Unified Model for Gas-Liquid Pipe Flow Via Slug Dynamics: Part 1 — Model Development

Author(s):  
Hong-Quan Zhang ◽  
Qian Wang ◽  
Cem Sarica ◽  
James P. Brill

A unified hydrodynamic model is developed for predictions of flow pattern transitions, pressure gradient, liquid holdup and slug characteristics in gas-liquid pipe flow at different inclination angles from −90 to 90 deg. The model is based on the dynamics of slug flow, which shares transition boundaries with all the other flow patterns. By use of the entire film zone as the control volume, the momentum exchange between the slug body and the film zone is introduced into the momentum equations for slug flow. The equations of slug flow are used not only to calculate the slug characteristics, but also to predict transitions from slug flow to other flow patterns. Significant effort has been made to eliminate discontinuities among the closure relationships through careful selection and generalization. The flow pattern classification is also simplified according to the hydrodynamic characteristics of two-phase flow.

2003 ◽  
Vol 125 (4) ◽  
pp. 266-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong-Quan Zhang ◽  
Qian Wang ◽  
Cem Sarica ◽  
James P. Brill

A unified hydrodynamic model is developed for predictions of flow pattern transitions, pressure gradient, liquid holdup and slug characteristics in gas-liquid pipe flow at all inclination angles from −90° to 90° from horizontal. The model is based on the dynamics of slug flow, which shares transition boundaries with all the other flow patterns. By use of the entire film zone as the control volume, the momentum exchange between the slug body and the film zone is introduced into the momentum equations for slug flow. The equations of slug flow are used not only to calculate the slug characteristics, but also to predict transitions from slug flow to other flow patterns. Significant effort has been made to eliminate discontinuities among the closure relationships through careful selection and generalization. The flow pattern classification is also simplified according to the hydrodynamic characteristics of two-phase flow.


Author(s):  
Bai Bofeng ◽  
Liu Maolong ◽  
Su Wang ◽  
Zhang Xiaojie

An experimental study was conducted on the air-water two-phase flow patterns in the bed of rectangular cross sections containing spheres of regular distribution. Three kinds of glass spheres with different diameters (3 mm, 6 mm, and 8 mm) were used for the establishment of the test section. By means of visual observations of the two-phase flow through the test section, it was discovered that five different flow patterns occurred within the experimental parameter ranges, namely, bubbly flow, bubbly-slug flow, slug flow, slug-annular flow, and annular flow. A correlation for the bubble and slug diameter in the packed beds was proposed, which was an extended expression of the Tung/Dhir model, Jamialahmadi’s model, and Schmidt’s model. Three correlations were proposed to calculate the void friction of the flow pattern transition in bubble flow, slug flow, and annular flow based on the bubble model in the pore region. The experimental result showed that the modified Tung and Dhir model of the flow pattern transition was in better agreement with the experimental data compared with Tung and Dhir’s model.


Author(s):  
R. J. Wilkens ◽  
S. R. Glassmeyer ◽  
G. J. Rosebrock ◽  
K. M. Storage ◽  
T. M. Storage

A set of experiments was performed to study flow pattern suppression in gas-liquid pipe flow by means of surfactant additive. Results suggest that addition of the surfactant to gas-liquid flow significantly reduces the occurrence of slug flow. In addition, previously unreported flow patterns were observed to exist between slug and dispersed bubble flows. It is concluded that new mechanisms for slug flow transition need to be considered.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faraj Ben Rajeb ◽  
Syed Imtiaz ◽  
Yan Zhang ◽  
Amer Aborig ◽  
Mohamed M. Awad ◽  
...  

Abstract Slug flow is one of the most common flow patterns in non-Newtonian two-phase flow in pipes. It is a very common occurrence in gas-liquid two-phase flow in the pipe. Usually, it is an unfavorable flow pattern due to its unsteady nature, intermittency as well as high pressure drop. The differences between slug flow and elongated bubble flow are not clear because usually these two types of flow combined under one flow category. In general, these two-phase flow regimes are commonly defined as intermittent flow. In the present study, pressure gradient, and wave behavior in slug flow have been investigated depending on experimental work. In addition, void fraction has been estimated regarding available superficial liquid and gas velocities. The experimental records of superficial velocities of gas and liquid for slug flow and other flow patterns is used to create flow regime map for the gas non-Newtonian flow system. The effect of investigated flow regime velocities for non-Newtonian/gas flow on pressure drop and void fraction is reported. Pressure drop has been discovered to be reduced in slug flow more than other flow patterns due to high shear thinning behavior.


2003 ◽  
Vol 125 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong-Quan Zhang ◽  
Eissa M. Al-Safran ◽  
Subash S. Jayawardena ◽  
Clifford L. Redus ◽  
Cem Sarica ◽  
...  

Hilly-terrain pipelines consist of interconnected horizontal, uphill and downhill sections. Slug flow experiences a transition from one state to another as the pipe inclination angle changes. Normally, slugs dissipate if the upward inclination becomes smaller or the downward inclination becomes larger, and slug generation occurs vice versa. Appropriate prediction of the slug characteristics is crucial for the design of pipeline and downstream facilities. In this study, slug dissipation and generation in a valley pipeline configuration (horizontal-downhill-uphill-horizontal) were modeled by use of the method proposed by Zhang et al. The method was developed from the unsteady continuity and momentum equations for two-phase slug flow by considering the entire film zone as the control volume. Computed results are compared with experimental measurements at different air-mineral oil flow rate combinations. Good agreement is observed for the change of slug body length to slug unit length ratio.


