High explosive charges when detonated ensue in a flow field characterized by several physical phenomena that include blast wave propagation, hydrodynamic instabilities, real gas effects, fluid mixing and afterburn effects. Solid metal particles are often added to explosives to augment the total impulsive loading, either through direct bombardment if inert, or through afterburn energy release if reactive. These multiphase explosive charges, termed as heterogeneous explosives, are of interest from a scientific perspective as they involve the confluence and interplay of various additional physical phenomena such as shock-particle interaction, particle dispersion, ignition, and inter-phase mass, momentum and energy transfer. In the current research effort, chemical explosions in multiphase environments are investigated using a robust, state-of-the-art Eulerian-gas, Lagrangian-solid methodology that can handle both the dense and dilute particle regimes. Explosions into ambient air as well as into aluminum particle clouds are investigated, and hydrodynamic instabilities such as Rayleigh- Taylor and Richtmyer-Meshkov result in a mixing layer where the detonation products mix with the air and afterburn. The particles in the ambient cloud, when present, are observed to pick up significant amounts of momentum and heat from the gas, and thereafter disperse, ignite and burn. The amount of mixing and afterburn are observed to be independent of particle size, but dependent on the particle mass loading and cloud dimensions. Due to fast response times, small particles are observed to cluster as they interact with the vortex rings in the mixing layer, which leads to their preferential ignition/ combustion. The total deliverable impulsive loading from heterogeneous explosive charges containing inert steel particles is estimated for a suite of operating parameters and compared, and it is demonstrated that heterogeneous explosive charges deliver a higher near-field impulse than homogeneous explosive charges containing the same mass of the high explosive. Furthermore, particles are observed to introduce significant amounts of hydrodynamic instabilities in the mixing layer, resulting in augmented fluctuation intensities and fireball size, and different growth rates for heterogeneous explosions compared to homogeneous explosions. For aluminized explosions, the particles are observed to burn in two regimes, and the average particle velocities at late times are observed to be independent of the initial solid volume fraction in the explosive charge. Overall, this thesis provides useful insights on the role played by solid particles in chemical explosions.

An understanding of the motion of soft capsules in microchannels is useful for a number applications. This knowledge can be used to develop devices to sort biological cells based on their size and stiffness. For example, cancer cells have a different stiffness from healthy cells and thus can be readily identified. Additionally, devices can be developed to detect flaws in synthetic particles. Using a 3D hybrid lattice Boltzmann and lattice spring method, the motion of rigid and soft capsules in a pressure-driven microfluidic flow was probed. The effect of inertial drift is evaluated in channels different Reynolds numbers. Other system parameters such as capsule elasticity and channel size are also varied to determine their effect. The equilibrium position of capsules in the channel is also obtained. The equilibrium position of rigid and soft capsules depends on the relative particle size. If the capsule is small, the equilibrium position is found to be closer to the channel wall. Conversely, for larger capsules, the equilibrium position is closer to the channel centerline. The capsule stiffness affects the magnitude of the cross-stream drift velocity. For a given Reynolds number, the equilibrium position of softer capsules is closer to the channel centerline. However, It is found that the equilibrium position of soft capsules is insensitive to the magnitude of the Reynolds number.

