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Slug catcher multiphase CFD modeling:

Optimization and comparison with industrial
standards

Article · January 2016

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Journal of Applied Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 9, Special Issue 1, pp. 1-9, 2016.
Selected papers from the 7thInternational Exergy, Energy
and Environment Symposium, IEEE7-2015
Available online at www.jafmonline.net, ISSN 1735-3645, EISSN 1735-3645.

Slug Catcher Multiphase CFD Modeling: Optimization

and Comparison with Industrial Standards
G. Montenegro1†, G. D’Errico1, A. Della Torre1, L. Cadei2, S. Masi2
1.
Politecnico di Milano, Department of Energy, InternalCombustionEngines Group, via Lambruschini,
Milano, I-20156, Italy
2
Via Emilia, 1 Piazza Ezio Vanoni 1, 20097 San Donato Milanese (MI) – Italy

†Corresponding Author Email:[email protected]

(Received October 20, 2015; accepted December 10, 2015)

ABSTRACT

In the oil & gas industry, the traditional procedure for slug catcher design is based on the Stokes' law. Design
equations are obtained from a 1-D analysis and validated with experimental data. Therefore, this method
basically relies on simplified models and empirical correlations. For this reason, an over margin factor from
20 to 40% is usually applied. In this paper, a simplified CFD procedure for the modelling of the gas-liquid
separation is presented. Steady state and transient models have been considered for single phase and
multiphase fluids, using OpenFOAM. The influence of flow model and mesh grid on results have been
evaluated as a trade-off between solution accuracy and computational efforts, in order to assess the
applicability of these models to industry. A comparison of the industrial validation procedure with the CFD
analysis has been realized, focusing on the pros and cons of the two different approaches. A new application
solver has been constructed and programmed in order to get the most accurate results with the minimum
computational efforts. This solver is based on a completely new and innovative approach to the Navier-Stokes
equations for multiphase flow. New model proposed has been used for the evaluation of design for the two
slug catchers studied, in order to get a better separation and fluids management.

Keywords: Slug catcher; Multiphase; OpenFOAM; CFD.

NOMENCLATURE

component of the resultant pressure force

A amplitude of oscillation Fy
acting on the lower side
a cylinder diameter f, g generic functions
Cp pressure coefficient h height
Cx force coefficient in the x direction i time index during navigation
Cy force coefficient in the y direction j space index
c chord α angle of attack
dt time step γ dummy variable
Fx X component of the resultant pressure force

1. INTRODUCTION Company to focus their attention on the

improvement of production efficiencies. One of the
The global energy demand has grown exponentially main challenges in the optimizations process of the
since the last century, and according to the main production systems is the development of
energy agencies an increase of 41% is expected in innovative and precise methodologies able to handle
2035. In this context, the fossil fuels, and in the multiphase flow, which is a very common
particular the oil and the natural gas, will maintain phenomenon in the actual Oil and Gas applications
their primary role, achieving the 75% of the market and can cause the onset of critical working
share (BP, 2014). conditions in upstream and downstream apparatus.
This last characteristic leads inexorably to the loss
The inexorably depletion of the traditional and of production capacity of the entire production
easily exploitable reservoir has led the major Oil system, composed by the reservoir, the well and the
G. Monttenegro et al. /JA
AFM, Vol. 9, Sppecial Issue 1, ppp. 1-9, 2016.

