Gas lift is a means of enhancing oil recovery from hydrocarbon reservoirs. Gas injected at the production riser base reduces the gravity component of the pressure drop and thereby, increases the supply of oil from the reservoir. Also, gas injection at the base of a riser helps to mitigate slugging and thus, improving the performance of the topside facility. In order to improve the efficiency of the gas lifting technique, a good understanding of the characteristics of gas-liquid multiphase flow in vertical pipes is very important. In this study, experiments of gas/liquid (air/water) two-phase flows, liquid/liquid of oil/water two-phase flows and gas/liquid/liquid (air/oil/water) three-phase flows were conducted in a 10.5 m high 52 mm ID vertical riser. These experiments were performed at liquid and gas superficial velocities ranging from 0.25 to 2 m/s and ~0.1 to ~6.30 m/s, respectively. Dielectric oil and tap water were used as test fluids. Instruments such as Coriolis mass flow meter, single beam gamma densitometer and wire-mesh sensor (WMS) were employed for investigating the flow characteristics. For the experiments of gas/liquid (air/water) two-phase flow, flow patterns of Bubbly, slug, churn flow regimes and transition regions were identified under the experimental conditions. Also, for flow pattern identification and void fraction measurements, the capacitance WMS results are consistent with those obtained simultaneously by the gamma densitometer. Generally, the total pressure gradient along the vertical riser has shown a significant decrease as the injected gas superficial velocity increased. In addition, the rate of decrease in total pressure gradient at the lower injected gas superficial velocities was found to be higher than that for higher gas superficial velocities. The frictional pressure gradient was also found to increase as the injected gas superficial velocity increased. For oil-water experiments, mixture density and total pressure gradient across the riser were found to increase with increasing water cut (ranging between 0 - 100%) and/or mixture superficial velocity. Phase slip between the oil and water was calculated and found to be significant at lower throughputs of 0.25 and 0.5 m/s. The phase inversion point always takes place at a point of input water cut of 42% when the experiments started from pure oil to water, and at an input water cut of 45% when the experiment’s route started from water to pure oil. The phase inversion point was accompanied by a peak increase of pressure gradient, particularly at higher oil-water mixture superficial velocities of 1, 1.5 and 2 m/s. The effects of air injection rates on the fluid flow characteristics were studied by emphasizing the total pressure gradient behaviour and identifying the flow pattern by analysing the output signals from gamma and WMS in air/oil/water experiments. Generally, riser base gas injection does not affect the water cut at the phase inversion point. However, a slight shift forward for the identified phase inversion point was found at highest flow rates of injected gas where the flow patterns were indicated as churn to annular flow. In terms of pressure gradient, the gas lifting efficiency (lowering pressure gradient) shows greater improvement after the phase inversion point (higher water cuts) than before and also at the inversion point. Also, it was found that the measured mean void fraction reaches its lowest value at the phase inversion point. These void fraction results were found to be consistent with previously published results.

