measured at two inclinations, i.e., 0 ° and 30 ° of the test section. The experimental values of the measured volume fraction were compared with existing correlations. The Cioncolini-Thome Model emerged as the most accurate, achieving the lowest (MAE) of 9 % at 0° and 8 % at 30°. Similarly, the Homogeneous Model exhibited strong performance with MAE values of 10 % at 0° and 9 % at 30°, reflecting its reliability to predict systems with uniformly mixed phases.