Multiphase flow denotes the simultaneous flow of two or more physically distinct and immiscible substances and it can be widely found in several engineering applications, for instance, power generation, chemical engineering and crude oil extraction and processing. In many of those applications, multiphase flows determine safety and efficiency aspects of processes and plants where they occur. Therefore, the measurement and imaging of multiphase flows has received much attention in recent years, largely driven by a need of many industry branches to accurately quantify, predict and control the flow of multiphase mixtures. Moreover, multiphase flow measurements also form the basis in which models and simulations can be developed and validated. In this work, the use of electrical impedance techniques for multiphase flow measurement has been investigated. Three different impedance sensor systems to quantify and monitor multiphase flows have been developed, implemented and metrologically evaluated. The first one is a complex permittivity needle probe which can detect the phases of a multiphase flow at its probe tip by simultaneous measurement of the electrical conductivity and permittivity at up to 20 kHz repetition rate. Two-dimensional images of the phase distribution in pipe cross section can be obtained by the newly developed capacitance wire-mesh sensor. The sensor is able to discriminate fluids with different relative permittivity (dielectric constant) values in a multiphase flow and achieves frame frequencies of up to 10 000 frames per second. The third sensor introduced in this thesis is a planar array sensor which can be employed to visualize fluid distributions along the surface of objects and near-wall flows. The planar sensor can be mounted onto the wall of pipes or vessels and thus has a minimal influence on the flow. It can be operated by a conductivity-based as well as permittivity-based electronics at imaging speeds of up to 10 000 frames/s. All three sensor modalities have been employed in different flow applications which are discussed in this thesis. The main contribution of this research work to the field of multiphase flow measurement technology is therefore the development, characterization and application of new sensors based on electrical impedance measurement. All sensors present high-speed capability and two of them allow for imaging phase fraction distributions. The sensors are furthermore very robust and can thus easily be employed in a number of multiphase flow applications in research and industry.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Engineering. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Hydrocarbon reserves are generally produced through wells drilled into reservoir pay zones. During production, gas liberation from the oil phase occurs due to pressure decline in the wellbore. Thus, we expect multiphase flow in some sections of the wellbore. As a multi-phase/multi-component gas-oil mixture flows from the reservoir to the surface, pressure, temperature, composition, and liquid holdup distributions are interrelated. Modeling these multiphase flow parameters is important to design production strategies such as artificial lift procedures. A wellbore fluid flow model can also be used for pressure transient test analysis and interpretation. Considering heat exchange in the wellbore is important to compute fluid flow parameters accurately. Modeling multiphase fluid flow in the wellbore becomes more complicated due to heat transfer between the wellbore fluids and the surrounding formations. Due to mass, momentum, and energy exchange between the wellbore and the reservoir, the wellbore model should be coupled with a numerical reservoir model to simulate fluid flow accurately. This model should be non-isothermal to consider the effect of temperature. Our research shows that, in some cases, ignoring compositional effects may lead to errors in pressure profile prediction for the wellbore. Nearly all multiphase wellbore simulations are currently performed using the "black oil" approach. The primary objective of this study was to develop a non-isothermal wellbore simulator to model transient fluid flow and temperature and couple the model to a reservoir simulator called General Purpose Adaptive Simulator (GPAS). The coupled wellbore/reservoir simulator can be applied to steady state problems, such as production from, or injection to a reservoir as well as during transient phenomena such as well tests to accurately model wellbore effects. Fluid flow in the wellbore may be modeled either using the blackoil approach or the compositional approach, as required by the complexity of the fluids. The simulation results of the new model were compared with field data for pressure gradients and temperature distribution obtained from wireline conveyed pressure recorder and acoustic fluid level measurements for a gas/oil producer well during a buildup test. The model results are in good agreement with the field data. Our simulator gave us further insights into the wellbore dynamics that occur during transient problems such as phase segregation and counter-current multiphase flow. We show that neglecting these multiphase flow dynamics would lead to unreliable results in well testing analysis.

