Simulation of a turbulent annulus with interfacial waves in core-annular pipe flow

Journal article (2022)

Authors

H. Li Fluid Mechanics - Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering
M.J.B.M. Pourquie Fluid Mechanics - Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering
G. Ooms Fluid Mechanics - Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering
R.A.W.M. Henkes Fluid Mechanics - Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering
Research Group
Fluid Mechanics (Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2022 H. Li, M.J.B.M. Pourquie, G. Ooms, R.A.W.M. Henkes
DOI
help_outline
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmultiphaseflow.2022.104152
Core-annular flow Friction factor Hold-up ratio Interfacial waves
More Info
expand_more

Published Date

2022

Language

English

Faculty

Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering

Department

Process and Energy

Research Group

Fluid Mechanics

Abstract

Interfacial waves in core-annular pipe flow are studied through two-phase numerical simulations. Here the water annulus is turbulent, whereas the oil core stays laminar. The low-Reynolds number Launder & Sharma k−ε model is applied. By extracting the moving wave shape from the two-phase results and imposing this as a solid boundary in a single-phase simulation for the water annulus gives single-phase results (for the pressure drop and holdup ratio) that are in close agreement with values obtained from the two-phase approach. The influence of wave amplitude and wave length on the pressure drop and hold up ratio is then studied by using the single-phase flow model. This gives insight in the appearance of core-annular flow, where the water-based Fanning wall-friction factor and the hold-up ratio are selected as the most important quantities. The effect of watercut and eccentricity on these quantities is also investigated.