Interfacial friction in upward annular gas–liquid two-phase flow in pipes

Multiphase flows, where two or even three fluids flow simultaneously in a pipe are becoming increasingly important in industry. Although much research has been done to measure the phase flow rates of two-phase flows using a Venturi meter, accurate flow rate measurements of two phase flows in vertical and horizontal pipes at
different flow regimes using a Venturi meter remain elusive.


In water continuous multiphase flow, the electrical conductance technique has proven
attractive for many industrial applications. In gas-water two phase flows, the electrical conductance technique can be used to measure the gas volume fraction. The electrical conductance is typically measured by passing a known electrical current through the flow and then measure the voltage drop between two electrodes in the pipe. Once the current and the voltage drop are obtained, the conductance (or resistance) of the mixture, which depends on the gas volume fraction in the water, can then be calculated.


The principal aim of the research described in this thesis was to develop a novel conductance multiphase flow meter which is capable of measuring the gas and the water flow rates in vertical annular flows and horizontal stratified gas water two phase flows.


This thesis investigates the homogenous and separated (vertical annular and horizontal stratified) gas-water two phase flows through Venturi meters. In bubbly(approximately homogenous) two phase flow, the universal Venturi meter (nonconductance Venturi) was used in conjunction with the Flow Density Meter, FDM
(which is capable of measuring the gas volume fraction at the inlet of the Venturi) to measure the mixture flow rate using the homogenous flow model. Since the separated flow in a Venturi meter is highly complex and the application of the homogenous flow model could not be expected to lead to highly accurate results, a novel
conductance multiphase flow meter, which consists of the Conductance Inlet Void Fraction Meter, CIVFM (that is capable of measuring the gas volume fraction at the inlet of the Venturi) and the Conductance Multiphase Venturi Meter, CMVM (that is capable of measuring the gas volume fraction at the throat of the Venturi) was designed and manufactured allowing the new separated flow model to be used to determine the gas and the water flow rates.


A new model for separated flows has been investigated. This model was used to calculate the phase flow rates of water and gas flows in a horizontal stratified flow. This model was also modified to be used in a vertical annular flow. The new separated flow model is based on the measurement of the gas volume fraction at the
inlet and the throat of the Venturi meter rather than relying on prior knowledge of the mass flow quality x. Online measurement of x is difficult and not practical in nearly all multiphase flow applications. The advantage of the new model described in this thesis over the previous models available in the literature is that the new model does not require prior knowledge of the mass flow quality which makes the measurement technique described in this thesis more practical.

Multiphase flow rate measurement using a novel conductance Venturi meter : experimental and theoretical study in different flow regimes

Two-phase annular flow in vertical pipes is one of the most common and important flow regimes in fluid mechanics, particularly in the field of building drainage systems where discharges to the vertical pipe are random and the flow is unsteady. With the development of experimental techniques and analytical methods, the understanding of the fundamental mechanism of the annular two-phase flow has been significantly advanced, such as liquid film development, evolution of the disturbance wave, and droplet entrainment mechanism. Despite the hundreds of papers published so far, the mechanism of annular flow remains incompletely understood. Therefore, this paper summarizes the research on two-phase annular flow in vertical pipes mainly in the last two decades. The review is mainly divided into two parts, i.e., the investigation methodologies and the advancement of knowledge. Different experimental techniques and numerical simulations are compared to highlight their advantages and challenges. Advanced underpinning physics of the mechanism is summarized in several groups including the wavy liquid film, droplet behaviour, entrainment and void fraction. Challenges and recommendations are summarized based on the literature cited in this review.

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Two-Phase Annular Flow in Vertical Pipes: A Critical Review of Current Research Techniques and Progress

/pdf/performance-evaluation-of-virtual-flow-metering-models-and-3kn327ulte.pdf

Performance Evaluation of Virtual Flow Metering Models and Its Application to Metering Backup and Production Allocation

Film Thickness Measurement

In the international oil and gas industry multiphase annular flow in pipelines and wells is extremely important, but not well understood. This thesis reports the development of an efficient and cheap method for measuring the phase flow rates in two phase annular and annular mist flow, in which the liquid phase is electrically conducting, using ultrasonic and conductance techniques. The method measures changes in the conductance of the liquid film formed during annular flow and uses these to calculate the volumetric and mass flow rates of the liquid film. The gas velocity in the core of the annular flow is measured using an ultrasonic technique. Combined with an entrainment model and the liquid film measurements described above, the ultrasonic technique enables the volumetric flow rate of the gas in the core and the volumetric and mass flow rates of entrained liquid droplets to be measured.

This study was based on experimental work and the use of modelling techniques. The practical investigation comprised a series of experiments conducted on a purpose built flow loop in which the test section was a Perspex pipe of 50mm ID. The experimental work was limited to two-phase air-water flow. The flow loop was specifically designed to accommodate the different instruments and subsystems designed in this investigation including bespoke flow meters and a film extraction system. Most flow loop controls were automated using a MATLAB program. Reference measurement of the total water flow rate was made using a calibrated turbine flow meter and of the air flow rate using a calibrated rotameter.

For the combined ultrasonic/conductance method investigated in this thesis, the velocity of the gas in the core was found using a novel Ultrasonic Flow Meter (USFM). The positioning and arrangement of the transducers have never been used previously. The flow velocity of the liquid film and the thickness of the film were measured using a novel Conductance Flow Meter (CFM). The CFM measured the liquid film thickness using novel wall conductance probes. By cross correlating the signals from a pair of such probes the film velocity was obtained. Good agreement of the experimental results obtained from the CFM and USFM with results published in the literature was found.

Although not investigated experimentally in the work described in this thesis, annular flows encountered in the oil industry may contain a liquid phase comprising a mixture of oil and water. For such flows, the volume fractions of the oil and water can be measured using an automated bypass system developed during this project. The bypass system periodically extracts part of the liquid film, measures its density and then releases the sample back into the pipeline. The liquid phase volume fractions are determined from this density measurement which can be performed more than once per minute.

An entrainment model was developed, which is required by the ultrasonic/conductance flow metering technique described in this thesis, in which the mass fraction of the liquid flowing as entrained droplets in the core can be determined from the liquid film thickness and velocity measurements. A mathematical model was also developed to describe the properties of the liquid film, such as liquid velocity profile within the film, and the model’s results were found to agree with the experimental results obtained during the project and also with previous work cited in the literature. The complexity of this latter model was reduced by making a number of simplifying assumptions, which are presented and discussed in the thesis, including the assumption that in annular flow there is a dynamic balance liquid entrainment and droplets being deposited back onto the film.

The combination of the designed CFM and USFM with the bypass tube and the entrainment model offer the opportunity for a ‘wet gas’ flow meter to be developed to measure two and three phase annular flows at relatively low cost and with enhanced accuracy. Such a device would have the advantage that it would by substantially smaller than systems using separators and it could even be retrofitted onto off-shore platforms. The integration of the subsystems developed in this project into a single system capable of giving on-line measurements of annular flow would be a major benefit to the author’s sponsor, Petroleum Development of Oman.

/pdf/phase-flow-rate-measurements-of-annular-flows-k3i4ws603x.pdf

Qahtan S. K. Al-Yarubi

Papers

Phase flow rate measurements of annular flows