Two‐phase flow in smooth and rough fractures: Measurement and correlation by porous‐medium and pipe flow models

Two‐phase (air‐water) flow experiments were conducted in horizontal artificial fractures. The fractures were between glass plates that were either smooth or artificially roughened by gluing a layer of glass beads to them. One smooth fracture with an aperture of 1 mm and three rough fractures, one with the two surfaces in contact and two without contact, were studied. For both types of fractures, the flow structures are similar to those observed in two‐phase flow in a pipe, with structures (bubbles, fingering bubbles, films, and drops) depending on the gas and liquid flow rates. The pressure gradients measured for different liquid and gas velocities were interpreted by three models. First, using Darcy's law leads to relative permeability curves similar to conventional ones for porous media. However, these curves depend not only on saturation but also on flow rates. This effect is caused by inertial forces which are not included in this approach. Second, the standard approach for two‐phase flow in pipes (Lockhart and Martinelli's equation) agrees with experimental results, at least for small pressure gradients. Finally, the best fit was obtained by treating the two phases as one homogeneous phase. All the properties are averaged, and the pressure drop is deduced from an empirical correlation between the two‐phase Reynolds number and the friction factor.