Two-phase liquid-liquid PIPE flow unified modeling

• Grant number: 17/19070-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Effective date (Start): January 01, 2018
• Effective date (End): March 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Mechanical Engineering - Transport Phenomena
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Souza de Castro
• Grantee: Marcelo Souza de Castro
• Host Investigator: Cem Sarica
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia Mecânica (FEM). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Research place: University of Tulsa, United States

Abstract

Two-phase flows are observed in numerous natural and industrial processes, being composed of two immiscible phases arranged in various geometric configurations or flow patterns. In the industrial case the major focus, since the 1940s has been the gas-liquid flows, common in the nuclear and refrigeration industry. However, with the development of the oil and food industry, liquid-liquid flows have become of common occurrences. In the case of the oil industry, the maturing of the oil fields and the occurrence of aquifers lead to a large water production together with the oil. Despite this, little is known about these flows and most of the development is based on water-oil flows with low viscosity oils. At this point a feature emerges which distinguishes the most common gas-liquid flows from the liquid-liquid ones which is the ratio of densities close to unity and the fact that the viscosity of the fluids is extremely important in the analysis of liquid-liquid flows. In the case of gas-liquid flow, the gas low density and viscosity lead to simplifications that facilitate the generalization of the models for flow patterns transitions, phase's fraction and total pressure gradient (composed by the gravitational, frictional and acceleration terms). This was presented in Taitel and Dukler (1976) and Taitel, Barnea and Dukler (1980) models for horizontal and vertical flow pattern transitions, respectively, and in Shoham (2006) unified model for pressure gradient and phase's fraction based on mechanistic models, all researches for gas-liquid flows. In the case of water-oil flows, the simple fact that the viscosity of the oil is changed completely changes the observed flow patterns, which makes it very difficult to propose a unified model for predicting flow patterns transitions, phase's fractions (holdup) and pressure gradients. What is observed in a literature review are several works on liquid-liquid flows but with results restricted to small ranges of viscosities. At this point, the University of Tulsa, through its Tulsa University Fluid Flow Projects (TUFFP), which is a cooperation project between University and Industries, has been developing leading-edge research in multiphase flows since 1973 with a focus on experimental data collection and modeling. At this point, one of the current projects is the development of a unified liquid-liquid flow model that considers all the effects cited as viscosity and its influence on flow patterns. In the same line of TUFFP projects, in the case of gas-liquid flows Professor Ovadia Shoham (Shoham, 2006) of the same University of Tulsa published his unified model based on several models of the literature. Thus, in view of the Ph.D. thesis (Castro, 2013) of the FAPESP BPE candidate who worked with the modeling of the transition of the wavy stratified viscous oil- water flow pattern financed by FAPESP (process 2010/03254-5) and which has generated publications in international indexed journals and national and international congresses, the internship abroad through the BPE FAPESP Program at the University of Tulsa with the theme "Two-Phase Liquid-Liquid Pipe Flow Unified Model" is the possibility of continuing the doctorate research of the applicant and in addition, to meet the professors, researchers and students, as well as the structure of one of the most renowned centers in the world in the multiphase flow research. The project also seeks to strengthen ties between the applicant and his supervisor (Cem Sarica, current director of TUFFP) seeking a partnership between UNICAMP and the University of Tulsa for the development of research and exchange of students between both and strengthening of the national research in the described subject. (AU)