Numerical simulation of two-phase flow regime in horizontal pipeline and its validation

Abstract

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to investigate oil-gas slug formation in horizontal straight pipe and its associated pressure gradient, slug liquid holdup and slug frequency. Design/methodology/approach-The abrupt change in gas/liquid velocities, which causes transition of flow patterns, was analyzed using incompressible volume of fluid method to capture the dynamic gasliquid interface. The validity of present model and its methodology was validated using Baker's flow regime chart for 3.15 inches diameter horizontal pipe and with existing experimental data to ensure its correctness. Findings-The present paper proposes simplified correlations for liquid holdup and slug frequency by comparison with numerous existing models. The paper also identified correlations that can be used in operational oil and gas industry and several outlier models that may not be applicable. Research limitations/implications-The correlation may be limited to the range of material properties used in this paper. Practical implications-Numerically derived liquid holdup and holdup frequency agreed reasonably with the experimentally derived correlations. Social implications-The models could be used to design pipeline and piping systems for oil and gas production. Originality/value-The paper simulated all the seven flow regimes with superior results compared to existing methodology. New correlations derived numerically are compared to published experimental correlations to understand the difference between models.

Numerical evaluation of separation efficiency in converging T-junction with slug flow

“…To generate a good mesh, many factors were considered such as desired solution accuracy; size and shape of the geometric domain; computational capacity; required mesh quality at boundary layers; and simulation topology. For the k-ε turbulence model with wall treatment functions, a structured hexahedral mesh was recommended instead of tetrahedral mesh (Ban et al , 2018). Tetrahedral meshes are shown in Figure 5 (a), (b) and (c) are shortcuts to the generation of an acceptable mesh without proper due consideration for two-phase interface capture, and is not recommended for slug flow’s behavior.…”

“…Therefore, hexahedral meshing was adopted for all simulations in this study. The mesh quality assurance followed the procedure mentioned in Ban et al (2018) and resulted in mesh orthogonal quality of 0.75 (best cells closer to 1).…”

Experimental and numerical studies on the corrosion properties of AISI 316L stainless steel in two-phase upward slug flows

“…However, the aperiodic characteristics of slug flow often lead to great difficulties in determining the hydromechanical effects on corrosion rate from a purely experimental approach (Nogueira et al, 2003). Numerical investigations can just about make up for the shortcomings of experiments and have been an effective complement to experiments (Akbarian et al, 2018;Ban & Pao, 2018). Owing to the advantages of convenience, celerity, and economy, the numerical method has been used for many engineering simulations, for example, the estimation and optimization of flutter speed of a typical wing in the diesel engine and the simulation of a snubber in a CNG station (Farzaneh-Gord et al, 2019;Ghalandari et al, 2019).…”

Experimental investigation of gas-brine liquid flow in horizontal pipeline

“…There were multiple studies carried out to understand two-phase gas-liquid flow in the past which included Kong and Kim [2], Mandhane et al, [16], Chen et al, [17], Kumar et al, [18], and Ban et al [19]. One of the earlier studies was conducted by Mandhane et al [16] where they compared their flow patterns, particularly in gas-liquid systems with data from University of Calgary Multiphase Pipe Flow data library.…”

“…Furthermore, the researchers noted that the usage of high-speed camera is vital in capturing the transitions of flow patterns. Ban et al [19] conducted a simulation study of gas-oil flow patterns in a horizontal pipe. Their study focused on the effects of pressure drop, liquid holdup and slug frequency towards slug formation where the model was validated with Baker's flow regime chart.…”