Experimental and modeling studies of two-phase flow in pipelines

Journal Article · Sat Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1997 · SPE Production and Facilities

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2118/37017-PA· OSTI ID:549425

Manabe, Ryo; Tochikawa, Tetsuro ^[1]; Tsukuda, M; Arihara, Norio ^[2]

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1. Japan National Oil Corp., Chiba (Japan)
2. Waseda Univ., Tokyo (Japan)

The objectives of this study are to develop and evaluate a mechanistic model for gas/liquid two-phase flow in pipelines. A mechanistic model has been developed by combining currently available models and correlations. The approach of the modeling study was based on the work by Xiao et al. Modifications have been made on the annular flow model by implementing the currently developed film-thickness-distribution model. An experimental database has been developed for model evaluation. Seventy-five runs of steady-state air/water flow tests in horizontal and slightly inclined pipes were conducted using a large-scale experimental facility. The experimental program was set up in a wide range of experimental conditions to cover the intermittent, dispersed bubble, and annular flow patterns. An evaluation of the model was carried out for each flow pattern, namely, intermittent, dispersed bubble, and annular flow. The comparisons between the measured and calculated pressure drops show good agreement for each flow pattern. Also, overall evaluation revealed that the proposed model provided the best performance among the commonly used empirical correlations, such as Beggs and Brill, Mukherjee and Brill, and Dukler et al.

• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• OSTI ID: 549425
• Journal Information: SPE Production and Facilities, Journal Name: SPE Production and Facilities Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 12; ISSN 1064-668X; ISSN SPRFEZ
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
03 NATURAL GAS
FLOW MODELS
PIPELINES
RESERVOIR FLUIDS
TEST FACILITIES
THEORETICAL DATA
TWO-PHASE FLOW
VALIDATION