Slug Frequency in Horizontal Pipeline Subject to a Sudden Contraction: State of the Art and Laboratory Testing Data

Ibtissem Belgacem; Reda Mekhlouf

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ep.20180202.15

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Slug Frequency in Horizontal Pipeline Subject to a Sudden Contraction: State of the Art and Laboratory Testing Data

Ibtissem Belgacem, Reda Mekhlouf

Published in Engineering Physics (Volume 2, Issue 2)

Received: 16 October 2018 Accepted: 7 November 2018 Published: 25 December 2018

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Abstract

Liquid-gas two-phase flows are widely encountered in industrial applications including chemical processes, petroleum engineering and energy manufacturing units systems. Of all flow patterns encountered in field operations, slug flow is the dominant one in horizontal and near horizontal pipelines, and is also the most complicated one. Of all flow topological configurations, slug flow is the most concerning from the operational perspectives. It is characterized by an alternate flow of liquid slugs and gas pockets, resulting in an inherently unsteady hydrodynamic behavior. Frequency of the slug has important significance on gas-liquid two-phase flow. This paper presents the results of experimental study of gas-liquid slug flow in a horizontal pipe subjected or not to a sudden contraction. The first objective of this study is to present a state -of -the art of correlations concerning slug frequency; an analysis on the accuracy of these correlations is performed based on direct comparison against experimental data. It has been found that none of the slug frequency correlation was able to produce accurate prediction. In this study, the effects of sudden contraction on slug frequency regime were also investigated experimentally through the analysis of slug persistence and frequency, it has been found that: i) the slug flow prevails before and after the contraction, ii) frequencies of the structures persist across the contraction.

Published in	Engineering Physics (Volume 2, Issue 2)
DOI	10.11648/j.ep.20180202.15
Page(s)	58-65
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2018. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Two-Phase Flow, Slug, Frequency, Closure Equations, Contraction

References

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[2]	Taitel, Y., & Dukler, A. E. (1976). A model for predicting flow regime transitions in horizontal and near horizontal gas‐liquid flow. AIChE Journal, 22(1), 47-55.
[3]	Belgacem, I., Salhi, Y., SI-Ahmed, E. K., Legrand, J. (2105). Development and statistical characterization of slug in two-phase flow along horizontal pipeline “. Mechanics & Industry.
[4]	Gregory, G. A., Scott, D. A., 1969. Correlation of liquid slug velocity and frequency in horizontal cocurrent gas–liquid slug flow. AIChE J. 42, pp. 901–907.
[5]	Greskovich, E. J., & Shrier, A. L. (1972). Slug frequency in horizontal gas-liquid slug flow. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Process Design and Development, 11(2), 317-318.
[6]	Taitel, Y. and A. E. Dukler, 1977. A Model For Slug Frequency During Gas-liquid Flow in Horizontal and Near-Horizontal Gas-Liquid Flow, Int. J. of Multiphase Flow, Vol. 19, No. 5, pp. 829-838.
[7]	Heywood, N. I., & Richardson, J. F. (1979). Slug flow of air—water mixtures in a horizontal pipe: Determination of liquid holdup by γ-ray absorption. Chemical Engineering Science, 34(1), 17-30.
[8]	Tronconi, E., 1990. Prediction of slug frequency in horizontal two-phase slug flow. AIChE J. vol. 36, pp. 701–709.
[9]	Nydal, O. J., Pintus, S., Andreussi, P., 1992. Statistical characterization of slug flow in horizontal pipes. Int. J. Multiphase Flow 18, pp. 439–453.
[10]	Hill, T. J., & Wood, D. G. (1990). A new approach to the prediction of slug frequency. In 65 th Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition of SPE, September (pp. 23-26).
[11]	Hill, T. J., & Wood, D. G. (1994). Slug flow: Occurrence, consequences, and prediction (No. CONF-940879--). Society of Petroleum Engineers, Richardson, TX (United States).
[12]	Manolis, I., Mendes-Tatsis, M., Hewitt, G., 1995. The effect of pressure on slug frequency on two-phase horizontal flow. Presented at the 2nd International Conference on Multiphase Flow, Kyoto, Japan (cité par El safran 2009).
[13]	Woods, B. D., Hanratty, T. J., 1999. Influence of Froude number on physical processes determining frequency of slugging in horizontal gas–liquid flows. Int. J. Multiphase Flow vol. 25, pp. 1195–1223.
[14]	Zabaras, G., 2000. Prediction of slug frequency for gas/liquid flows. SPE 65093. SPE J. 5 (3).
[15]	Shea, R., Eidsmoen, H., Nordsveen, M., Rasmussen, J., Xu, Z., Nossen, J., 2004. Slug frequency prediction method comparison. BHRG Multiphase Production Technology Proceedings, Banff, Canada.
[16]	Kadri, U., Mudde, R. F., Oliemans, R. V. A.(2008). A growth model for dynamic slugs in gas/liquid horizontal pipes. In Proc. BHR Conf., Banff, Canada, pp. 241–254.
[17]	Al-Safran, E. (2009). Investigation and prediction of slug frequency in gas/liquid horizontal pipe flow. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 69(1), 143-155.
[18]	Hernandez Perez, V., Azzopardi, B. J., & Morvan, H. (2007). Slug flow in inclined pipes. In Proceedings of 6th international conference on multiphase flow (pp. 9-13).
[19]	Azzopardi, B. J., Ijioma, A., Yang, S., Abdulkareem, L. A., Azzi, A., & Abdulkadir, M. (2014). Persistence of frequency in gas–liquid flows across a change in pipe diameter or orientation. International Journal of Multiphase Flow, 67, 22-31.
[20]	Al-Lababidi, S., Addali, A., & Mba, D. (2012). Upstream Multiphase Flow Assurance Monitoring Using Acoustic Emission. INTECH Open Access Publisher.
[21]	Belgacem, I., Salhi, Y., SI-Ahmed, E. K., Legrand, J., &Rosant, J. M. (2013). Experimental investigation of slug pattern in a horizontal two-phase flow. Computational Methods in Multiphase Flow VII. Wit transaction on Engineering Sciences, 79, 423-433.
[22]	Rodrigues, H. T., Morales, R. E., Mazza, R. A., & Rosa, E. S. (2007). A comparative study of closure equations for gas-liquid slug flow. In international congress of mechanical engineering- COBEM (Vol.19).

