Unsteady Fluidynamic Behavior of Gas Bubbles Flowing in Curved Pipes: A Numerical Study
Author(s)
Jose Luis Gomes Marinho*,
Ramdayal Swarnakar,
Severino Rodrigues de Farias Neto,
Antonio Gilson Barbosa de Lima
Affiliation(s)
Department of Chemical Engineering, Center of Sciences and Technology, Federal University of Campina Grande, Campina Grande, Brazil. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Center of Sciences and Technology, Federal University of Campina Grande, Campina Grande, Brazil.
Department of Chemical Engineering, Center of Sciences and Technology, Federal University of Campina Grande, Campina Grande, Brazil. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Center of Sciences and Technology, Federal University of Campina Grande, Campina Grande, Brazil.
ABSTRACT
Petroleum is considered as one of the factors for the development of a nation as well as a cause of economic and political conflicts around the world because of the diversity of products obtained with their derivatives such as fuel for automotives and aviation, and manufacturing plastic parts, among others. The crude petroleum (usually oil, water and gas) found in an underground reservoir is transported to the surface by pipes, and has drawn the attention of researchers because of the problems generated in the pipeline with particular attention to the loss of pressure, friction and bubbles. For a fluid flow in plug regime, where many of the bubbles formed coalesce and produce bigger ones of sizes almost equal to the pipe diameter (Taylor bubble), severe instability in the flow is caused. In this context, the objective of this research has been to study the Taylor bubble flow in curved ducts using the software CFX. Results of the transient effects of the air concentration on the bubble air volumetric fraction, of the viscosity on bubble format, and pipe angle of 90? on bubble symmetry are presented and interpreted.
Petroleum is considered as one of the factors for the development of a nation as well as a cause of economic and political conflicts around the world because of the diversity of products obtained with their derivatives such as fuel for automotives and aviation, and manufacturing plastic parts, among others. The crude petroleum (usually oil, water and gas) found in an underground reservoir is transported to the surface by pipes, and has drawn the attention of researchers because of the problems generated in the pipeline with particular attention to the loss of pressure, friction and bubbles. For a fluid flow in plug regime, where many of the bubbles formed coalesce and produce bigger ones of sizes almost equal to the pipe diameter (Taylor bubble), severe instability in the flow is caused. In this context, the objective of this research has been to study the Taylor bubble flow in curved ducts using the software CFX. Results of the transient effects of the air concentration on the bubble air volumetric fraction, of the viscosity on bubble format, and pipe angle of 90? on bubble symmetry are presented and interpreted.
Cite this paper
Luis Gomes Marinho, J. , Swarnakar, R. , Rodrigues de Farias Neto, S. and Gilson Barbosa de Lima, A. (2012) Unsteady Fluidynamic Behavior of Gas Bubbles Flowing in Curved Pipes: A Numerical Study. Advances in Chemical Engineering and Science, 2, 283-291. doi: 10.4236/aces.2012.22033.
Luis Gomes Marinho, J. , Swarnakar, R. , Rodrigues de Farias Neto, S. and Gilson Barbosa de Lima, A. (2012) Unsteady Fluidynamic Behavior of Gas Bubbles Flowing in Curved Pipes: A Numerical Study. Advances in Chemical Engineering and Science, 2, 283-291. doi: 10.4236/aces.2012.22033.
