Optimization and Extended Applicability of Simplified Slug Flow Model for Liquid-Gas Flow in Horizontal and Near Horizontal Pipes

Tea-Woo Kim, Nam-Sub Woo, Sang-Mok Han and Young-Ju Kim
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Tea-Woo Kim: Resources Engineering Plant Research Department, Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, 905, Yeongilman-daero, Buk-gu, Pohang-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do 37559, Korea
Nam-Sub Woo: Resources Engineering Plant Research Department, Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, 905, Yeongilman-daero, Buk-gu, Pohang-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do 37559, Korea
Sang-Mok Han: Resources Engineering Plant Research Department, Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, 905, Yeongilman-daero, Buk-gu, Pohang-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do 37559, Korea
Young-Ju Kim: Resources Engineering Plant Research Department, Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, 905, Yeongilman-daero, Buk-gu, Pohang-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do 37559, Korea

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-27

Abstract: The accurate prediction of pressure loss for two-phase slug flow in pipes with a simple and powerful methodology has been desired. The calculation of pressure loss has generally been performed by complicated mechanistic models, most of which require the iteration of many variables. The objective of this study is to optimize the previously proposed simplified slug flow model for horizontal pipes, extending the applicability to turbulent flow conditions, i.e., high mixture Reynolds number and near horizontal pipes. The velocity field previously measured by particle image velocimetry further supports the suggested slug flow model which neglects the pressure loss in the liquid film region. A suitable prediction of slug characteristics such as slug liquid holdup and translational velocity (or flow coefficient) is required to advance the accuracy of calculated pressure loss. Therefore, the proper correlations of slug liquid holdup, flow coefficient, and friction factor are identified and utilized to calculate the pressure gradient for horizontal and near horizontal pipes. The optimized model presents a fair agreement with 2191 existing experimental data (0.001 ≤ μ L ≤ 0.995 Pa?s, 7 ≤ Re M ≤ 227,007 and −9 ≤ θ ≤ 9), showing −3% and 0.991 as values of the average relative error and the coefficient of determination, respectively.

Keywords: pressure gradient; slug liquid holdup; translational velocity; flow coefficient; horizontal slug flow; near horizontal slug flow (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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