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APA Style

Ibtissem Belgacem, Reda Mekhlouf. (2018). Slug Frequency in Horizontal Pipeline Subject to a Sudden Contraction: State of the Art and Laboratory Testing Data. Engineering Physics, 2(2), 58-65. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ep.20180202.15

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ACS Style

Ibtissem Belgacem; Reda Mekhlouf. Slug Frequency in Horizontal Pipeline Subject to a Sudden Contraction: State of the Art and Laboratory Testing Data. Eng. Phys. 2018, 2(2), 58-65. doi: 10.11648/j.ep.20180202.15

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AMA Style

Ibtissem Belgacem, Reda Mekhlouf. Slug Frequency in Horizontal Pipeline Subject to a Sudden Contraction: State of the Art and Laboratory Testing Data. Eng Phys. 2018;2(2):58-65. doi: 10.11648/j.ep.20180202.15

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@article{10.11648/j.ep.20180202.15,
  author = {Ibtissem Belgacem and Reda Mekhlouf},
  title = {Slug Frequency in Horizontal Pipeline Subject to a Sudden Contraction: State of the Art and Laboratory Testing Data},
  journal = {Engineering Physics},
  volume = {2},
  number = {2},
  pages = {58-65},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ep.20180202.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ep.20180202.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ep.20180202.15},
  abstract = {Liquid-gas two-phase flows are widely encountered in industrial applications including chemical processes, petroleum engineering and energy manufacturing units systems. Of all flow patterns encountered in field operations, slug flow is the dominant one in horizontal and near horizontal pipelines, and is also the most complicated one. Of all flow topological configurations, slug flow is the most concerning from the operational perspectives. It is characterized by an alternate flow of liquid slugs and gas pockets, resulting in an inherently unsteady hydrodynamic behavior. Frequency of the slug has important significance on gas-liquid two-phase flow. This paper presents the results of experimental study of gas-liquid slug flow in a horizontal pipe subjected or not to a sudden contraction. The first objective of this study is to present a state -of -the art of correlations concerning slug frequency; an analysis on the accuracy of these correlations is performed based on direct comparison against experimental data. It has been found that none of the slug frequency correlation was able to produce accurate prediction. In this study, the effects of sudden contraction on slug frequency regime were also investigated experimentally through the analysis of slug persistence and frequency, it has been found that: i) the slug flow prevails before and after the contraction, ii) frequencies of the structures persist across the contraction.},
 year = {2018}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Slug Frequency in Horizontal Pipeline Subject to a Sudden Contraction: State of the Art and Laboratory Testing Data
AU  - Ibtissem Belgacem
AU  - Reda Mekhlouf
Y1  - 2018/12/25
PY  - 2018
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ep.20180202.15
DO  - 10.11648/j.ep.20180202.15
T2  - Engineering Physics
JF  - Engineering Physics
JO  - Engineering Physics
SP  - 58
EP  - 65
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2640-1029
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ep.20180202.15
AB  - Liquid-gas two-phase flows are widely encountered in industrial applications including chemical processes, petroleum engineering and energy manufacturing units systems. Of all flow patterns encountered in field operations, slug flow is the dominant one in horizontal and near horizontal pipelines, and is also the most complicated one. Of all flow topological configurations, slug flow is the most concerning from the operational perspectives. It is characterized by an alternate flow of liquid slugs and gas pockets, resulting in an inherently unsteady hydrodynamic behavior. Frequency of the slug has important significance on gas-liquid two-phase flow. This paper presents the results of experimental study of gas-liquid slug flow in a horizontal pipe subjected or not to a sudden contraction. The first objective of this study is to present a state -of -the art of correlations concerning slug frequency; an analysis on the accuracy of these correlations is performed based on direct comparison against experimental data. It has been found that none of the slug frequency correlation was able to produce accurate prediction. In this study, the effects of sudden contraction on slug frequency regime were also investigated experimentally through the analysis of slug persistence and frequency, it has been found that: i) the slug flow prevails before and after the contraction, ii) frequencies of the structures persist across the contraction.
VL  - 2
IS  - 2
ER  -

