(554h) Three-Phase Air-Liquid-Liquid Gravity Driven Flow from Storage Tank

Applications of liquid draining are in fuel feed systems, liquid rocket systems, bathtubs, kitchen sinks, and nuclear reactors. It is difficult to understand the interfacial dynamics of two immiscible flows in a discharge pipe. Selective draining is a special case in the draining of stratified liquid. Majorly studied deals with two liquids of equal viscosity (µ1=µ2). The present study deals with two different viscosity of the liquid (µ1≠µ2). The study is enthused by the requirement of an approach that involves determining the topological transition behavior of interfaces that helps to simplify the flow of fluid. Both an experimental and numerical study is focused on the combined effect of liquid property and eccentricity on flow inside discharge pipe. Detail of experimental setup as shown in figure 1. Series of experiments has been carried out using water and hydraulic oil as a working liquid with different eccentric ports. Initially, the tank is filled with equal water and oil height. The discharge pipe is located at the center of the bottom base of the tank. As a result, Continuous transformation of phases from a single-phase (liquid) to two-phase flow (liquid-liquid) and then three-phase flow (liquid–liquid–gas) are experimentally as well as numerically observed inside the discharge pipe. Various flow regimes are observed. Initially, single-phase flow, core annular flow (oil in the core liquid, water in the surrounding liquid), bubbly flow followed by slug flow, and fully annular flow are observed. It is also noted that the Reynolds number inside the discharge pipe is higher in single phase flow than the core annular flow.