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Simulation of Gas-Liquid Flow Patterns in Vertical, Horizontal and Inclined Pipes and Assessment of Empirical Models

Khajezadeh, Vahid | 2017

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  1. Type of Document: M.Sc. Thesis
  2. Language: English
  3. Document No: 49860 (66)
  4. University: Sharif University of Technology, International Campus, Kish Island
  5. Department: Science and Engineering
  6. Advisor(s): Fatemi, Mobeen
  7. Abstract:
  8. Multiphase flows are commonly encountered in oil and gas industries. Flow fields in production operations are often complex and include multiphase flows of gas and liquid. The prediction of pressure gradients, liquid holdup and flow patterns occurring during the simultaneous flow of gas and liquid in pipes and wellbores is necessary in designing production facilities. Previously, due to their complex nature, these flow patterns have been mostly investigated only experimentally and empirical correlations based on the experimental data. From another point of view, it is almost impossible to experimentally realize all the flowing conditions for each of the flowing patterns. Nowadays, computer facilities provide the tool to construct and use large-scale computational models and calculate these complex two-phase flow types. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) can simulate many processes by using mathematical modeling based on numerical mass, energy and momentum continuity equations. Simulation of these flow patterns can be useful and reliable if the physics of models is sufficiently accurate. In this work, using commercial CFD software, exploratory numerical simulations of liquid-gas flows in horizontal, vertical and inclined pipes will be conducted and compared. The idea is to generate a reliable model and use it to visualize and better understand the dynamics of transitions between different flow regimes occurring in pipes. The objective of this research is to develop a COMSOL mechanistic model for simulation of gas liquid two-phase flow and use the experimentally validated model to provide thorough insight and understanding of the effect of different operational parameters such as inlet gas-liquid ratio, flow rate and flow inclination angle on the liquid holdup and pressure drop along the pipe. Obtained critical parameters will be compared with experimental results and available empirical correlations
  9. Keywords:
  10. Flow Regime ; Two-Phase Turbulent Flow ; Gas-Liquid Two Phase Flow ; Horizontal Pipe ; Vertical Pipe ; Liquid Hold up

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