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Author Information

Ibtissem Belgacem

Hydraulic Department, National Polytechnic School, Algiers, Algeria
Reda Mekhlouf

Shimadzu Software Development, Montréal, Canada

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APA Style

Ibtissem Belgacem, Reda Mekhlouf. (2018). Slug Frequency in Horizontal Pipeline Subject to a Sudden Contraction: State of the Art and Laboratory Testing Data. Engineering Physics, 2(2), 58-65. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ep.20180202.15

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ACS Style

Ibtissem Belgacem; Reda Mekhlouf. Slug Frequency in Horizontal Pipeline Subject to a Sudden Contraction: State of the Art and Laboratory Testing Data. Eng. Phys. 2018, 2(2), 58-65. doi: 10.11648/j.ep.20180202.15

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AMA Style

Ibtissem Belgacem, Reda Mekhlouf. Slug Frequency in Horizontal Pipeline Subject to a Sudden Contraction: State of the Art and Laboratory Testing Data. Eng Phys. 2018;2(2):58-65. doi: 10.11648/j.ep.20180202.15

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ep.20180202.15,
  author = {Ibtissem Belgacem and Reda Mekhlouf},
  title = {Slug Frequency in Horizontal Pipeline Subject to a Sudden Contraction: State of the Art and Laboratory Testing Data},
  journal = {Engineering Physics},
  volume = {2},
  number = {2},
  pages = {58-65},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ep.20180202.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ep.20180202.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ep.20180202.15},
  abstract = {Liquid-gas two-phase flows are widely encountered in industrial applications including chemical processes, petroleum engineering and energy manufacturing units systems. Of all flow patterns encountered in field operations, slug flow is the dominant one in horizontal and near horizontal pipelines, and is also the most complicated one. Of all flow topological configurations, slug flow is the most concerning from the operational perspectives. It is characterized by an alternate flow of liquid slugs and gas pockets, resulting in an inherently unsteady hydrodynamic behavior. Frequency of the slug has important significance on gas-liquid two-phase flow. This paper presents the results of experimental study of gas-liquid slug flow in a horizontal pipe subjected or not to a sudden contraction. The first objective of this study is to present a state -of -the art of correlations concerning slug frequency; an analysis on the accuracy of these correlations is performed based on direct comparison against experimental data. It has been found that none of the slug frequency correlation was able to produce accurate prediction. In this study, the effects of sudden contraction on slug frequency regime were also investigated experimentally through the analysis of slug persistence and frequency, it has been found that: i) the slug flow prevails before and after the contraction, ii) frequencies of the structures persist across the contraction.},
 year = {2018}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Slug Frequency in Horizontal Pipeline Subject to a Sudden Contraction: State of the Art and Laboratory Testing Data
AU  - Ibtissem Belgacem
AU  - Reda Mekhlouf
Y1  - 2018/12/25
PY  - 2018
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ep.20180202.15
DO  - 10.11648/j.ep.20180202.15
T2  - Engineering Physics
JF  - Engineering Physics
JO  - Engineering Physics
SP  - 58
EP  - 65
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2640-1029
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ep.20180202.15
AB  - Liquid-gas two-phase flows are widely encountered in industrial applications including chemical processes, petroleum engineering and energy manufacturing units systems. Of all flow patterns encountered in field operations, slug flow is the dominant one in horizontal and near horizontal pipelines, and is also the most complicated one. Of all flow topological configurations, slug flow is the most concerning from the operational perspectives. It is characterized by an alternate flow of liquid slugs and gas pockets, resulting in an inherently unsteady hydrodynamic behavior. Frequency of the slug has important significance on gas-liquid two-phase flow. This paper presents the results of experimental study of gas-liquid slug flow in a horizontal pipe subjected or not to a sudden contraction. The first objective of this study is to present a state -of -the art of correlations concerning slug frequency; an analysis on the accuracy of these correlations is performed based on direct comparison against experimental data. It has been found that none of the slug frequency correlation was able to produce accurate prediction. In this study, the effects of sudden contraction on slug frequency regime were also investigated experimentally through the analysis of slug persistence and frequency, it has been found that: i) the slug flow prevails before and after the contraction, ii) frequencies of the structures persist across the contraction.
VL  - 2
IS  - 2
ER  -

Copy | Download