surface facilities, and fiinally to the deccrease of the of slug catcher

c is the rreduced buffer storage
s
companyy profit. volume, generally less thhan 100 m3.
In the cuurrent work, a CFD
C analysis is used
u to study 7. Multi-pippe type (also ccalled finger-typ pe): in
paration process between gas
the first stage of the sep this case the pipeline froom the well is directly
d
and oil occurring at the slug catch her facility, connecteed to a manifoold that collectts and
considerring also the cap pacity of the sluug catcher to distributees the flow too several tubess. This
handle and
a distribute thhe multiphase flow f coming configuraation offers a technical-econnomical
from th he wellhead. Th he Oil & Gass world has advantagge both to managge the level of prressure
usually preferred to exxploit experimenntal data or and to realize a bufffer storage volume, v
simplifieed approach to design
d and validdate the parts ensuring a continuous flow to the downnstream
of the slug catcher facility
fa responsiible for the facility. Moreover, the finger type
separatioon of the phasess and for the management of configuraation gives to the operator larger
the incooming flow. Thhe project startts from the layout fllexibility along with the capaccity to
analysis of the main currrent standard meethodologies handle laarge slug flow froom the well. Hoowever,
adopted in the petroleum m industry for the design and a large number
n of pipes is required to provide
p
validatioon procedure of the
t slug catcher facility. sufficientt volume and tthis results in a wide
slug catcher footprint.
The num merical calculation are carried out
o using the
OpenFO OAM® code (O OpenFOAM docu umentation), 8. Parking loop type: thiss hybrid configuuration
an advaanced and freee CFD Toolbo ox, able to joins the features of the vvessel and thosee of the
customizze and extend software soluttions to the finger tyype slug catcheers. This slug catcher
c
simulatio ons process acro
oss a wide rangee of physical type is addopted to managge liquid carry over
o in
phenomeena and at different level of in-depth counter current gas/liqquid flow. It is i also
analysis. OpenFOAM has an extensivve range of suitable for the offshoree application thaanks to
features to solve anny continuum mechanics its particuular geometry. T
The main disadvvantage
problemm, ranging froom complex fluid f flows of this device is the dependence on n strict
involvinng chemical reactions, turbulennce and heat operationnal conditions thhat reduces flexibbility.
transfer, to solid dynammics and electrommagnetics. It
is writteen in a highly effficient C++ objject oriented The configurration analyzed in this work is the
programmming, and, since it is open source,
s it is finger type one,
o which is rrepresented in Fig. F 1.
easily customizable.
c Foor this reason it has been However the CFD methodoloogies developedd in the
adopted for this industtrial project as it allows to project are also
a applicable in case of diifferent
develop solvers ad hoc for
f a physical prooblem. geometry mainntaining the righht level of accuraacy.

2. THE SLUG CA
ATCHER

The slugg catcher is statio

onary equipmennt used in the
upstreamm oil production system. The maain functions
of a slugg catcher can be summarized as follows:
f
1. It provides
p a bufferr and storage voolume for the
fluiids coming from
m the well;
2. It maintains
m constaant and close to the
t optimum
the operating conddition of the uppstream and
dowwnstream facilityy, allowing to maximize
m the
oil production. Th his function perm mits also to Fig. 1. Fllow regimes in horizontal pipees.
enssure a constant flow
f rate to the gas line and
to the
t oil treating seection;
3. It manages
m the intermittent slug floow generated 3. THE
E MULTI-PHAS
SE FLOW PATTE
ERN
in the upstream section of the production
faciility, distributting homogeneeously the The multiphaase flow cominng from the well, w is
incooming flux; composed mainly by gas and liquid. The flow w inside
the horizontaal pipes of the slug catcher can c be
4. it provides
p a first stage
s of separattion between classified co onsidering the distribution of o the
the gas and the liquuid phases. different phases inside the geoometry that definnes the
5. Acccording to their geometrical characteristics, flow regime (Fig( 2). The distribution assum med by
theyy can be classiffied in three maiin categories the different phases
p inside thee pipes and the devices
d
(Enngineering data book,
b 2004): is an importtant parameter in the study of the
multiphase floow behavior. Thhe specific distribbutions
6. Vesssel type: simpple two phasee separation are usually diivided into floww regimes modeel, with
vesssel. The vessel needs to be largge enough to particular feattures and charactteristics, for verttical or
hanndle large liquid d slugs and a high design horizontal pippes. Here, the attention
a is focu
used on
pressure. The conffiguration of th his device is the last ones (Ergun, 1952).
suittable for limitedd offshore/onsho
ore plot size
in the
t field. The maain disadvantagee of this type 1. The bubble flow: the ssmall gas bubblles are
d into the continuuous liquid phasse. It is
dispersed

