Branch Quality Control of Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow Using a Novel T-Junction Type Distributor

In order to eliminate mal-distribution and ensure the side arm to produce desirable gas quality a special distributor is proposed. The experimental distributor mainly consists of a straight through section,a gas extraction line,a liquid extraction line and a side arm branch. A gas orifice and a liquid orifice are mounted at the gas and liquid extraction line respectively to control the outlet gas quality. The diameter of the liquid orifice was set to 2. 50 mm and three gas orifices with different size( dG= 2. 65,5. 00,10. 00 mm) were tested. The experiments were carried out at an air-water two-phase flow loop. The gas superficial velocity ranged from 6. 0 to 20. 0 m /s and the liquid superficial velocity was in the range of 0. 02- 0. 18 m /s. Flow patterns such as wave flow,slug flow and annular flow were observed. The gas quality of the side arm branch was found mainly determined by the flow area ratio of the gas orifice to the liquid orifice and independent of gas and liquid superficial velocity,flow patterns and extraction flux.

Experimental study on two-phase gas-liquid flow patterns at normal and reduced gravity conditions

Experimental studies have been performed for horizontal two-phase air-water flows at nor-mal and reduced gravity conditions in a square cross-section channel. The experiments at reducedgravity are conducted on board the Russian IL-76 reduced gravity airplane. Four flow patterns, namelybubble, slug, slug-annular transition and annular flows, are observed depending on the liquid and gassuperficial velocities at both conditions. Semi-theoretical Weber number model is developed to includethe shape influence on the slug-annular transition. It is shown that its prediction is in reasonable agree-ment with the experimental slug-annular transition under both conditions. For the case of two-phasegas-liquid flow with large value of the Froude number, the drift-flux model can predict well the observedboundary between bubble and slug flows.

Numerical Study of Void Fraction Distribution Propagation in Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow

A dynamic propagation model was developed for waves in two-phase flows by assuming that continuity waves and dynamic waves interact nonlinearly for certain flow conditions. The drift-flux model is solved with the one-dimensional continuity equation for gas-liquid two-phase flows as an initial-boundary value problem solved using the characteristic-curve method. The numerical results give the void fraction dis- tribution propagation in a gas-liquid two-phase flow which shows how the flow pattern transition occurs. The numerical simulations of different flow patterns show that the void fraction distribution propagation is deter- mined by the characteristics of the drift-flux between the liquid and gas flows and the void fraction range. Flow pattern transitions begin around a void fraction of 0.27 and end around 0.58. Flow pattern transitions do not occur for very high void concentrations.

Improving Existing Drainage and Gas Recovery Technologies: An Experimental Study on the Wellbore Flow in a Horizontal Well

With the increasing number of horizontal wells with low pressure,low yield,and water production,the phenomenon of water and liquid accumulation in gas wells is becoming progressively more serious.In order to fix these issues,it is necessary to improve existing drainage and gas recovery technologies,increase the fluid carrying capacity of these wells,and ensure that the bottom-hole airflow has enough energy to transport the liquid to the wellhead.Among the many techniques of drainage and gas recovery,the gas lift has recently become a popular method.In the present study,through the simulation of the entire horizontal well,the flow regularity of the whole wellbore during the lift of low-pressure gas has been analyzed.The pressure distribution,liquid holdup rate,flow pattern,and energy loss(including gravity loss and friction loss)have been determined using the Beggs-brill approach.It has been found that the total pressure drop of the wellbore decreases first and increases gradually after reaching a minimum value when gas extraction is carried out via gas lift.Based on the analysis of the influence of the injection volume on wellbore pressure drop and the influence of flow pattern on the lifting efficiency,the optimal gas-lift injection parameters have been determined by taking the minimum pressure loss of wellbore as the judgment criterion.

Experimental investigation on separation characteristics of axial cyclone separator

Axial cyclone separator has been widely applied in chemical production as an efficient gas-liquid separation device.In this study,a new axial cyclone separator with integrated swirler and exhaust pipe is designed to achieve the development goal of compact structure for advanced engine,and the distribution characteristics of swirling flow patterns as well as the variation in separation characteristics are investigated under slug flow pattern.Based on flow visualizations and fluctuation characteristics of pressure signals,three typical flow patterns,namely,slug flow,swirling intermittent flow,and swirling annular flow,in the horizontal swirling separation flow are characterized.It is investigated how the inlet conditions affect the separation characteristic parameters.The separation purity and extreme points of the air separation efficiency are independent of the inlet liquid flow rate.The separation pressure drop is quadratically related to the inlet air flow rate.Based on the drift-flux model and other methods,the prediction methods for the air separation efficiency and pressure drop are proposed,and the prediction accuracy is within±20%,which may provide instructions for the practical application of axial cyclone separator.