The phenomenon of particle retention in granular materials has a wide range of implications. For agricultural operations, these particles can be contaminants transported through the ground that can eventually reach to aquifers, consequently contaminating the water. In oil reservoirs, these particles can be clays that get detached from the rock and migrate with the flow after a change of pressure, plugging the reservoir with the consequent reduction in permeability. These particles can also be traceable nanoparticles, introduced in the reservoir with the purpose of identifying bypassed oil. For all these reasons it is important to understand the mechanisms that contribute to the transport and retention of these particles. In this dissertation the retention of micro and nano size particles was investigated. In saturated model sediments (sphere packs), we analyzed the retention of particles by the mechanism of straining (size exclusion). The analysis focused on experiments reported in the literature in which particles smaller than the smallest pore throats were retained in the sediment. The analysis yields a mechanistic explanation of these observations, by indentifying the retention sites as gaps between pairs of sediment grains. A predictive model was developed that yields a relationship between the straining rate constant and particle size in agreement with the experimental observations. In unsaturated granular materials, the relative contributions of grain surfaces, interfacial areas and contact lines between phases to the retention of colloidal size particles were investigated. An important part of this analysis was the identification and calculation of the length of the contact lines between phases. This estimation of contact line lengths in porous media is the first of its kind. The algorithm developed to compute contact line length yielded values consistent with observations from beads pack and real rocks, which were obtained independently from analysis of high resolution images. Additionally, the predictions of interfacial areas in granular materials were consistent with an established thermodynamic theory of multiphase flow in porous media. Since there is a close relationship between interfacial areas and contact lines this supports the accuracy of the contact line length estimations. Predictions of contact line length and interfacial area in model sediments, combined with experimental values of retention of colloidal size particles in columns of glass beads suggested that it is plausible for interfacial area and contact line to contribute in the same proportion to the retention of particles. The mechanism of retention of surface treated nanoparticles in sedimentary rocks was also investigated, where it was found that retention is reversible and dominated by attractive van der Waals forces between the particles and the rock’s grain surfaces. The intricate combination of factors that affect retention makes the clear identification of the mechanism responsible for trapping a complex task. The work presented in this dissertation provides significant insight into the retention mechanisms in relevant scenarios. / text

The oil and gas industry need for high performing and low cost multiphase meters is ever more justified given the rapid depletion of conventional oil reserves. This has led oil companies to develop smaller/marginal fields and reservoirs in remote locations and deep offshore, thereby placing great demands for compact and more cost effective soluti8ons of on-line continuous multiphase flow measurement. The pattern recognition approach for clamp-on multiphase measurement employed in this research study provides one means for meeting this need. Cont/d.

No description available.

The research presented in this thesis was motivated by the desire to understand the flow field within a new digital microfluidic device currently under development. This required an investigation of the dynamics of a droplet migrating along the surface of another fluid due to interfacial surface tension gradients. The quantitative analysis of the flow field presented in this thesis provides the first known solution for the velocity field in a migrating droplet confined to an interface. The first step towards gaining insight into the flow field was accomplished by using the method of reflections to obtain an analytical model for a submerged droplet migrating near a free surface. The submerged droplet model enabled the analysis of the velocity field and droplet migration speed and their dependence on the fluid properties. In general, the migration velocity of a submerged droplet was found to differ dramatically from the classic problem of thermocapillary migration in an unbounded substrate. A boundary-collocation scheme was developed to determine the flow field and migration velocity of a droplet floating trapped at the air-substrate interface. The numerical method was found to produce accurate solutions for the velocity and temperature fields for nearly all parameters. This numerical scheme was used to judge the accuracy of the flow field obtained by the submerged droplet model. In particular, the model was tested using parameter values taken from a digital microfluidic device. It was determined that the submerged droplet model captured most of the flow structure within the microfluidic droplet. However, for a slightly different choice of parameters, agreement between the two methods was lost. In this case, the numerical scheme was used to uncover novel flow structures.

