Flow Management in High-Viscosity Oil–Gas Mixing Systems: A Study of Flow Regimes

Jiaming Tian, Mao Li and Yueshe Wang ()
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Jiaming Tian: State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Mao Li: Machine Manufacture Plant, Changqing Oilfield Company, China National Petroleum Corporation, Xi’an 710200, China
Yueshe Wang: State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 6, 1-16

Abstract: The flow management of the gas–liquid mixture module is crucial for the transmission efficiency of crude oil-and-natural gas-gathering and transportation systems. The concurrent flow of high-viscosity crude oil and natural gas in gas–liquid mixing is investigated numerically by adopting an improved volume of fluid (VOF) model programmed with the OpenFOAM v2012 software package. Over a wide range of superficial velocities for the oil, from 0.166 to 5.529 m/s, and natural gas, from 0.138 to 27.645 m/s, a variety of flow regimes of bubble flow, plug flow, slug flow, and annular flow are encountered successively, which are essentially consistent with the Brill and Mandhane flow regime identification criteria. The results show that the oil volume fraction, fluid velocity, and bubble slip velocity together affect the growth of bubbles in the pipeline at a low gas velocity. In the case of slug flow, the phenomenon of liquid film plugging is noticeable, and the flow is very unstable, which should be avoided as much as possible. Nonetheless, it is commended that stable plug flow and annular flow with a high oil transportation efficiency and minimal power consumption are friendly working conditions.

Keywords: flow management; oil–gas mixed transport; slip velocity; transportation efficiency (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: 2025
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