Evaluation of Multiphase Flow Rate Models for Chokes Under Subcritical Oil/Gas/Water Flow Conditions

Abstract The present study addresses itself to the performance assessment of a novel in-line gas-liquid separator. The separator is developed by FRAMES company under the name of SwirlSep based on the interaction of a swirling flow, generated by an innovative devise called swirl cage, and a hollow conical bluff body designed to deviate the gaseous phase internally.. The separator is intended to be implemented within a multiphase flow metering system in oil field gathering stations in the Gulf region. The study represents a preliminary step among a design process including elaborate lab-scale and filed tests. The flow in the gas-liquid separator is studied using Computational Fluid Dynamics CFD. The Shear Stress Transport (SST) k-ω turbulence and Eulerian-Eulerian multiphase models, under different flow conditions, were used to simulate real flow scenarios. The scenarios were chosen to replicate flow conditions that could exist during the operation of oil wells over their lifetime with the aim to provide guidance for proper control of the separator valves. The fraction of the total flow is prescribed at each outlet, using an outflow boundary condition, to mimic the action of the control valves. At the inlet, the phase velocity and volume fraction were prescribed. The outlet streams and their phase’s content were, then, analyzed together with the distribution of the velocity and concentration fields inside the separator. Velocity and pressure drop were found to increase with the increase of the outflow in one outlet when changing the flow split. Flow control, at the outlets, caused an increase of the oil-in-gas entrainment when trying to minimize gas-in-oil entrainment which is a non-trivial task. The effects of the flow split specified appeared downstream of the conical bluff body only when the inflow conditions were kept constant whereas the flow field remained identical upstream of the cone. A recirculation zone was generated in the annular space downstream of the cone and affected the separator performance considerably. The recirculation zone was due to the effect of the higher flow rate towards the gas outlet and disappeared when the flow rate towards the oil outlet tended to be equal or higher. The phase distribution was identical upstream of the cone and depended on the flow split downstream of the cone. The cases considered served as an assessment of the separator performance under different multiphase flow conditions replicating realistic scenarios.

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Geotextiles. Test method for the determination of the filtration behaviour of geotextiles under turbulent water flow conditions

10.3403/30197695 ◽

2013 ◽

Keyword(s):

Water Flow ◽

Test Method ◽

Flow Conditions ◽

Turbulent Water

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Radon removal by aeration: observations on testing, installation and maintenance of domestic treatment units

Water Science & Technology Water Supply ◽

10.2166/ws.2009.449 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 469-475

Author(s):

T. Turtiainen

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Water Flow ◽

Removal Efficiency ◽

Flow Rate ◽

Test Protocol ◽

Household Water ◽

Medium Flow ◽

Removal Efficiencies ◽

Frequent Sampling

Radon is one of the contaminants that sometimes impair the water quality of wells, especially those drilled in bedrock. Domestic radon removal units based on aeration have been commercially available for more than ten years. In order to determine how effectively these units remove radon a new test protocol applying frequent sampling while letting 100 litres of water flow, was developed. This way, removal efficiencies can be more accurately calculated and possible malfunctions detected. Seven models of domestic aerators designed for removing radon from household water were tested. The aerators were based on diffused bubble aeration, spray aeration or jet aeration. The average removal efficiencies for 100 litres with a medium flow rate were 86–100% except for a unit that circulated the aerated water back to the well that had removal efficiency of 80% at the maximum. By conducting a questionnaire study usual problems related to the aeration units were localized and recommendations on maintenance and installation are given accordingly.

