CFD Simulation of Two-Phase Vertical Annular Flow in Both Upward and Downward Direction in a Small Pipe

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ekhwaiter Abobaker ◽  
Abadelhalim Elsanoose ◽  
John Shirokoff ◽  
Mohammad Azizur Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Film Thickness ◽  
Multiphase Flow ◽  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Annular Flow ◽  
Cfd Simulation ◽  
Flow Direction ◽  
Flow Behavior ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Downward Flow ◽  
Disturbance Wave

Abstract Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation is presented to investigate the annular flow behavior in the vertical pipe by using ANSYS Fluent platform 17.2. The study was analyzed complex behavior of annular flow in two cases (upward and downward flow) for different air superficial velocities and range of Reynolds number for water, in order to obtain the effect of orientation flow and increasing superficial gas and liquid velocities on the base film, mean disturbance wave thickness, the average longitudinal size of disturbance wave as well as pressure gradient. For multiphase flow model, the volume of fluid method (VOF) for two-phase flow modelling was used and coupled with RNG k-ε turbulence model to predict fully annular flow structures in the upward and downward flow direction. From CFD simulation results, it is clear to see how increases in air velocity result in reductions in film thickness and increase in pressure gradient. Additionally, the results showed monotonic enhancement of film thickness occurring in tandem with increases in the liquid flow rate. However, due to the effect of gravitational force and interfacial friction, the film thickness and pressure gradient are slightly larger for the upward flow than for the downward flow. The results agree with the recent experimental data that studied the annular flow behavior and pressure drop in the upward and downward flow direction. This study will be very helpful in understanding multiphase flow behavior in natural gas wells.

Liquid-film thickness and disturbance-wave characterization in a vertical, upward, two-phase annular flow of saturated R245fa inside a rectangular channel

2020 ◽  
Vol 132 ◽  
pp. 103412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiago Augusto Moreira ◽  
Roman William Morse ◽  
Kristofer M. Dressler ◽  
Gherhardt Ribatski ◽  
Arganthaël Berson
Keyword(s):  
Film Thickness ◽  
Liquid Film ◽  
Annular Flow ◽  
Rectangular Channel ◽  
Liquid Film Thickness ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Disturbance Wave

CFD Simulation of Multiphase Flow in Concentric Annuli

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amina Shynybayeva ◽  
Luis R. Rojas-Solórzano ◽  
Kristian Sveen
Keyword(s):  
Multiphase Flow ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Cfd Simulation ◽  
Flow Behavior ◽  
Droplet Diameter ◽  
Turbulence Models ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Continuous Phase ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Well Design

Multiphase flow is commonly found in almost every process related to oil and gas industry. The precise prediction of the flow behavior is essential to provide safe and efficient hydrocarbon recovery. An accurate characterization of multiphase flow plays a major role in well design optimization and development of successful production and transportation facilitiess. Even though the hydrodynamic behavior of multiphase flow in various pipe geometries typically found in the industry has been widely studied, there is still very little known about the flow pattern and hydrodynamic conditions presented in horizontal annular geometry. Current work presents Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation of two-phase oil-water flow in horizontal concentric annuli using different turbulence models and Eulerian-Eulerian continuous-disperse interphase drag model. Water was modelled as disperse phase, while oil was considered as continuous phase. Effect of water droplet diameter in the interphase model is extensively discussed in this paper. Results of the simulations are compared to the experimental data for a variety of liquid velocities and water cuts.

scholarly journals MODELLING AIR AND WATER TWO-PHASE ANNULAR FLOW IN A SMALL HORIZONTAL PIPE

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 1660158 ◽  
Author(s):  
JUN YAO ◽  
YUFENG YAO ◽  
ANTONINO ARINI ◽  
STUART MCIIWAIN ◽  
TIMOTHY GORDON
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Film Thickness ◽  
Liquid Film ◽  
Annular Flow ◽  
Cfd Simulation ◽  
Two Phase Flow ◽  
Liquid Film Thickness ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Horizontal Pipe

