Local velocity and concentration of the single components in water/oil mixtures monitored by means of MRI flow experiments in steady tube flow

In this paper the spatially resolved determination of velocities in two-phase systems consisting of water and oil by means of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging (MRI) techniques is described and applied to steady tube flows with regard to the total flow rate. As MRI offers the possibility to study the flow of multiphase materials spatially resolved with various forms of contrast, even optically opaque water/oil mixtures can be studied in the interior of the material. Besides snapshot images of the actual flow pattern also local velocity and concentration fields of both phases can be obtained separately. The insight into the inner micro flow processes and microstructure allows to characterize fluid mixtures or emulsions. Flow rate and preparation/ mixing method were varied in order to realize changes of the flow pattern and the structure of the mixture during flow. Physical models of the flow behavior and physical stability of these complex systems can be based upon this information.