An experimental study of the momentum rate of a submerged multi-phase jet issuing into a high pressure environment

The threat of oil spills is an ever present danger as companies continue to expand their oil and gas extraction efforts farther into the ocean. During the Deepwater Horizon/Macondo Well oil spill, it was evident that the behavior of oil and gas during a deep-water release is not fully understood. To aid in elucidating this flow behavior, a method was devised and tested for measuring the momentum rate of a submerged two-phase jet issuing into a high pressure environment. Momentum rate data were collected for two-phase flows with air-to-liquid ratios of 10, 20, 30, and 40% for test vessel pressures of 0.689, 1.38, 2.07, 2.78 MPa (100, 200, 300, and 400 psia). As the operating pressure inside of the test vessel increased, the overall momentum rate trend was experimentally shown to decrease.;With knowledge of the momentum rate, other flow parameters such as gas and liquid velocities and void fraction were deduced through the use of an analytical model. These quantities are central to the characterization of any multi-phase flow and help in understanding the relationship between the gas and liquid phases. These parameters also aid in explaining how the flow develops and propagates.