Numerical simulation using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has been carried out to study air and water two-phase flow in a small horizontal pipe of an inner diameter of 8.8mm, in order to investigate unsteady flow pattern transition behaviours and underlying physical mechanisms. The surface liquid film thickness distributions, determined by either wavy or full annular flow regime, are shown in reasonable good agreement with available experimental data. It was demonstrated that CFD simulation was able to predict wavy flow structures accurately using two-phase flow sub-models embedded in ANSYS-Fluent solver of Eulerian–Eulerian framework, together with a user defined function subroutine ANWAVER-UDF. The flow transient behaviours from bubbly to annular flow patterns and the liquid film distributions revealed the presence of gas/liquid interferences between air and water film interface. An increase of upper wall liquid film thickness along the pipe was observed for both wavy annular and full annular scenarios. It was found that the liquid wavy front can be further broken down to form the water moisture with liquid droplets penetrating upwards. There are discrepancies between CFD predictions and experimental data on the liquid film thickness determined at the bottom and the upper wall surfaces, and the obtained modelling information can be used to assist further 3D user defined function subroutine development, especially when CFD simulation becomes much more expense to model full 3D two-phase flow transient performance from a wavy annular to a fully developed annular type.

Upward Vertical Two-Phase Flow Through an Annulus—Part II: Modeling Bubble, Slug, and Annular Flow

1992 ◽  
Vol 114 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. F. Caetano ◽  
O. Shoham ◽  
J. P. Brill
Keyword(s):  
Flow Pattern ◽  
Annular Flow ◽  
Two Phase Flow ◽  
Flow Behavior ◽  
Bubble Flow ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Flow Through ◽  
Physical Phenomena ◽  
Good Agreement

Mechanistic models have been developed for each of the existing two-phase flow patterns in an annulus, namely bubble flow, dispersed bubble flow, slug flow, and annular flow. These models are based on two-phase flow physical phenomena and incorporate annulus characteristics such as casing and tubing diameters and degree of eccentricity. The models also apply the new predictive means for friction factor and Taylor bubble rise velocity presented in Part I. Given a set of flow conditions, the existing flow pattern in the system can be predicted. The developed models are applied next for predicting the flow behavior, including the average volumetric liquid holdup and the average total pressure gradient for the existing flow pattern. In general, good agreement was observed between the experimental data and model predictions.

Measurement of Liquid Film Thickness in Micro Tube Annular Flow

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroshi Kanno ◽  
Youngbae Han ◽  
Yusuke Saito ◽  
Naoki Shikazono
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Film Thickness ◽  
Liquid Film ◽  
Annular Flow ◽  
Liquid Film Thickness ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Micro Scale ◽  
Film Model ◽  
Annular Film

Heat transfer in micro scale two-phase flow attracts large attention since it can achieve large heat transfer area per density. At high quality, annular flow becomes one of the major flow regimes in micro two-phase flow. Heat is transferred by evaporation or condensation of the liquid film, which are the dominant mechanisms of micro scale heat transfer. Therefore, liquid film thickness is one of the most important parameters in modeling the phenomena. In macro tubes, large numbers of researches have been conducted to investigate the liquid film thickness. However, in micro tubes, quantitative information for the annular liquid film thickness is still limited. In the present study, annular liquid film thickness is measured using a confocal method, which is used in the previous study [1, 2]. Glass tubes with inner diameters of 0.3, 0.5 and 1.0 mm are used. Degassed water and FC40 are used as working fluids, and the total mass flux is varied from G = 100 to 500 kg/m2s. Liquid film thickness is measured by laser confocal displacement meter (LCDM), and the liquid-gas interface profile is observed by a high-speed camera. Mean liquid film thickness is then plotted against quality for different flow rates and tube diameters. Mean thickness data is compared with the smooth annular film model of Revellin et al. [3]. Annular film model predictions overestimated the experimental values especially at low quality. It is considered that this overestimation is attributed to the disturbances caused by the interface ripples.

