Pressure Effects on Pressure Gradient and Liquid Holdup in Two-Phase Oil-Gas Low-Liquid-Loading Flow in Horizontal Pipes

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duc H. Vuong ◽  
Cem Sarica ◽  
Eduardo Pereyra ◽  
Abdelsalam Al-Sarkhi
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Pressure Effects ◽  
Liquid Holdup ◽  
Liquid Loading ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Horizontal Pipes ◽  
Oil Gas

Pressure Effects on Low-Liquid-Loading Oil/Gas Flow in Slightly Upward Inclined Pipes: Flow Pattern, Pressure Gradient, and Liquid Holdup

SPE Journal ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (05) ◽  
pp. 2221-2238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendy T. Rodrigues ◽  
Eduardo Pereyra ◽  
Cem Sarica
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Flow Pattern ◽  
Slug Flow ◽  
Annular Flow ◽  
Flow Patterns ◽  
Pressure Effects ◽  
Liquid Holdup ◽  
Liquid Loading ◽  
Interfacial Roughness ◽  
Oil Gas

Summary This paper studied the effects of system pressure on oil/gas low–liquid–loading flow in a slightly upward inclined pipe configuration using new experimental data acquired in a high–pressure flow loop. Flow rates are representative of the flow in wet–gas transport pipelines. Results for flow pattern observations, pressure gradient, liquid holdup, and interfacial–roughness measurements were calculated and compared to available predictive models. The experiments were carried out at three system pressures (1.48, 2.17, and 2.86 MPa) in a 0.155–m–inside diameter (ID) pipe inclined at 2° from the horizontal. Isopar™ L oil and nitrogen gas were the working fluids. Liquid superficial velocities ranged from 0.01 to 0.05 m/s, while gas superficial velocities ranged from 1.5 to 16 m/s. Measurements included pressure gradient and liquid holdup. Flow visualization and wire–mesh–sensor (WMS) data were used to identify the flow patterns. Interfacial roughness was obtained from the WMS data. Three flow patterns were observed: pseudo-slug, stratified, and annular. Pseudo-slug is characterized as an intermittent flow where the liquid does not occupy the whole pipe cross section as does a traditional slug flow. In the annular flow pattern, the bulk of the liquid was observed to flow at the pipe bottom in a stratified configuration; however, a thin liquid film covered the whole pipe circumference. In both stratified and annular flow patterns, the interface between the gas core and the bottom liquid film presented a flat shape. The superficial gas Froude number, FrSg, was found to be an important dimensionless parameter to scale the pressure effects on the measured parameters. In the pseudo-slug flow pattern, the flow is gravity–dominated. Pressure gradient is a function of FrSg and liquid superficial velocity, vSL. Liquid holdup is independent of vSL and a function of FrSg. In the stratified and annular flow patterns, the flow is friction–dominated. Both pressure gradient and liquid holdup are functions of FrSg and vSL. Interfacial–roughness measurements showed a small variation in the stratified and annular flow patterns. Model comparison produced mixed results, depending on the specific flow conditions. A relation between the measured interfacial roughness and the interfacial friction factor was proposed, and the results agreed with the existing measurements.

Experimental Study of Low Liquid Loading Gas-Liquid Flow in Near-Horizontal Pipes

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas R. Olive ◽  
Hong-Quan Zhang ◽  
Clifford L. Redus ◽  
James P. Brill
Keyword(s):  
Flow Rate ◽  
Annular Flow ◽  
Film Flow ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Flow Loop ◽  
Liquid Holdup ◽  
Liquid Loading ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Horizontal Pipes ◽  
Liquid Film Flow