2
G Montenegro et
G. e al. /JAFM, Vol. 9, Special Isssue 1, pp. 1-9, 20016.

typical for high

h volumetric flow rate. dynammics and on thhe experience in i engineering
these devices. The technical siziing procedure
2
2. The stratified flow: generaated by the very low currenntly adopted forr a finger typee slug catcher
velocity off both phases, which leads tto a consissts of the followiing main steps:
complete seeparation of the mixture. The liquid
is separatedd by an undistu
urbed interface ffrom 1. Sttorage volume caalculation;
he gas. 2. Seelection of numbber and diameterr of fingers;
3. Sizing of fingers;
3
3. The stratifiied-wavy flow: as the gas veloocity 4. Sizing of inlet heaader;
increases, small
s waves in th
he flux directionn are 5. Sizing of downcom mer;
generated. The dimensio on of the w waves 6. Sizing of riser;
depends on n the relative veelocity betweenn the 7. Sizing of outlet heeader and equalizzation lines.
phases. Thee waves do not reach
r the upper part
of the pipe. This procedure
p involvves an iterative process that is
compoosed of series of steps based on n the selection
4
4. The interm mittent flow: the continuoously of the number and diaameter of the fin ngers, followed
increase off the gas velocityy conducts the small by thee validation of thhis selection. Iff the selections
waves to reeach the top of thhe pipe. This reggime made are shown to bee inadequate, thhe procedure is
is characterrized by the preesence of big waves
w repeatted starting froom the second point of the
alternated to
t small waves. This regime cann be previoous list, varyingg the number of o the fingers,
divided intoo two sub-categoory: Once the design is successfully
and/orr the diameter. O
5
5. The plug fllow: this regimee is characterizedd by complleted, the overalll dimensions arre evaluated in
big elongatted bubbles of gas, which do not order to
t check the com mpatibility of theese parameters
reach the dimension
d of thee full section off the with thhe plant layout and
a pipe-rack.
pipe. Thus, a liquid volume is always pressents It is important to focus the atteention on the
in the bottom part of the pippe. relatioonship implemeented in this procedure to
6
6. The slug floow: when the gaas velocity increeases compuute the length of separation. In fact, some
another tim
me, the bubbles achieve
a a dimennsion experiimental equationns depending onn the geometry
comparablee with the pipe diameter.
d Hence, the of the slug catcher devvice and on the composition
c of
flow insidee the pipe is characterized
c byy an oil andd gas are deriveed and interpolatted from graph
alternation between the gasg and the liquid that shhows the separattion length as a function
f of the
phase. superfficial velocity annd the density of the gas (as
depictted in Fig. 3).
7
7. The annuular flow: increasing the gas
volumetric flow rate, the liquid is pushedd on In thiss project an alteernative industrial approach to
the pipe waall, forming an annular
a film, thiicker the deesign of the slug catcher separatiion mechanism
on the botttom of the ducct. The interfacce is is brieefly introduced. This proceduree will be used
characterizeed by small waves and small for quuick comparisonss with the CFD solutions. This
droplets comming from the liiquid film. proceddure is basedd on the onne-dimensional
application of the Stokes law. The particle
8
8. The mist fllow: for very hiigh gas velocity, the segreggation is modelled with a connstant terminal
liquid is transported
t in the flux in small velociity that producess a flux of liquiid towards the
droplets disspersed in the gaas continuous phase. bottomm of the geomeetry. The terminnal velocity is
The flow is conssidered completely dispersed inn this
T compuuted rearrangingg the balance beetween gravity,
w
work, taking intto account the worst conditionn for buoyaancy and drag fforces acting on n the particles.
t separation process
the p allowedd inside the faciility, The particles segregattion starts from the top of the
a
and it is compposed by two phases:
p natural gas pipe suuddenly at the teerminal velocity.
(
(continuous phaase) and raw oiil (dispersed phhase,
s
small droplets).  4gd drop  l   g 
Vt     (1)
 3Cd  l 

The drag
d model can be chosen fromm a variety of
differeent experimentaal or semi-empirrical relations.
In thiss work the Schhiller Neumann formulation is
considdered [5]:

