An inverse dispersed multiphase flow model for liquid production rate determination

The aim of this study is to develop a model for the determination of the superficial velocities in horizontal and slightly inclined oil–water pipe flow conditions by using pressure gradient and mixture density information. In this article an inverse model is suggested for a dispersion of oil in water and of water in oil. This approach permits to select dispersed flow conditions from a set of experimental data, and uses a new hybrid model for the effective viscosity. A set of 310 oil–water experimental data points collected on an experimental set-up of length L = 15 m and diameter D = 8.28 cm at various (slight) orientations is used to validate the inverse method. The comparison between model reconstructions and measured flow velocities show a reasonable agreement.