Abstract Gas-liquid two-phase flow exists extensively in the transportation of hydrocarbon fluids. A more precise prediction of liquid holdup in near-horizontal, wet-gas pipelines is needed in order to better predict pressure drop and size downstream processing facilities. The most important parameters are pipe geometry (pipe diameter and orientation), physical properties of the gas and liquid (density, viscosity and surface tension) and flow conditions (velocity, temperature and pressure). Stratified flow and annular flow are the two flow patterns observed most often in near-horizontal pipelines under low liquid loading conditions. Low liquid loading is commonly referred to as cases in which liquid loading is less than 1,100 m3/MMm3 (200 bbl/MMscf). A previous study by Meng [1] was carried out on a new low liquid loading flow loop. A transparent test section (50.8-mm inner diameter and 19-m long) could be inclined within ± 2° from the horizontal. Mineral oil was used as the liquid and air was used as the gas phase. A surprising phenomenon was observed with air-oil flow; at high gas velocities (annular flow), liquid film flow rate, liquid holdup and pressure gradient decreased as liquid velocity increased. Low liquid loading gas-liquid two-phase flow in near-horizontal pipes was studied for air-water flow in the present study, in order to investigate the effects of the liquid properties on flow characteristics. This study was carried out on the same 2-in. ID flow loop used by Meng. The measured parameters included gas flow rate, liquid flow rate, pressure, differential pressure, temperature, liquid holdup, pipe wetted perimeter, liquid film flow rate, droplet entrainment fraction and droplet deposition rate. A new phenomenon was observed with air-water flow at low superficial velocities and with a liquid loading larger than 600 m3/MMm3. The liquid holdup increased as gas superficial velocity increased.

Experimental Study of Low Liquid Loading Gas-Liquid Flow in Near-Horizontal Pipes

2003 ◽  
Vol 125 (4) ◽  
pp. 294-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas R. Olive ◽  
Hong-Quan Zhang ◽  
Qian Wang ◽  
Clifford L. Redus ◽  
James P. Brill
Keyword(s):  
Water Flow ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Liquid Flow ◽  
Two Phase Flow ◽  
Liquid Density ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Liquid Holdup ◽  
Liquid Loading ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Horizontal Pipes

Gas-liquid two-phase flow exists extensively in the transportation of hydrocarbon fluids. A more precise prediction of liquid holdup in near-horizontal, wet-gas pipelines is needed in order to better predict pressure drop and size downstream processing facilities. The most important parameters are pipe geometry (pipe diameter and orientation), physical properties of the gas and liquid (density, viscosity and surface tension) and flow conditions (velocity, temperature and pressure). Stratified flow and annular flow are the two flow patterns observed most often in near-horizontal pipelines under low liquid loading conditions. Low liquid loading is commonly referred to as cases in which liquid loading is less than 1,100m3/MMm3 (200 bbl/MMscf). Low liquid loading gas-liquid two-phase flow at −1° downward pipe was studied for air-water flow in the present study. The measured parameters included gas flow rate, liquid flow rate, pressure, differential pressure, temperature, liquid holdup, pipe wetted perimeter, liquid film flow rate, droplet entrainment fraction and droplet deposition rate. A new phenomenon was observed with air-water flow at low superficial velocities and with a liquid loading larger than 600m3/MMm3. The liquid holdup increased as gas superficial velocity increased. In order to investigate the effects of the liquid properties on flow characteristics, the experimental results for air-water flow are compared with the results for air-oil flow provided by Meng. (1999, “Low Liquid Loading Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow In Near-Horizontal Pipes,” Ph.D. Dissertation, U. of Tulsa.)

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.

scholarly journals Optimization and Extended Applicability of Simplified Slug Flow Model for Liquid-Gas Flow in Horizontal and Near Horizontal Pipes

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 842
Author(s):  
Tea-Woo Kim ◽  
Nam-Sub Woo ◽  
Sang-Mok Han ◽  
Young-Ju Kim
Keyword(s):  
Slug Flow ◽  
Pressure Loss ◽  
Gas Flow ◽  
Flow Model ◽  
Flow Coefficient ◽  
Coefficient Of Determination ◽  
Liquid Holdup ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Horizontal Pipes ◽  
Image Velocimetry

