An Experimental Analysis of Gas-Liquid Flow Breakdown in a T-Junction

When a gas-liquid two-phase flow (GLTPF) enters a parallel separator through a T-junction, it generally splits unevenly. This phenomenon can seriously affect the operation efficiency and safety of the equipment located downstream. In order to investigate these aspects and, more specifically, the so-called bias phenomenon (all gas and liquid flowing to one pipe, while the other pipe is a liquid column that fluctuates up and down), laboratory experiments were carried out by using a T-junction connected to two parallel vertical pipes. Moreover, a GLTPF prediction model based on the principle of minimum potential energy was introduced. The research results indicate that this model can accurately predict the GLTPF state in parallel risers. The boundary of the slug flow and the churn flow in the opposite pipe can be predicted. Overall, according to the results, the pressure drop curves of the two-phase flow in the parallel risers are basically the same when there is no bias phenomenon, but the pressure drop in the parallel riser displays a large deviation when there is a slug flow-churn flow. Only when the parallel riser is in a state of asymmetric flow and one of the risers produces churn flow, the two-phase flow is prone to produce the bias phenomenon.