CNPq / Dentre os diversos tipos de escoamentos multifásicos, o escoamento particulado desperta interesse devido à sua presença em diversos sistemas, como na indústria farmacêutica, química e de petróleo, entre outros. Na indústria petrolífera, especificamente, o escoamento particulado pode ser utilizado quando existe o fenômeno de invasão, caracterizado pela fuga de fluido do poço em direção à formação rochosa, associado à presença de fraturas. Partículas de granulometria selecionada são adicionadas ao fluido de perfuração para promover o preenchimento das fraturas e reestabelecer a circulação no poço. Nesse sentido, o objetivo deste trabalho é investigar o escoamento particulado aplicado ao preenchimento de uma fratura perfeitamente retangular e não permeável. A modelagem matemática do escoamento utiliza uma abordagem euleriana para a fase contínua (fluido) e lagrangiana para a fase discreta (partículas). Os modelos numéricos aplicados para a solução do problema consistem no Dense Discrete Phase Model (DDPM) para o cálculo do acoplamento entre as partículas e o fluido e do Discrete Element Method (DEM) para contabilizar as colisões entre partículas. A análise em questão mostra a influência do comprimento da fratura (hF R ), de parâmetros do escoamento (número de Reynolds - Re e viscosidade dinâmica do fluido - μβ ), das partículas (diâmetro da partícula - Dp e razão entre massa específica da partícula e fluido - ρp/β ) e do processo de injeção (número de partículas injetadas - Np,inj ) sobre a formação do leito de partículas. Tal influência é analisada através do comprimento (hpct ) e posicionamento (hpct ) do leito, além do preenchimento vertical da fratura (epct ). Um leito de partículas ótimo é capaz de reduzir a vazão de fuga (Qf uga ) até um patamar próximo de zero, se formar no menor tempo possível (test ), próximo à entrada da fratura, apresentando um comprimento mínimo e um preenchimento vertical máximo. Para obter um leito ótimo, a pressão na entrada do canal (pm,CH,i ) deve ser monitorada para garantir que a pressão de fratura, que é a pressão na qual existe a falha mecânica da formação, não seja ultrapassada pela pressão gerada pela injeção de partículas. A pressão de entrada é analisada através da adimensionalização em relação à pressão no fenômeno de invasão, antes da injeção de partículas e em relação ao gradiente de pressão gerado entre a saída do canal e a saída da fratura. Os resultados obtidos mostram que todos os parâmetros são capazes de alterar as características geométricas do leito, mostrando uma influência direta na vazão de fuga e no tempo de preenchimento. / Among the most diverse types of multiphase flow, the particulate flow raises interest due to its presence in several systems such as farmaceutical, chemical and oil and gas indus- try. Specifically in the oil and gas industry the particulate flow may be applied upon the appearence of the invasion phenomenon, characterized by the fluid loss to the reservoir, associated to the presence of fractures. Particles with selected granulometry are added to the mud in order to fill the fratures and reestablish circulation. In this line, the aim of this work is to investigate the particulate flow applied to the filling of a perfectly retangular and impermeable fracture. The flow is mathematicaly modeled by an eulerian approach applied to the continuous phase (fluid) and by a lagrangian approach applied to the discrete phase (particles). The numerical models used to attain the solution of the problem are the Dense Discrete Phase Model (DDPM) which accounts for the coupling between the phases and the Discrete Element Method (DEM) which calculates particle collision. The analysis shows the influence of the fracture length (hF R ), flow paramenters (Reynolds number - Re and dynamic viscosity - μβ ), particle parameters (diameter - Dp and specific mass ratio between particles and fluid - ρp/β ) and parameters of the injection process (number of injected particles - Np,inj ) on the formation of the bed. Such influence is analyzed through the length (hpct ) and heigth (hpct ) of the bed and the vertical filling of the fracture (epct ). An optimal bed would be capable to attain a fluid loss close to zero in the least time possible (test ) by forming itself very close to the fracture entering, having a minimum length and a maximum height. In order to obtain the optimized bed, the pressure on the channel inlet (pm,CH,i ) should be monitored to guarantee that the fracturing pressure is not surpassed by the buildup pressure generated by the particles injection. This pressure is analyzed by the initial pressure on the inlet channel, before the particle injection, and the pressure drop generated by the fracture. Results indicate that all sensitivity parameters can alter the geometric characteristics of the bed, showing a direct influence on reducing the fluid loss through the fracture and on the filling time.