Multiphase flows occurring in pipelines with a serpentine configuration is an important phenomenon, which can be encountered in heat exchangers used in a variety of industrial processes. More specifically, in many industrial units such as a large cracking furnace in a refinery, the tubes are arranged in a serpentine manner and are relatively short. As flow negotiates round the 180o bend at the ends of the tubes, the generated centrifugal force could cause flow maldistribution creating local dry spots, where no steady liquid film is formed on the adjacent straight sections of the pipe. As a result, events including coking, cracking and overheating of heat transfer surfaces may occur and lead to frequent shutdown of the facilities. Consequently, this could increase operating costs and reduce production revenue. Thus, it is desirable to know the effect that the bends exert on the flow in the straight part of the pipe. Apart from this, knowledge of the bend effects on the flows in the pipeline could also be important for the design of other pipelines for gas/liquid transport, e.g. offshore gas and oil pipelines. Quite a large number of studies have been found in the literature. The majority of them were for two-phase flow with small diameter pipes (i.d. ≤ 50 mm). However, studies with large diameter pipes (i.d. ≥ 100 mm), have increasingly been considered in recent years as problems related to large diameter vertical pipes are being encountered more and more often in industrial situations. This thesis studies the effect of 180o bends on the characteristics and development of gas-liquid two-phase flows in large diameter downward and upward pipes. The study particularly focuses on the influence of serpentine configuration on flow structure, cross-sectional void distribution and circumferential liquid film profiles and their development along the downward and upward sections. It was found that both the top and bottom bends have considerable impacts on flow behaviour, although to varying degrees. These impacts were highly dependent on the air and water flow rates. For sufficient flow rates, the bends were observed to create flow maldistribution in the adjacent straight section, due to the effects of centrifugal force. The air moved towards the inner zone of the bend and the water towards the outer zone, while a lesser quantity of water was identified on the other surfaces of the pipe. Investigation of the film thickness development in the downward and upward sections showed that, the liquid film behaviour close to the bends was significantly different from those located further away. This can be attributed to the centrifugal force of the bends. Examination of the power spectral density (PSD) along the downward and upward sections showed that, the shape of PSD located in the adjacent section to the bends, was substantially different from those located further away. Furthermore, several flow regime maps were generated which showed that, in addition to bubbly, intermittent and annular flows, unstable flows existed along the upward section, particularly for low gas and water flow rates. In this study it was found that, the lower bend was periodically blocked by the liquid and then blown through by the accumulated air. The data obtained from this study were compared with different theoretical correlations found in the existing literature. Some discrepancy between the results of the current study and those of previous published materials was noted. Updated correlations were presented which provided well results when they applied for the data obtained from the current study and previous studies.

O presente trabalho envolve um estudo teórico e experimental do escoamento bifásico externo a banco de tubos. Inicialmente, apresenta-se uma ampla revisão da literatura sobre padrões de escoamento, fração de vazio e perda de pressão, durante escoamentos monofásicos e bifásicos externos a banco de tubos. Nesta análise são também descritos os métodos de previsão destes parâmetros. Verificam-se diferenças significativas entre as estimativas proporcionadas por eles, fato que indica a inexistência de métodos generalizados. Posteriormente é apresentada uma descrição detalhada da bancada experimental projetada e construída durante o doutoramento. O aparato completo compõe-se da seção de testes, circuito de água, sistema de compressão e condicionamento de ar, e seções de injeção dos fluxos e condicionamento do escoamento. A seção de testes consiste em um banco de tubos distribuídos segundo configuração triangular normal, com os tubos apresentando diâmetro externo de 19,1 mm, comprimento de 381 mm, e espaçamento transversal de 24 mm. Os experimentos foram realizados para escoamento vertical ascendente de misturas água-ar e velocidades superficiais da fase líquida e gás de 0,020 a 1,500 m/s e de 0,10 a 10,00 m/s, respectivamente. Neste estudo foram desenvolvidas técnicas inéditas para determinação experimental da fração de vazio superficial no interior do banco de tubos baseadas em sistemas óptico e de sensoriamento capacitivo. Os padrões de escoamento foram identificados subjetivamente através de visualização de imagens e vídeos do escoamento, e objetivamente com o auxílio do método de agrupamento de dados k-means utilizando parâmetros baseados no sinal de perda de pressão e do sensoriamento capacitivo. Identificou-se subjetivamente os padrões de escoamento bolhas, bolhas dispersas, bolhas grandes, agitante, intermitente e anular. Constatou-se equivalência entre os padrões de escoamento identificados através dos métodos objetivo e subjetivo. Resultados experimentais para fração de vazio foram obtidos através de técnicas óptica e capacitiva. Constatou-se que o traçador rodamina B utilizado no método óptico