COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE FLOW STRUCTURE OF POLAR SOLVENT AND UNREFINED HYDROCARBON FLOWING IN A CYLINDRICAL BIFURCATED CHANNEL

Objective: The effect of geometric bifurcated system on flow of fluid may be greatly influenced by the angle of bifurcation or the density, capillary action etc. and other physical properties of the fluid. The aim of this work is to carry out a comparative analysis of the flow structure of polar solvent and unrefined hydrocarbons in a cylindrical bifurcated channel. Materials and Methods: An experimental method was used to study the flow structure of water and crude oil, representing polar solvent and unrefined hydrocarbon respectively flowing through a bifurcated channel, with angles of bifurcation ranging from 10o, 20o, 30o, 40o, 50o and 60o, corresponding to 5o, 10o, 15o, 20o, 25o and 30o measured from the centerline of the main channel. The fluid samples were allowed to flow through the bifurcated channels and the time taken to recover 100ml, 200ml, 300ml 400ml and 500ml in a beaker is recorded. The bifurcated angle is resolved into vertical and horizontal components and the total length for both components obtained, as the flow velocity is computed for both lengths and the results presented. Results: The profile of resulted shows that for polar solvents such as water, the velocity gradient increases as the vertical distance increases and horizontal distance decrease correspondingly due to increasing bifurcation angle, as a similar trend is also observed for crude oil. Conclusion: For both samples representing their respective class of fluid, the result further shows the existence of velocity difference at opposite walls of the bifurcated daughter channels. The wall at higher velocity is usually the site where the skin friction that changes the flow from laminar to turbulent is created. The experimental result confirmed the effects of bifurcation on flow stability to significant in a more viscous fluid. Recommendation:  Fluid samples with different physical properties should be investigated using this experimental technic, and the impact of two-stage bifurcated system can also be investigated to ascertain the degree of stability offer by the geometric bifurcated network system.