Author(s):  
Luis Enrique Ortiz-Vidal ◽  
Oscar M. H. Rodriguez ◽  
Njuki Mureithi

Gas-liquid pipe flow is common in nuclear, gas & oil, refrigeration and power generation industries, where gas-liquid mixtures are transported in piping systems. The mixtures flows in different flow patterns, such as bubbly, slug and annular, generating dynamic fluid forces which may induce structural vibration. In many industrial cases, Flow-Induced Vibrations (FIV) are an intrinsic part of the piping operation and does not present risks that may lead to structural component failures. In this sense, the information available on this topic is quite scanty. In this paper, we present an in-depth discussion about the phenomenology of the FIV due to two-phase pipe flow. A set of 32 two-phase horizontal flow conditions was collected, including bubbly, slug and dispersed flow-patterns. The homogeneous mixture velocity J was in the range of 0.5 to 25 m/s, with homogeneous void fractions of β = 10%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 95%. Signals of acceleration were acquired to correlate pipe vibration and two-phase flow parameters. Results show higher acceleration levels in slug and dispersed than in bubbly flow. We find that the acceleration frequency response contains useful information of the flow. Comparisons with single-phase flow are also presented. Finally, an exploratory experimental technique to predict two-phase flow pattern from vibration response based on the combination resonance caused by both single and two-phase flow is proposed. The results indicate that the proposed-technique is acceptable to recognize intermittent flow patterns in two-phase flow.


2005 ◽  
Vol 128 (1) ◽  
pp. 164-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Wilkens ◽  
D. K. Thomas ◽  
S. R. Glassmeyer

A set of experiments was performed to study flow pattern suppression in horizontal air-water pipe flow by means of surfactant additive. Results suggest that addition of the surfactant to the gas-liquid flow significantly reduces the occurrence of slug flow. In addition, previously unreported flow patterns were observed to exist between slug and dispersed bubble flows. It is concluded that new mechanisms for slug flow transition need to be considered.


Author(s):  
Aritra Sur ◽  
Dong Liu

Gas-liquid two-phase flow in microchannels with hydraulic diameters of 100–500 μm exhibits drastically different flow behaviors from its counterpart in conventional macroscopic channels. Two particular issues are how to determine the two-phase flow patterns and how to predict the two-phase pressure drop at given flow conditions in these microchannels. This paper presents an experimental study of adiabatic two-phase flow of air-water mixture in circular microchannels with inner diameters of 100, 180 and 324 μm, respectively, to investigate the effects of channel size and phase velocity on the two-phase flow pattern and pressure drop. The air and water superficial velocities were in the range of 0.01–120 m/s and 0.005–5 m/s. Two-phase flow patterns were visualized using highspeed photographic technique. Four basic flow patterns, namely, bubbly flow, slug flow, ring flow and annular flow, were observed. The two-phase flow maps were then constructed and the transition boundaries between different flow regimes were identified. It was found that the slug flow is the dominant two-phase flow pattern in microchannels, and the transition boundaries generally shift to regions of higher gas superficial velocities as the channel dimension decreases. The experimental measurements of two-phase pressure drop were compared to the predictions from the available two-phase models in the literature. Results show that the flow pattern-based models provide the best prediction of two-phase pressure drop in microchannels.


Author(s):  
Weilin Qu ◽  
Seok-Mann Yoon ◽  
Issam Mudawar

Knowledge of flow pattern and flow pattern transitions is essential to the development of reliable predictive tools for pressure drop and heat transfer in two-phase micro-channel heat sinks. In the present study, experiments were conducted with adiabatic nitrogen-water two-phase flow in a rectangular micro-channel having a 0.406 × 2.032 mm cross-section. Superficial velocities of nitrogen and water ranged from 0.08 to 81.92 m/s and 0.04 to 10.24 m/s, respectively. Flow patterns were first identified using high-speed video imaging, and still photos were then taken for representative patterns. Results reveal that the dominant flow patterns are slug and annular, with bubbly flow occurring only occasionally; stratified and churn flow were never observed. A flow pattern map was constructed and compared with previous maps and predictions of flow pattern transition models. Annual flow is identified as the dominant flow pattern for conditions relevant to two-phase micro-channel heat sinks, and forms the basis for development of a theoretical model for both pressure drop and heat transfer in micro-channels. Features unique to two-phase micro-channel flow, such as laminar liquid and gas flows, smooth liquid-gas interface, and strong entrainment and deposition effects are incorporated into the model. The model shows good agreement with experimental data for water-cooled heat sinks.


Author(s):  
Valente Herna´ndez P. ◽  
Florencio Sa´nchez S. ◽  
Miguel Toledo V. ◽  
Georgiy Polupan

In order to observe the 90° elbows performance as phase separators in an air-water two-phase flow, experimental results for the phase split which occurs at a 90° branched elbow are presented. The branched elbow geometry was varied in order to have three (branch diameter / elbow diameter) ratios and three branch inclination angles. Also the pressure was monitored at different points of the elbow with ramification in order to examine the pressure drop effect. The flow pattern upstream was mainly slug flow. First, the analysis of the main independent variables effect, (superficial velocities, branch inclination angle, ratio of diameters and pressure gradients) was carried out, then a correlation for the phase split was developed and, finally a comparison was made with data of phase separation in T junctions obtained by Azzopardi [1] and Soliman [2], as a result, a better behavior as phase separator was found for the elbow.


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