A Model on the Void Fraction in Liquid Slugs for Vertical Slug Flow

Aim To develop a hydrodynamic model on the void fraction in liquid slugs for gas liquid slug flow in vertical tubes. Methods Developing the model by considering the gas exchange between the Taylor bubble and the following liquid slug. Results Some experimental data are obtained to check the model. In comparison with previous published results, the predictions from this model are better and in good agreement with the experimental data. The error is within ±20%. Conclusion The proposed model can correctly predict the void fraction in liquid slugs for gas liquid two phase slug flow in vertical tubes.

Experimental Investigation of Vibration Response of A Free-Hanging Flexible Riser Induced by Internal Gas-Liquid Slug Flow

The vibration response of a free-hanging flexible riser induced by internal gas-liquid slug flow was studied experimentally in a small-diameter tube model based on Froude number criterion. The flow regime in a curved riser model and the response displacements of the riser were simultaneously recorded by high speed cameras. The gas superficial velocity ranges from 0.1 m/s to 0.6 m/s while the liquid superficial velocity from 0.06 m/s to 0.3 m/s.Severe slugging type 3, unstable oscillation flow and relatively stable slug flow were observed in the considered flow rates. Severe slugging type 3 characterized by premature gas penetration occurs at relatively low flow rates. Both the cycle time and slug length become shorter as the gas flow rate increases. The pressure at the riser base undergoes a longer period and larger amplitude of fluctuation as compared with the other two flow regimes. Additionally, severe slugging leads to the most vigorous in-plane vibration. However, the responses in the vertical and horizontal directions are not synchronized. The vertical vibration is dominated by the second mode while the horizontal vibration is dominated by the first mode. Similar to the vortex-induced vibration, three branches are identified as initial branch, build-up branch and descending branch for the response versus the mixture velocity of gas-liquid flow.

Development of Liquid Slug Length in Gas-Liquid Slug Flow along Horizontal Pipeline: Experiment and Simulation

The liquid slug length distribution is crucial for designing the downstream processing system with mul-tiphase pipeline. Experiments were conducted in a 133m long horizontal test loop. The measurements were per-formed by conductivity probes to determine the liquid slug length distribution. The data covered both the slug and plug flow regimes. From experimental results, the mean liquid slug lengths were relatively insensitive to gas and liquid flow rates in the higher mixture velocity range. But in the lower mixture velocity range, the mean liquid slug length decreased and then increased with mixture velocity. It shows that the development length of slug flow was longer than x/D=1157. A slug tracking model was adapted to study the evolution of liquid slug length distribution in a horizontal pipeline. In the present model, the wake effect of elongated bubble and the pressure drop due to accel-eration are taken into account and random slug lengths are introduced at the entrance. The results of the model are compared with the measured slug length distributions of slug flow regime. It shows that the predicted mean and maximum slug lengths are in agreement with the experimental data at x/D=1157 and the form of the slug length distributions is also predicted well by the model.

Cryogenic Liquid Slug and Taylor Bubble Length Distributions in an Inclined Tube

An experimental study was carried out to understand the phenomena of the boiling flow of liquid nitrogen in an inclined tube with closed bottom by using a high speed motion analyzer. The experimental tube is 0.018 m ID and 1.0m in length. The range of the inclination angle is 45°-9° from the horizontal. The experiment focused on the effect of the inclination angle show that the mean liquid slug length and Taylor bubble length increase with the increasing xlD at various inclination angles. At the same x/D, the mean liquid slug length and Taylor bubble length increase first, and then decrease with decreasing inclination angles, with the maximum at 60°. In the vertical tube, standard deviation of the nitrogen Taylor bubble iength increase with the increasing xlD. For the inclined tube, standard deviation of the nitrogen Taylor bubble length increases first, and then decreases with the increasing x/D. Standard deviation of the liquid slug length increases with increasing x/D for all inclination angles.

Influence of slug flow on flow fields in a gas–liquid cylindrical cyclone separator:A simulation study

A simulation method for slug flow based on the VOF multiphase flow model was implemented in ANSYS?Fluent via a user-defined function(UDF)and applied to the dissipation of liquid slugs in the inlet pipe of a gas–liquid cylindrical cyclone(GLCC)separator while varying the expanding diameter ratio and angle of inclination.The dissipation of liquid slug in inlet pipe is analyzed under different expanding diameter ratios and inclination angles.In the inlet pipe,it is found that increasing expanding diameter ratio and inclination angle can reduce the liquid slug stability and enhancing the effect of gravity,which is beneficial to slug flow dissipation.In the cylinder,increasing the expanding diameter ratio can significantly reduce the liquid carrying depth of the gas phase but result in a slightly increase of the gas content in the liquid phase space.Moreover,increasing the inclination angle results in a decrease in the carrying depth of liquid in the vapor phase,but enhances gas–liquid mixing and increases the gas-carrying depth in the liquid phase.Taking into consideration the dual effects of slug dissipation in the inlet pipe and carrying capacity of gas/liquid spaces in the cylinder,the optimal expanding diameter ratio and inclination angle values can be determined.

A MODEL FOR LIQUID SLUG LENGTH DISTRIBUTION IN VERTICAL GAS-LIQUID SLUG FLOW

The slug length and the trailing Taylor bubble velocity in an upward vertical slug flow were measured by using the optical probes and the EKTAPRO 1000 high speed motion analyzer. The correlation between the trailing bubble velocity and the length of liquid slug ahead of that bubble is derived from the experimental data. Based on this correlation as well as the bubble overtaking mechanism, a model for the slug length distribution at any designated locations along the pipe is proposed. The predicted results are in agreement with the experimental data.

Experimental Study of Motion of Nitrogen Taylor Bubbles and Liquid Slugs in Inclined Tubes

This article studies rising velocity of Taylor bubbles and liquid slugs in liquid nitrogen at different axial positions in upward inclined tubes by means of a high speed motion analyzer. The bottom-closed tubes in the experiments are 1.0 m long with an inner diameter of 0.014 m or 0.018 m. The tube inclines upward from 0~ to 50~ with respect to the normal. Statistical method is used to analyze the data of the Taylor bubble and the liquid slug velocity. Reflecting the effects of the inclination angle on the rising velocity of Taylor bubbles and liquid slugs, the experimental results indicate the similar trend the Taylor bubble velocity and the liquid slug velocity have： it increases first, and then decreases with the increase of the inclination angle. Moreover, with the increase of the inclination angle, the liquid slug velocity becomes greater than Taylor bubble velocity.

Experimental Study on the Liquid Slug of Cryogenic Slug Flow in Inclined Tubes

An experimental study was carried out to understand the phenomena of the boiling flow of liquid nitrogen in inclined tubes with closed bottom by using a high speed motion analyzer.The experimental tubes are 0.018 and 0.014 m inner diameter(ID) and 1.0 m in length.The range of the inclination angle is 45°-90° from the horizontal.The experimental observation on the liquid slug was carried out along the tubes.Statistical method was employed to analyze the experimental data.The experiment analyzed the influences of the inclination angle and the tube diameter on the liquid slug length and velocity.The results show the liquid slug propagation velocity increases with the decrease of inclination angle θ.For all cases,the maximum values of the mean liquid slug lengths were obtained at θ = 60°.The mean liquid slug lengths were greater for large tube at higher tube position.These conclusions provide a basis for further study liquid slug of cryogenic two-phase undeveloped slug flow.