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Effect of Water Flow on Underwater Wet Welded A36 Steel

Metals ◽

10.3390/met11050682 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 682

Author(s):

Eko Surojo ◽

Aziz Harya Gumilang ◽

Triyono Triyono ◽

Aditya Rio Prabowo ◽

Eko Prasetya Budiana ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mechanical Properties ◽

Water Flow ◽

Flow Rate ◽

Water Flow Rate ◽

Physical And Mechanical Properties ◽

Shielded Metal Arc Welding ◽

Effect Of Water ◽

Bending Effect ◽

Metal Arc Welding ◽

A36 Steel

Underwater wet welding (UWW) combined with the shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) method has proven to be an effective way of permanently joining metals that can be performed in water. This research was conducted to determine the effect of water flow rate on the physical and mechanical properties (tensile, hardness, toughness, and bending effect) of underwater welded bead on A36 steel plate. The control variables used were a welding speed of 4 mm/s, a current of 120 A, electrode E7018 with a diameter of 4 mm, and freshwater. The results show that variations in water flow affected defects, microstructure, and mechanical properties of underwater welds. These defects include spatter, porosity, and undercut, which occur in all underwater welding results. The presence of flow and an increased flow rate causes differences in the microstructure, increased porosity on the weld metal, and undercut on the UWW specimen. An increase in water flow rate causes the acicular ferrite microstructure to appear greater, and the heat-affected zone (HAZ) will form finer grains. The best mechanical properties are achieved by welding with the highest flow rate, with a tensile strength of 534.1 MPa, 3.6% elongation, a Vickers microhardness in the HAZ area of 424 HV, and an impact strength of 1.47 J/mm2.

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Geometrical Optimization of a Venturi-Type Microbubble Generator Using CFD Simulation and Experimental Measurements

Designs ◽

10.3390/designs5010004 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 4

Author(s):

Dillon Alexander Wilson ◽

Kul Pun ◽

Poo Balan Ganesan ◽

Faik Hamad

Keyword(s):

Water Flow ◽

Flow Rate ◽

Cfd Simulation ◽

Air Flow ◽

Bubble Diameter ◽

Diameter Ratio ◽

Experimental Measurements ◽

Cfd Model ◽

Flow Rates ◽

Throat Diameter

Microbubble generators are of considerable importance to a range of scientific fields from use in aquaculture and engineering to medical applications. This is due to the fact the amount of sea life in the water is proportional to the amount of oxygen in it. In this paper, experimental measurements and computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation are performed for three water flow rates and three with three different air flow rates. The experimental data presented in the paper are used to validate the CFD model. Then, the CFD model is used to study the effect of diverging angle and throat length/throat diameter ratio on the size of the microbubble produced by the Venturi-type microbubble generator. The experimental results showed that increasing water flow rate and reducing the air flow rate produces smaller microbubbles. The prediction from the CFD results indicated that throat length/throat diameter ratio and diffuser divergent angle have a small effect on bubble diameter distribution and average bubble diameter for the range of the throat water velocities used in this study.

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Effect of Fluid Flow on the Corrosion Performance of as-Cast and Heat-Treated Nickel Aluminum Bronze Alloy (UNS C95800) in Saline Solution

Corrosion and Materials Degradation ◽

10.3390/cmd2010004 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 61-77

Author(s):

Hamid Reza Jafari ◽

Ali Davoodi ◽

Saman Hosseinpour

Keyword(s):

Corrosion Resistance ◽

Corrosion Behavior ◽

Flow Rate ◽

Solution Temperature ◽

Aluminum Bronze ◽

Nickel Aluminum ◽

Nacl Solution ◽

Flow Conditions ◽

Heat Treated ◽

Nickel Aluminum Bronze

In this work, the corrosion behavior and surface reactivity of as-cast and heat-treated nickel aluminum bronze casting alloy (UNS C95800) in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution is investigated under stagnant and flow conditions. Increasing flow rate conditions are simulated using a rotating disk electrode from 0 to 9000 revolutions per minute (rpm). Optical micrographs confirm the decrease in the phase fraction of corrosion-sensitive β phase in the microstructure of C95800 after annealing, which, in turn, enhances the corrosion resistance of the alloy. Electrochemical studies including open circuit potentiometry, potentiodynamic polarization, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy are performed to assess the effect of flow rate and heat treatment on the corrosion of samples at 25 and 40 °C in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution. For both as-cast and heat-treated samples, increasing the flow rate (i.e., electrode rotating rate) linearly reduces the corrosion resistance, indicating that the metal dissolution rate is significantly affected by hydrodynamic flow. Increasing the solution temperature negatively impacts the corrosion behavior of the as-cast and heat-treated samples at all flow conditions.