altera as condições do escoamento, ainda que em concentrações reduzidas. A partir dos resultados obtidos com o sensoriamento capacitivo estimou-se a fração de vazio para o padrão bolhas. Resultados para a parcela friccional da perda de pressão também foram levantados. Constata-se o incremento da fração de vazio e da parcela friccional da perda de pressão com as velocidades superficiais das fases líquida e gás. Os resultados para fração de vazio foram comparados com métodos de previsão da literatura, e de maneira geral os métodos preveem as tendências dos resultados experimentais apenas para vazões de líquido reduzidas. Analogamente, os resultados para perda de pressão foram comparados com estimativas segundo métodos da literatura, concluindo que os métodos não preveem satisfatoriamente os resultados obtidos. Desta forma, foram propostos novos métodos de previsão para padrões de escoamento, fração de vazio e parcela friccional da perda de pressão, desenvolvidos a partir de análises dos mecanismos dominantes do escoamento, e adotando parâmetros adimensionais para correlacionar os dados. Os métodos propostos preveem satisfatoriamente os resultados experimentais deste estudo e da literatura para escoamentos bifásicos água-ar. / The present thesis concerns a theoretical and experimental study of external two-phase flows across tube bundles. Initially, a comprehensive literature review covering flow patterns, void fraction and pressure drop for single and two-phase flows across tubes bundle is presented. The review also describes predictive methods for these parameters. A comparison of these methods reveals reasonable disagreement among their predictions, indicating the absence of generalized methods. Subsequently, the apparatus and instrumentation designed and built to obtain the experimental data are described. The experimental apparatus comprises the test section, a water loop, air compression and conditioning systems, and sets for fluid flow injections and conditioning. The test section is a normal triangular tube bundle, with 19.1 mm OD tubes, 381 mm long and transversal pitch of 24 mm. The experiments were performed for air-water upward vertical flow, for superficial liquid and gas velocities ranging from 0.020 to 1.500 m/s and 0.10 to 10.00 m/s, respectively. Innovative techniques to evaluate the void fraction within the bundle were developed based on capacitive and optical methods. The flow patterns were identified subjectively and objectively by k-means clustering method, using as clustering parameters the pressure drop and the capacitive signals. Bubbles, dispersed bubbles, large bubbles, churn, intermittent and annular flow patterns were identified subjectively. The data groups identified by the objective method are representative of the flow patterns. Void fraction measurements were obtained for bubbly flow using both techniques (optical and capacitive). The void fraction data based on the optical method had its experimental range limited due to changes in the flow characteristics caused by the addition of the fluorescent dye Rhodamine B. The experimental results indicate that the void fraction increases with increasing the superficial velocities of both phases. In general, the void fraction predictive methods available in the literature capture the trends of the experimental results only for reduced liquid flow rates. According to the experimental results, the frictional pressure drop increases asymptotically with increasing the flow rates of both phases. None of the predictive methods from literature evaluated in the present study predicted satisfactorily the experimental results. Methods for prediction of flow patterns, void fraction and frictional pressure drop parcel were also developed in the present study. These methods provided reasonable predictions of the experimental results obtained in the present study, and also from the literature for air and water flows across tube bundles.

The works aimed at the further development and validation of models for CFD codes. For this reason, the new thermal-hydraulic test facility TOPFLOW was erected and equipped with wire-mesh sensors with high spatial and time resolution. Vertical test sections with nominal diameters of DN50 and DN200 operating with air-water as well as steam-water two-phase flows provided results on the evaluation of flow patterns, on the be¬haviour of the interfacial area as well as on interfacial momentum and heat transfer. The validation of the CFD-code for complex geometries was carried out using 3D void fraction and velocity distributions obtained in an experiment with an asymmetric obstacle in the large DN200 test section. With respect to free surface flows, stratified co- and counter-current flows as well as slug flows were studied in two horizontal test channels made from acrylic glass. Post-test calculations of these experiments succeeded in predicting the slug formation process. Corresponding to the main goal of the project, the experimental data was used for the model development. For vertical flows, the emphasis was put on lateral bubble forces (e.g. lift force). Different constitutive laws were tested using a Multi Bubble Size Class Test Solver that has been developed for this purpose. Basing on the results a generalized inhomogeneous Multiple Size Group (MUSIG) Model has been proposed and implemented into the CFD code CFX (ANSYS). Validation calculations with the new code resulted in the conclusion that particularly the models for bubble coalescence and fragmentation need further optimisation. Studies of single effects, like the assessment of turbulent dissipation in a bubbly flow and the analysis of trajectories of single bubbles near the wall, supplied other important results of the project.

