Slug frequency in horizontal gas-liquid flow
- Creare, Inc., Hanover, NH (USA)
This report responds to American Gas Association's(AGA's) objective of initiating and planning means to create a reliable, mechanistic method of slug frequency prediction. Specific objectives were to: update the prior review of existing knowledge; identify one or more alternative modelling approaches; and recommend additional work if required. Examination of empirical correlations for slug frequency shows that they have uncertainties which are large compared with experimental data. A mechanistic approach is sought. Previous mechanistic models have been either incomplete or numerically unstable. Several improvements were made to the Taitel-Dukler model for this process and a new calculation procedure developed using the method of characteristics. It is demonstrated here that this approach alone cannot lead to cyclic slug formation. The processes of wave growth continually wash out downstream without causing new slugs to form upstream. This has led to concentration on the mechanism of slug formation near the inlet to a pipe segment. A new mechanism for cyclic slug formation, dependent on inlet boundary conditions, is proposed and a preliminary analysis developed. It is hypothesized that the formation of each slug transmits pressure fluctuations to the inlet and initiates perturbations there which eventually grow to form a new slug. Given the importance of the inlet conditions in determining slug frequency, lack of detailed knowledge of the boundary conditions for existing slug frequency data precludes meaningful comparisons with those data. It is proposed to develop this theory further and compare it with detailed observations in a small scale air-water test facility where the inlet boundary conditions are well characterized and well controlled in a systematic manner. When the theory is mature, its results will be correlated in a form suitable for practical use. 14 refs., 14 figs.
- Research Organization:
- American Gas Association, Inc., Arlington, VA (USA); Creare, Inc., Hanover, NH (USA)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- AGA; American Gas Association, Inc., Arlington, VA (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 5661210
- Report Number(s):
- AGA-91014487; TM-1386
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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