Análise da geração de golfadas em escoamentos horizontais de líquido-gás utilizando CFD

Abstract

The slug flow is a pattern of gas-liquid two-phase flow very common in several industry areas, notably the oil and gas industry. This kind of flow consists in the alternation of two structures: the liquid slug and the elongated bubble.. Predict its behavior in the oil and gas industry becomes very important to project and design of production systems, whether on land or marine environment (onshore or offshore), as well as existing systems behavior prediction. In this scenario, this work aims to study the way of how the two-phase slug flow is generated, starting with a stratified flow, using the Computational Fluid Dynamics Technique. The objective of the simulations is to analyze the physical phenomena involved in the slug flow generation process and in the slug-bubble structure evolution during the horizontal flow. The equations that model the flow will be solved using the commercial software Star-CCM+. The liquidgas interface was realized using de VOF model (Volume of Fluid) and the turbulence of the flow was evaluated using the SST model. Using the results of the numeric simulations, detailed information was obtained and the slug flow was achieved.