Ziel der Arbeiten war die Weiterentwicklung und Validierung von Modellen in CFD-Codes. Hierzu wurde am FZD die thermohydraulische Versuchsanlage TOPFLOW aufgebaut und mit räumlich und zeitlich hochauflösenden Gittersensoren ausgestattet. Vertikale Teststrecken mit Nenndurchmessern von DN50 bzw. DN200 für Luft/Wasser- sowie Dampf/Wasser-Strömungen lieferten Ergebnisse zur Entwicklung von Strömungsformen, zum Verhalten der Zwischenphasengrenzfläche sowie zum Wärme- und Impulsaustausch zwischen den Phasen. Die Validierung des CFD-Codes in komplexen Geometrien erfolgte anhand von 3D Gasgehalts- und Geschwindigkeitsfeldern, die bei Umströmung eines asymmetrischen Hindernisses auftreten, das in der Teststrecke DN200 eingebaut war. Im Hinblick auf Strömungen mit freier Oberfläche untersuchte das FZD in zwei horizontalen Acrylglas-Kanälen geschichtete Zweiphasenströmungen im Gleich- bzw. Gegenstrom sowie Schwallströmungen. Bei den Nachrechnungen dieser Versuche gelang die Simulation der Schwallentstehung. Entsprechend des Projektziels wurden die experimentellen Ergebnisse zur Modellentwicklung genutzt. Bei vertikalen Strömungen stand die Wirkung der lateralen Blasenkräfte (z.B. Liftkraft) im Vordergrund. Zum Test unterschiedlicher Modellansätze wurde hierzu ein Mehrblasenklassen-Testsolver entwickelt und genutzt. Darauf aufbauend wurde ein neues Konzept für ein Mehrblasenklassenmodell, das Inhomogene MUSIG Modell erarbeitet und in den kommerziellen CFD Code CFX (ANSYS) implementiert. Bei Validierungsrechnungen zeigte sich, dass vor allem die Blasenkoaleszenz- und -zerfallsmodelle weiter optimiert werden müssen. Untersuchungen zu Einzeleffekten, wie z.B. die Abschätzung von Turbulenzkoeffizienten und die Analyse der Trajektoren von Einzelblasen in unmittelbarer Wandnähe, lieferten weitere wichtige Ergebnisse des Projekts.

Nuclear power plants rely on the Emergency Core Cooling System (ECCS) to cool down the reactor core in case of an accident. Occasionally, air is entrained into the suction piping of ECCS causing voids that decrease pumping efficiency, and consequently damage the pumps. In an attempt to minimize the amount of voids entering the suction side of the pump in ECCS, a Void Recirculation System (VRS) experiment was conducted for a proof of concept purpose. While many studies have been oriented in studying two-component flow behavior in ECCS, none of them propose a solution to minimize air entrainment. As a consequence, there are no simulation models that use computational fluid dynamics to address gas entrainment solutions in ECCS. The objectives of this thesis are to (1) simulate and investigate two-component air-water flow in a VRS that minimizes the amount of air in piping systems, using RELAP5/MOD3 as the computational tool, and (2) to validate the numerical results with respect to experimental results and observations. A one-dimensional model of the VRS was built in RELAP5, in which eight different scenarios (replicating those from the VRS experiment) were simulated for a period of 150 seconds. Four Froude numbers of 0.8, 1.0, 1.3 and 1.6 were evaluated in two different pipe configurations, and the experimental data obtained from the VRS experiment was used to validate the numerical results obtained from these simulations. It was concluded that air recirculation occurs indefinitely throughout the entire 150 seconds of the simulation for Froude numbers up to 1.3; while for a Froude number of 1.6, air recirculation occurs for approximately 100 seconds and ceases after 125 seconds of the simulation. An average air reduction effectiveness of 90% was found for all simulation scenarios. The VRS model was successfully validated and can be used to investigate the effects of air entrainment in suction piping.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第18272号 / 工博第3864号 / 新制||工||1593(附属図書館) / 31130 / 京都大学大学院工学研究科原子核工学専攻 / (主査)教授 功刀 資彰, 教授 中部 主敬, 准教授 横峯 健彦 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering) / Kyoto University / DGAM

No description available.