A preliminary study of two-phase annular flow at microgravity: experimental data of film thickness

2003 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 1203-1220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pieter de Jong ◽  
Kamiel S. Gabriel
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Film Thickness ◽  
Annular Flow ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Preliminary Study

Experimental Study of DRA for Vertical Two-Phase Annular Flow

2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
R. L. J. Fernandes ◽  
B. A. Fleck ◽  
T. R. Heidrick ◽  
L. Torres ◽  
M. G. Rodriguez
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Drag Reduction ◽  
Production Rate ◽  
Annular Flow ◽  
Liquid Holdup ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
High Production Rate ◽  
High Production ◽  
Feasibility Test ◽  
Main Effects

Experimental investigation of drag reduction in vertical two-phase annular flow is presented. The work is a feasibility test for applying drag reducing additives (DRAs) in high production-rate gas-condensate wells where friction in the production tubing limits the production rate. The DRAs are intended to reduce the overall pressure gradient and thereby increase the production rate. Since such wells typically operate in the annular-entrained flow regime, the gas and liquid velocities were chosen such that the experiments were in a vertical two-phase annular flow. The drag reducers had two main effects on the flow. As expected, they reduced the frictional component of the pressure gradient by up to 74%. However, they also resulted in a significant increase in the liquid holdup by up to 27%. This phenomenon is identified as “DRA-induced flooding.” Since the flow was vertical, the increase in the liquid holdup increased the hydrostatic component of the pressure gradient by up to 25%, offsetting some of reduction in the frictional component of the pressure gradient. The DRA-induced flooding was most pronounced at the lowest gas velocities. However, the results show that in the annular flow the net effect will generally be a reduction in the overall pressure gradient by up to 82%. The findings here help to establish an envelope of operations for the application of multiphase drag reduction in vertical flows and indicate the conditions where a significant net reduction of the pressure gradient may be expected.

Phase Relation of Forces Between Multiple Bends

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. C. Belfroid ◽  
H. Pereboom ◽  
N. Gonzalez-Diez ◽  
A. Anantharaman
Keyword(s):  
Multiphase Flow ◽  
Annular Flow ◽  
Flow Behavior ◽  
Flow Characteristics ◽  
Response Analysis ◽  
Force Frequency ◽  
Frequency Response Analysis ◽  
High Frequencies ◽  
Transport Velocity ◽  
Flow Induced Vibrations

Abstract Multiphase flow induced vibrations are difficult to calculate. This is in part the prediction of the force frequency spectrum at a single bend, part the influence of bends on the multiphase flow behavior and therefore the prediction of the multiphase flow characteristics between bends. In this paper, the evolution of the forces between subsequent bends are discussed including the phase relations of the forces on the different bends. For annular flow, the forces between the different bends are incoherent and are more or less random. However, for stratified and especially slug flow, the forces remain coherent up to high frequencies. This means in a frequency response analysis of a piping structure, the transport velocity of the multiphase structures must be taken into account.

Cross-Sectional Imaging of the Liquid Film in Horizontal Two-Phase Annular Flow

Volume 3 ◽  
2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Rodri´guez ◽  
Timothy A. Shedd
Keyword(s):  
Film Thickness ◽  
Liquid Film ◽  
Liquid Flow ◽  
Annular Flow ◽  
Laser System ◽  
Excitation Wavelength ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Annular Regime ◽  
The Waves

Planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) was applied to horizontal air/water two-phase annular flow in order to clearly image the liquid film and interfacial wave behavior at the top, side and bottom of the tube. The visualization section was fabricated from FEP, which has nearly the same refractive index as water at room temperature. This index-matched test section was used to allow imaging of the water to within approximately 10 microns of the 15.1 mm I.D. tube wall. A small amount of dye was added to the water with a peak excitation wavelength near that of a pulsed Nd:YAG laser (532 nm). The laser system generated an approximately 5 ns pulsed light sheet at 30 Hz. Images of the liquid film were captured using a digital video camera with a macro lens for a resolution of about 8.2 microns/pixel. Cross-sectional data at 68 annular flow conditions were obtained. The observations of the liquid film between waves indicated that the film thickness was relatively insensitive to both gas and liquid flow in the annular regime, confirming film thickness measurements reported elsewhere. In addition, the structure of waves changes significantly from wavy-annular, where peaked or cresting waves dominate, to fully annular, where the waves are much more turbulent and unstructured. The wave height decreases with increased gas flow and is relatively insensitive to increased liquid flow in the annular regime. The entrainment of gas in the liquid by the waves is very apparent from these images. Although the precise entrainment mechanisms are not entirely clear, a viable folding action mechanism is proposed. The visualization results will be discussed in relation to both conceptual and computational annular flow modeling.

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