Numerical simulation of two-phase flow regime in horizontal pipeline and its validation
International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow
ISSN: 0961-5539
Article publication date: 6 July 2018
Issue publication date: 8 August 2018
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 gas-liquid 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.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors appreciate the financial and administrative support from the Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) through the Graduate Assistantship Program to Cambodian national (first author), Ministry of Education Malaysia through the FRGS 0153AB-L03 and PETRONAS Foundation through YUTP Fundamental Research Grant 0153AA-E03. The authors would also like to acknowledge the UTP Gas Separation Research Centre for the office space, software licenses and high-end computing facilities to perform the simulation.
Citation
Ban, S., Pao, W. and Nasif, M.S. (2018), "Numerical simulation of two-phase flow regime in horizontal pipeline and its validation", International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, Vol. 28 No. 6, pp. 1279-1314. https://doi.org/10.1108/HFF-05-2017-0195
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited