Simulations of intermittent two-phase flows in pipes using smoothed particle hydrodynamics

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the use of smoothed particle hydrodynamics to simulate and analyze the formation and transition of slug flows in pipes, a common two-phase flow pattern in submarine pipelines, highlighting its applicability to complex industrial scenarios.

Contribution

It applies and validates a meshless smoothed particle hydrodynamics method for simulating two-phase slug flows and their transitions in pipes, including realistic high-density and viscosity ratios.

Findings

Successfully reproduces flow regimes predicted by flow maps.

Analyzes transition processes between flow patterns.

Demonstrates applicability to realistic industrial cases.

Abstract

Slug flows are a typical intermittent two-phase flow pattern that can occur in submarine pipelines connecting the wells to the production facility and that is known to cause undesired consequences. In this context, computational fluid dynamics appears to be the tool of choice to understand their formation. However, few direct numerical simulations of slug flows are available in the literature, especially using meshless methods which are known to be capable of handling complex problems involving interfaces. In this work, a 2D study of the instability processes leading to the formation of intermittent flows in pipes is conducted using an existing multiphase smoothed particle hydrodynamics formulation associated with inlet and outlet boundary conditions. This paper aims to demonstrate the applicability of smoothed particle hydrodynamics to a given set of close-to-industry cases. First, we check the ability of our implementation to reproduce flow regimes predicted by Taitel and Duckler's flow map. Then, we focus on the transition processes from one flow pattern to the other. Finally, we present the results obtained for more realistic cases with high density and viscosity ratios.