Numerical Study on Taylor Bubble Rising in Pipes

Abstract

Slug flow is the most common multi-phase flow encountered in oil and gas industry. In this study, the hydrodynamic features of flow in pipes investigated numerically using computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations for the effect of slug flow on the vertical and bent pipeline. The compressible Reynold averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equation was used as the governing equation, with the volume of fluid (VOF) method to capture the outline of the bubble in a pipeline. The simulations were tested for the grid and time step convergence, and validated with the experimental and theoretical results for the main hydrodynamic characteristics of the Taylor bubble, i.e., bubble shape, terminal velocity of bubble, and the liquid film velocity. The slug flow was simulated with various air and water injection velocities in the pipeline. The simulations revealed the effect of slug flow as the pressure occurring in the wall of the pipeline. The peak pressure and pressure oscillations were observed, and those magnitudes and trends were compared with the change in air and water injection velocities. The mechanism of the peak pressures was studied in relation with the change in bubble length, and the maximum peak pressures were investigated for the different positions and velocities of the air and water in the pipeline. The pressure oscillations were investigated in comparison with the bubble length in the pipe and the oscillation was provided with the application of damping. The pressures were compared with the case of a bent pipe, and a 1.5 times higher pressures was observed due to the compression of the bubbles at the corner of the bent. These findings can be used as a basic data for further studies and designs on pipeline systems with multi-phase flow.