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Net-exergetic, hydraulic and thermal optimization of coaxial heat exchangers using fixed flow conditions instead of fixed flow rates

Geothermal Energy ◽

10.1186/s40517-021-00201-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Tobias Blanke ◽

Markus Hagenkamp ◽

Bernd Döring ◽

Joachim Göttsche ◽

Vitali Reger ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Reynolds Number ◽

Laminar Flow ◽

Mass Flow ◽

Flow Rate ◽

Heat Exchangers ◽

Circular Ring ◽

Flow Conditions ◽

Flow Rates ◽

Mass Flow Rates ◽

Pipe Radius

AbstractPrevious studies optimized the dimensions of coaxial heat exchangers using constant mass flow rates as a boundary condition. They show a thermal optimal circular ring width of nearly zero. Hydraulically optimal is an inner to outer pipe radius ratio of 0.65 for turbulent and 0.68 for laminar flow types. In contrast, in this study, flow conditions in the circular ring are kept constant (a set of fixed Reynolds numbers) during optimization. This approach ensures fixed flow conditions and prevents inappropriately high or low mass flow rates. The optimization is carried out for three objectives: Maximum energy gain, minimum hydraulic effort and eventually optimum net-exergy balance. The optimization changes the inner pipe radius and mass flow rate but not the Reynolds number of the circular ring. The thermal calculations base on Hellström’s borehole resistance and the hydraulic optimization on individually calculated linear loss of head coefficients. Increasing the inner pipe radius results in decreased hydraulic losses in the inner pipe but increased losses in the circular ring. The net-exergy difference is a key performance indicator and combines thermal and hydraulic calculations. It is the difference between thermal exergy flux and hydraulic effort. The Reynolds number in the circular ring is instead of the mass flow rate constant during all optimizations. The result from a thermal perspective is an optimal width of the circular ring of nearly zero. The hydraulically optimal inner pipe radius is 54% of the outer pipe radius for laminar flow and 60% for turbulent flow scenarios. Net-exergetic optimization shows a predominant influence of hydraulic losses, especially for small temperature gains. The exact result depends on the earth’s thermal properties and the flow type. Conclusively, coaxial geothermal probes’ design should focus on the hydraulic optimum and take the thermal optimum as a secondary criterion due to the dominating hydraulics.

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Experimental Characterization of a Modified Airlift Pump

Volume 7: Fluids Engineering Systems and Technologies ◽

10.1115/imece2014-39899 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Afshin Goharzadeh ◽

Keegan Fernandes

Keyword(s):

Water Flow ◽

Flow Rate ◽

High Speed ◽

Water Flow Rate ◽

High Speed Photography ◽

Two Phase ◽

Inner Diameter ◽

Airlift Pump ◽

Flow Map ◽

Churn Flow

This paper presents an experimental investigation on a modified airlift pump. Experiments were undertaken as a function of air-water flow rate for two submergence ratios (ε=0.58 and 0.74), and two different riser geometries (i) straight pipe with a constant inner diameter of 19 mm and (ii) enlarged pipe with a sudden expanded diameter of 19 to 32 mm. These transparent vertical pipes, of 1 m length, were submerged in a transparent rectangular tank (0.45×0.45×1.1 m3). The compressed air was injected into the vertical pipe to lift the water from the reservoir. The flow map regime is established for both configurations and compared with previous studies. The two phase air-water flow structure at the expansion region is experimentally characterized. Pipeline geometry is found to have a significant influence on the output water flow rate. Using high speed photography and electrical conductivity probes, new flow regimes, such as “slug to churn” and “annular to churn” flow, are observed and their influence on the output water flow rate and efficiency are discussed. These experimental results provide fundamental insights into the physics of modified airlift pump.

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