Turbulence modulation in liquid-continuous mixtures

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Most western Canadian resource industries rely on pipelines of various lengths to mix or move complex mixtures of liquids, gases and solids. A few examples include oil sand mining and bitumen separation, tailings disposal in hard-rock mining, crude oil production, nuclear power generation, agrichemical production and vaccine production and delivery. Often, turbulent mixing is of primary importance because of a mixture must be relatively well dispersed throughout the suspending medium. In some cases, a mixture with very specifically defined dispersed phase characteristics must be delivered as a final product or as a feedstock to a downstream process. It is widely recognized that the nature of the flow, i.e. turbulence, strongly affects the state of the dispersed phase: for example, the concentration distribution of the dispersed phase, or the size distribution for dispersed gases or liquids. It is also true that the presence of one or more dispersed phases affects the overall flow structure. The specific effect of the dispersed phase on the flow structure depends on the characteristics of the dispersed phase, including concentration, density and diameter of the particles, droplets or bubbles. The proposed research program will examine the pipeline transport of multiphase, liquid-continuous mixtures. Both liquid-liquid and liquid-solid mixtures will be studied. The effect of the dispersed phase on turbulent intensity will be evaluated for both dilute and highly concentrated (up to 40% by volume) mixtures. The results of this research program will advance the current understanding of pipeline transport of multiphase mixtures and will contribute to improved bitumen recovery from mineable oil sands, effective application of pipeline transport in in-situ (SAGD) production facilities and improved flow assurance for the environmentally responsible transport and placement of mineral tailings mixtures.