HEAT TRANSFER INFLUENCE ANALYSIS ON LIQUID-GAS HORIZONTAL SLUG FLOW HYDRODYNAMICS USING A SLUG-TRACKING MODEL
Fernando H. G. Pereira1; Carlos L. Bassani1; César D. P. Medina1; Cristiane Cozin1; Fausto A. A. Barbuto1; Rigoberto E. M. Morales1
1 NUEM/PPGEM/UTFPR
doi:10.20906/CPS/COB-2015-0826
Resumo
Gas-liquid two-phase slug flows in pipes occur over a wide range of gas and liquid flow rates. This kind of flow pattern is frequently found in oil and gas offshore transportation, concomitantly with transfer of heat between the transported fluids and the subsea waters. An accurate prediction of the heat transfer is essential in the design of production facilities and operation, as well as in flow assurance assessments due to the possibility of wax and hydrates formation and deposition. Also, the gas expansion or contraction due to temperature and pressure gradients affects some slug flow parameters such as the elongated bubble length and its translational velocity. It might also influence the slip velocity between the phases, whose role in liquid mass transfer across the slug flow structures is relevant and tends to decrease the liquid slug length along the pipeline. From this perspective, the present work investigates the influence of the heat transfer in the hydrodynamic parameters of this type of flow by using a transient slug tracking model. The predicted lengths and velocities of each slug flow structure under heating, cooling, isothermal conditions and different gas and liquid flow rates were obtained and analyzed.
Palavras-chave: slug flow; slug tracking; heat transfer