The accurate prediction of pressure loss for two-phase slug flow in pipes with a simple and powerful methodology has been desired. The calculation of pressure loss has generally been performed by complicated mechanistic models, most of which require the iteration of many variables. The objective of this study is to optimize the previously proposed simplified slug flow model for horizontal pipes, extending the applicability to turbulent flow conditions, i.e., high mixture Reynolds number and near horizontal pipes. The velocity field previously measured by particle image velocimetry further supports the suggested slug flow model which neglects the pressure loss in the liquid film region. A suitable prediction of slug characteristics such as slug liquid holdup and translational velocity (or flow coefficient) is required to advance the accuracy of calculated pressure loss. Therefore, the proper correlations of slug liquid holdup, flow coefficient, and friction factor are identified and utilized to calculate the pressure gradient for horizontal and near horizontal pipes. The optimized model presents a fair agreement with 2191 existing experimental data (0.001 ≤ μL ≤ 0.995 Pa∙s, 7 ≤ ReM ≤ 227,007 and −9 ≤ θ ≤ 9), showing −3% and 0.991 as values of the average relative error and the coefficient of determination, respectively.

Pressure gradient and holdup in horizontal two-phase gas–liquid flows with low liquid loading

2000 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 1525-1543 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Badie ◽  
C.P. Hale ◽  
C.J. Lawrence ◽  
G.F. Hewitt
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Liquid Loading ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Liquid Flows

Analysis and Modeling of Liquid Holdup in Low Liquid Loading Two-Phase Flow Using Computational Fluid Dynamics and Experimental Data

2020 ◽  
Vol 143 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Ballesteros ◽  
Nicolás Ratkovich ◽  
Eduardo Pereyra
Keyword(s):  
Fluid Dynamics ◽  
Experimental Data ◽  
Computational Fluid Dynamics ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Liquid Holdup ◽  
Liquid Loading ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Acceptable Error ◽  
Pharmaceutical Industries

Abstract Low liquid loading flow occurs very commonly in the transport of any kind of wet gas, such as in the oil and gas, the food, and the pharmaceutical industries. However, most studies that analyze this type of flow do not cover actual industry fluids and operating conditions. This study focused then on modeling this type of flow in medium-sized (6-in [DN 150] and 10-in [DN 250]) pipes, using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. When comparing with experimental data from the University of Tulsa, the differences observed between experimental and CFD data for the liquid holdup and the pressure drop seemed to fall within acceptable error, around 20%. Additionally, different pipe sections from a Colombian gas pipeline were simulated with a natural gas-condensate mixture to analyze the effect of pipe inclination and operation variables on liquid holdup, in real industry conditions. It was noticed that downward pipe inclinations favored smooth stratified flow and decreased liquid holdup in an almost linear fashion, while upward inclinations generated unsteady wavy flows, or even a possible annular flow, and increased liquid holdup and liquid entrainment into the gas phase.

Performance of Two-Phase Flow Models on the Prediction of Oscillatory Flow Conditions

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catalina Posada ◽  
Paulo Waltrich
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Steady State ◽  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Two Phase Flow ◽  
Percentage Error ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Liquid Holdup ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Flow Models ◽  
Absolute Percentage Error

The present investigation presents a comparative study between two-phase flow models and experimental data. Experimental data was obtained using a 42 m long, 0.05 m ID tube system. The experimental data include conditions for pressures ranging from 1.2 to 2.8 bara, superficial liquid velocities 0.02–0.3 m/s, and superficial gas velocity ranges 0.17–26 m/s. The experimental data was used to evaluate the performance of steady-state empirical and mechanistic models while estimating liquid holdup and pressure gradient under steady-state and oscillatory conditions. The purpose of this analysis is first to evaluate the accuracy of the models predicting the liquid holdup and pressure gradient under steady-state conditions. Then, after evaluating the models under state-steady conditions, the same models are used to predict the same parameters for oscillatory and periodic conditions for similar gas and liquid velocities. The transient multiphase flow simulator OLGA, which has been widely used in the oil and gas industry, was implemented to model one oscillatory case to evaluate the prediction improvement while using a transient instead of a steady-state model to predict oscillatory flows. For the model with best performance for steady-state pressure gradient prediction, the absolute percentage error is 12% for Uls = 0.02 m/s and 5% for Uls = 0.3. For oscillatory conditions, the absolute percentage error is 30% for Uls = 0.02 m/s and 4% for Uls = 0.3. OLGA results underpredict the experimental pressure gradient under oscillatory conditions with errors up to 30%. Therefore, it was possible to conclude that the models can predict the average of the oscillatory data almost as well as for steady-state conditions.

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