This thesis contains the details of an experimental study on the local void fraction measurements in large-diameter vertical pipes using optical fiber probes. The experiments were conducted in vertical transparent acrylic pipe of a 20-cm diameter. An experimental test facility used for performing of experiments, was designed as a low-pressure air-water loop, which can operate in either a natural circulation mode or a forced circulation mode. Radial void fraction profiles were measured using an optical fiber probe. An average cross-sectional void fraction was calculated by integration of the data obtained by the optical fiber probe. The average void fraction was also calculated using two-phase pressure-drop measurements . The results were compared and the resulting good accuracy of the optical fiber probe was determined. The flow regime results were plotted in terms of superficial gas and liquid velocities using flow regime maps of several researchers. Absence of the slug flow regime in large-diameter pipes was observed during the experiments. The data were correlated using the drift-flux model. A near unity distribution parameter showed that nearly uniform radial distribution of the void fraction dominates in two-phase flow through large-diameter vertical pipes. / Thesis / Master of Engineering (ME)

Void fraction is an essential parameter for understanding the interfacial structure, and heat and mass transfer mechanisms in various gas-liquid flow systems. It becomes critically important to accurately measure void fraction as advanced high fidelity two-phase flow models require high-quality validation data. However, void fraction measurement remains a challenging task to date due to the complexity and rapid-changing characteristic of the gas-liquid boundary flow structure. This study aims to develop an advanced void fraction measurement system based on x-ray and fast line detector technologies. The dissertation has covered the major components necessary to develop a complete measurement system. Spectral analysis of x-ray attenuation in two-phase flow has been performed, and a new void fraction model is developed based on the analysis. The newly developed pixel-to-radial conversion algorithm is capable of converting measured void fraction along with the detector array to the radial distribution in a circular pipe for a wide range of void fraction conditions. The x-ray system attains the radial distributions of key measurable factors such as void fraction and gas velocity. The data are compared with the double-sensor conductivity probe and gas flowmeter for various flow conditions. The results show reasonable agreements between the x-ray and the other measurement techniques. Finally, various 2-D tomography algorithms are implemented for the non-axisymmetric two-phase flow reconstruction. A comprehensive summary of classical absorption tomography for the two-phase flow study is provided. An in-depth sensitivity study is carried out using synthetic bubbles, aiming to investigate the effect of various uncertainty factors such as background noise, off-center shift, void profile effect, etc. The sensitivity study provides a general guideline for the performance of existing 2-D reconstruction algorithms. / Doctor of Philosophy / Gas-liquid flow phenomenon exists in an extensive range of natural and engineering systems, for example, hydraulic pipelines in a nuclear reactor, heat exchanger, pump cavitation, and boilers in the gas-fired power stations. Accurate measurement of the void fraction is essential to understand the behaviors of the two-phase flow phenomenon. However, measuring void fraction distribution in two-phase flow is a difficult task due to its complex and fast-changing interfacial structure. This study developed a comprehensive suite of the non-intrusive x-ray measurement techniques, and a pixel-to-radial conversion algorithm to process the line- and time-averaged void fraction information. The newly developed algorithm, called the Area-based Onion-Peeling (ABOP) method, can convert the pixel measurement to the radial void fraction distribution, which is more useful for studying and modeling axisymmetric flows. Various flow conditions are measured and evaluated for the benchmarking of the algorithm. Finally, classical 2-D reconstruction algorithms are investigated for the void fraction measurement in non-axisymmetric flows. A comprehensive summary of the performance of these algorithms for a two-phase flow study is provided. An in-depth sensitivity study using synthetic bubbles has been performed to examine the effect of uncertainty factors and to benchmark the algorithms for the non-axisymmetric flows.