Three-phasegas–liquid–liquidflowsinthesteadyandtransientstatesOriginalResearchArticle

Three-phase(gas–liquid–liquid)flowsareimportantinanumberofindustrialcontexts.Themanifestationsandnatureofthree-phaseflowsarediscussedandrecentworkatImperialCollegeisreviewed.Flowpatternsinthree-phaseflowsarecomplexandvaryconsiderablyfromsystemtosystem.Timeaveragevaluesofpressuredropandhold-upshowcharacteristicpeaksasafunctionof“watercut”(fractionbyvolumeofwaterintheliquidphase).Measurementsonstratifiedandslugflowsarereviewedandcasesoftransientflows(wheretheinputflowischangedsuddenly)aredescribed.Finally,predictionsmethodsforthree-phaseflowsarereviewed.