Slug tracking in hilly terrain pipelines

Yehuda Taitel*, Dvora Barnea

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Slug flow is a very common occurrence in gas-liquid two-phase flow. Usually it is an unfavorable flow pattern due to its unsteady nature, intermittency and high-pressure drop. A hilly terrain pipeline consists of horizontal, uphill, and downhill sections. While slug flow is relatively well understood for any of the three configurations, there is a lack of understanding of how flow characteristics change when these configurations are interconnected, as in a hilly terrain pipeline. Almost all-previous slug flow studies assume a constant slug length once a slug is formed and developed into a stable slug. In reality, a slug can grow or shrink as it travels through a pipeline as a consequence of the hilly terrain configuration. In addition, slugs can be generated at low 'elbows' and dissipate at top 'elbows'. An experimental study conducted by Zheng and Zheng et al. clearly demonstrates the effect of hilly terrain pipeline configuration on slug characteristics. In the present work slug behavior in low and top elbows is simulated and studied. The effect of compressibility is included.

Original languageEnglish
PagesPI/-
StatePublished - 1999
Event1999 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition: 'Production Operations and Engineering - General' - Houston, TX, USA
Duration: 3 Oct 19996 Oct 1999

Conference

Conference1999 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition: 'Production Operations and Engineering - General'
CityHouston, TX, USA
Period3/10/996/10/99

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