Experimental investigation of multiphase separation in different flow regimes through T-junction with an expander section

Z. Q. Memon; W. Pao; F. Hashim; S. Ahmed

doi:10.15282/jmes.13.2.2019.27.0424

Authors

Z. Q. Memon Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak, MALAYSIA
W. Pao Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak, MALAYSIA
F. Hashim Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak, MALAYSIA
S. Ahmed Advanced Chemistry Lab, Sukkur IBA University, Airport Road Sukkur, Sindh PAKISTAN,

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15282/jmes.13.2.2019.27.0424

Keywords:

stratified, stratified-wavy, slug flow, phase separation, two-phase flow

Abstract

The experimental data for phase separation of the air-water mixture in a T-Junction with the expander section after the branch arm is presented in this work. The main and run arms of the T-junction are directed along the horizontal plane with the branch arm positioned in the vertical plane. The diameter of the main arm is 74 mm, with diameter ratio(s) of, 0.67, and 0.33 in relation to branch arm. At the inlet section of the T-junction, the flow regimes generated were stratified, stratified wavy and slug flow. At the inlet, the air and water superficial velocities are in the range of 0.25 - 0.140 m/s and 0.14-0.78 m/s respectively. The effect of the expander section after the branch arm, the air superficial velocity U_SA and water superficial velocity U_Sw on liquid carryover (W_L3/W_L1)_max in branch arm have been studied. Based on the experimental data obtained for T-junction with expander section, complete phase separation of air and water was observed in stratified and stratified wavy flow for all superficial velocities and improved phase separation for slug flow. In slug flow, increasing the liquid superficial velocity improves the phase separation but increasing the gas velocity decreases the phase separation. Finally, the volume weighted phase in this new T-junction design is compared with the phase separation data of a simple T-junction.

References

Saieed A. Experimental investigation on the effect of diameter ratio on two-phase separation in a T-junction. Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP), Malaysia; 2017.

Pao W, Hashim FM, Ming LH. Numerical investigation of gas separation in T-junction. In AIP Conference Proceedings: AIP Publishing; 2015.

Dos Reis E, Goldstein L. Fluid dynamics of horizontal air–water slug flows through a dividing T-junction. International Journal of Multiphase Flow 2013; 50:58–70.

Tran M, Memon Z, Saieed A, Pao W, Hashim F. Numerical simulation of two-phase separation in T-junction with experimental validation. Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Sciences 2018;12:4216–4230.

Memon ZQ, Tran CM, Pao W, Hashim FM. Two-phase slug flow separation at T-junction with regular and reduced vertical side arm. In AIP Conference Proceedings: AIP Publishing; 2018.

Sam B, Pao W, Nasif MS, Norpiah RBM. Simulation of two phase oil-gas flow in T-junction. ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences 2016;11:12011–12016.

Saieed A, Pao W, Ali HM. Prediction of phase separation in a T-Junction. Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 2018;97:160–179.

Oranje L. Condensate behavior in gas pipelines is predictable. Journal Oil & Gas 1973;71:39–44.

Saieed A, Pao W, Hewakandamby B, Azzopardi BJ, Wood DA, Ali HM. Experimental investigation on the effect of diameter ratio on two-phase slug flow separation in a T-Junction. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 2018;170:139–150.

Muller U, Reimann J. Redistribution of two-phase flow in branching conduits: a survey. In: 1st International Conference on Multiphase Flows, pp. 24–27; 1991.

Azzopardi BJ. Phase separation at T-junctions. Multiphase Science and Technology 1999;223–329.

Saieed A, Sam B, Pao W, Hashim FM, Norpiah, RBM. A review of T-junction geometrical effect on two-phase separation. ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences 2016;11:14233–14238.

Rea S, Azzopardi BJ. The split of horizontal stratified flow at a large diameter T-junction. Chemical Engineering Research and Design 2001;79:470–476.

Saieed A, Pao W, Hashim, F.M. Effect of T-junction diameter ratio on stratified-wavy flow separation. Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 2018;51:223–232.

Pao W, Saieed A, Hashim FM, Norpiah RBM. Numerical simulation of two–phase separation in a small diameter ratio T-junction. Materialwissenschaft und Werkstofftechnik 2017;48:255–260.

Azzopardi BJ. The effect of side arm diameter on phase split at T-junctions. In: SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition; 1999.

Saieed A, Sam B, Pao W, Hashim FM. Numerical investigation of side arm gas volume fraction in two phase T-junction. Journal of Mechanical Engineering and

Sciences 2016;10:2311–2323.

Tran M, Memon, Z, Pa, W, Hashim, FM. Preliminary results of numerical simulation of slug flow in a regular T-junction. In MATEC Web of Conferences; 2018.

Yang L, Azzopardi BJ, Belghazi A, Nakanishi S. Phase separation of liquid-liquid two-phase flow at a T-junction. AIChE Journal 2006;52:141–149.

Tae SJ, Cho K. Two-phase flow distribution and phase separation through both horizontal and vertical branches. KSME International Journal 2003;17:1211–1218.

Reimann J. A new gas separator for stratified and slug flow. In 3rd International Conference on Multiphase Flow, The Hague, Netherlands; 1987.

Katsaounis A, Papanikas D, Fertis D, Margaris D. Dynamic T-junction separator for multiphase transport pipelines. In 4th World Conference on Experimental Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, pp. 1045–1052; 1997.

Bevilacqua M, Giacchetta G, Neilson KL. Two-phase liquid-gas separation with a new conception comb separator. In 7th International Conference on Multiphase Flow in Industrial Plants, Bologna, pp. 13–15; 2000.

Wren E. Geometric effects on phase split at a large diameter T-junction. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK; 2001.

Baker G. Separation and control of gas-liquid flows at horizontal T-junctions. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Nottingham, UK; 2003.

Yang L, Zhao Z, Qi P, Zhao L, Azzopardi BJ. Phase separation of gas–liquid two-phase flows in multitube T-junction separators. In 2nd China Energy Scientist Forum, pp. 2285–2292; 2010.

Wren E, Azzopardi BJ. The Phase separation capabilities of two T-junctions placed in series. Chemical Engineering Research and Design 2004;82:364–371.

Pao W, Sam B, Saieed A, Tran CM. Numerical investigation of liquid carryover in T-Junction with different diameter ratios. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering; 2018.

Yang L, Liu S, Li H, Zhang J, Wu Y, Xu J. Gas-liquid flow splitting in T-junction with inclined lateral arm. Journal of Hydrodynamics 2018;30173–176.

Liu Y, Li WZ. Numerical simulation on two-phase bubbly flow split in a branching T-junction. International Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration 2011;19:253–262.

Elguerri M. Experimental study of separation of two-phase flow gas-liquid. Journal of Materials and Enviornmental Sciences 2018;9:1787–1795.

Taitel Y, Dukler AE. A model for predicting flow regime transitions in horizontal and near horizontal gas-liquid flow. AICHE Journal 1976;22:47–55.