Experimental determination of pressure drop and statistical properties of oil-water intermittent flow through horizontal pipe

In this paper, oil-water slug flow is studied experimentally. After presenting the experimental set-up and the post-processing tools, flow maps and pressure drops are shown. The main focus of this piece of work is, however, the determination of the statistical behaviour of the elongated oil drops. The characteristic frequency of the process is determined by three estimators: the mean frequency, the most probable frequency, and the so-called diffusional frequency. All the tools give very similar results indicating a regular behaviour of the flow. The regularity was then further proved by means of both diffusional analysis and by the rescaled range analysis. The fractal dimension of the process was also estimated reinforcing again the conclusion that the flow is made up by highly coherent structures.