References
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[1] J. D. Bugg, K. Mack and K. S. Rezkallah, “A numerical Model of Taylor Bubbles Rising through Stagnant Liquids in Vertical Tubes,” International Journal of Multiphase Flow, Vol. 24, No. 2, 1998, pp. 271-281. doi:10.1016/S0301-9322(97)00047-5 [2] T. Cheng and T. Lin, “Characteristics of Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow in Small Diameter Inclined Tubes,” Chemical Engineering Science, Vol. 56, No. 21-22, 2001, pp. 6393-6398. doi:10.1016/S0009-2509(01)00251-2 [3] S. Madani, O. Caballina and M. Souhar, “Unsteady Dynamics of Taylor Bubble Rising in Vertical Oscillating tubes,” International Journal of Multiphase Flow, Vol. 35, No. 4, 2009, pp. 363-375. doi:10.1016/j.ijmultiphaseflow.2009.01.002 [4] T. R. Nigmatulin and F. J. Bonetto, “Shape of Taylor Bubbles in Vertical Tubes,” Heat Mass Transfer, Vol. 24, No. 8, 1997, pp. 1177-1185. doi:10.1016/S0735-1933(97)00112-7 [5] A. M. F. R. Pinto, M. N. C. Pinheiro and J. B. Campos, “On the Interaction of Taylor Bubbles Rising in Two-Phase Co-Current Slug Flow in Vertical Columns: Turbulent Wakes,” Experiments in Fluids, Vol. 31, No. 6, 2001, pp. 644-652. doi:10.1007/s003480100310 [6] A. M. F. R. Pinto and J. B. L. M. Campos, “Coalescence of Two Gas Slugs Rising in a Vertical Column of Liquid,” Chemical Engineering Science, Vol. 51, No. 1, 1996, pp. 45-54. doi:10.1016/0009-2509(95)00254-5 [7] G. H. Abdul-Majeed and T. M. Al-Masha, “A Mechanistic Model for Vertical and Inclined Two-Phase Slug Flow,” Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, Vol. 27, No. 1-2, 2000, pp. 59-67. doi:10.1016/S0920-4105(00)00047-4 [8] E. Al-Safran, “Investigation and Prediction of Slug Frequency in Gas/Liquid Horizontal Pipe Flow,” Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, Vol. 69, No. 1-2, 2009, pp. 143-155. doi:10.1016/j.petrol.2009.08.009 [9] G. Bercic and A. Pintar, “The Role of Gas Bubbles and Liquid Slug Lengths on Mass Transport in the Taylor Flow through Capillaries,” Chemical Engineering Science, Vol. 52, No. 21-22, 1997, pp. 3709-3719. doi:10.1016/S0009-2509(97)00217-0 [10] Q. C. Bi and T. S. Zhao, “Taylor Bubbles in Miniaturized Circular and Noncircular Channels,” International Journal of Multiphase Flow, Vol. 27, No. 3, 2001, pp. 561-570. doi:10.1016/S0301-9322(00)00027-6 [11] R. Clift, J. R. Grace and M. E. Weber, “Bubbles, Drops and Particles,” Academic Press, California, 1978. [12] D. Qian and A. Lawal, “Numerical Study on Gas and Liquid Slugs for Taylor Flow in a T-Junction Microchannel,” Chemical Engineering Science, Vol. 61, No. 23, 2006, pp. 7609-7625. doi:10.1016/j.ces.2006.08.073 [13] W. Salman, A. E. Gavriilidis and P. Angeli, “A Model for Predicting Axial Mixing During Gas-Liquid Taylor Flow in Microchannels at Low Boden-Stein Numbers,” Chemical Engineering Science, Vol. 101, No. 1-3, 2004, pp. 391-396. doi:10.1016/j.cej.2003.10.027 [14] D. Zheng, X. He and D. Che, “CFD Simulations of Hydrodynamic Characteristics in a Gas-Liquid Vertical Upward Slug Flow,” International Journal of Heat Mass Transfer, Vol. 50, No. 21-22, 2007, pp. 4151-4165. doi:10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2007.02.041 [15] E. T. White and R. H. Beardmore, “The Velocity of Rise of Single Cylindrical Air Bubbles through Liquid Contained in Vertical Tubes,” Chemical Engineering Science, Vol. 17, No. 5, 1962, pp. 351-361. doi:10.1016/0009-2509(62)80036-0 [16] ANSYS CFX, “User Manual Theory,” USA, 2006.