 24 
   Ree p  1000 
0.687 
 Re 1  0.15 Re p 
Cd   p (2)
 0.44
  Re p  1000 
Fig. 2. Floww regimes in horrizontal pipes Wheree the Reynolds nnumber depends on the relative
The first step needed to prooceed with a CFD
T C velociity between the ggas and the liquid phases:
a
analysis of the multiphase
m flow inside
i a slug cattcher
i the study of th
is he actual design procedure for finger l d droplet U r
t
type slug catch her already useed in the indusstrial Re p  (3)
l
p
practice. It is based
b on simplee concepts of ffluid

3
G. Monttenegro et al. /JA
AFM, Vol. 9, Sppecial Issue 1, ppp. 1-9, 2016.

stress Reynoldds number, M is the averagedd inter-

phase momenntum transfer terrm. For clarity sake,
s it
is reported thee volume phase fraction  , defined
d
as:
Fig. 3. 1D Stokes
S approach
h
Va (6)
The induustrial standardss introduced above, implies a 
the utilization of severaal simplifying assumptions.
a V a V b
Thus, many
m theoretical problems arisee from these
Combining thee two continuityy equations for the
t two
procedurres, generating some sourcess of errors,
which can affect the fin nal results. Theese problems phases   a and   b it is possible to forrmulate
are brieffly listed below the volumetricc continuity equaation as:
 U  0 (7)
3. THE TWO PH
HASE APPROAC
CH
Where, U =  aUa   bUb .
Usually the dynamicss of two-phasse flow is quations is rearrranged into a prressure
The set of eq
modelledd using the Naavier-Stokes equuations for a equation and then
t solved.
Newtoniian fluid. The main approacches to the
on of this kind of phenomena are (Weller,
simulatio In particular, for
f what concernn the calculation n of the
2002; Hill,
H 1998; Gosssman et al. 1992; Rusche, interphase moomentum, its vaalue id determin ned by
2002): different contrributions. In ourr specific case, due to
the limited siize of the dropplets considered lift is
1. Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS): ( the neglected andd only drag annd turbulent drag are
Naviier-Stokes equattions are emplo oyed without modelled.
furthher manipulatio on. The topolo ogy of the
interrface between thhe phases is deteermined as a M V (8)
 Fd  Ftd
part of the solution. 
2. Disppersed Phase Eleement (DPE): thhis model is The turbulence (Gossman, 19992) is introduceed as a
also referred to as the Eulerr-Lagrangian standard k-ε model, whichh is suitable for f the
apprroach. The equ uation of motiion for the particular flow
w conditions uunder study, inccluding
dispeersed phase is expressed
e in thee Lagrangian source terms to
t incorporate thhe dispersed phhase on
form
mulation, while the conservatioon equations turbulence.
for the
t continuous phase are expreessed in the
Euleerian frame. This approach h can provide thhe best approxim
mation
of a real two-p
phase physical phenomenon.
p Thhe main
3. Twoo-Fluid Model: ini this case both h phases are t computationnal burden required to
drawback is the
characterized using the Eulerian conservation
c perform the simulation, mainnly due to the in
ntrinsic
equaations. Hence thee model is also referred
r to as unsteady naturre of the model.
the Euler-Euler
E fram
me.
The Tw wo-Fluid model has been adop pted in this 3. SIMPL
LIFIED SINGLE
E PHASE APPRO
OACH
work in order to simulaate the two-phaase dynamic.
This methodology
m reqquires less coomputational To overcome the high dem mand of compuutation
efforts than
t the DNS anda it is more suitable for resources wheen the simulationn of a real geom
metry is
every floow regime than the DPE, thankss to the two- addressed, an innovative moddel, based on a single-
way cou upling granted byy the Euler-Eulerr approach. phase approacch has been deeveloped, is prooposed.
The Navier-Sttokes equation is solved only forf the
The govverning equations are written in thet averaged continuous phhase, the gaseouus phase consideered as
form forr both the fluidss, considering eaach phase as incompressible, and the segreegation process of the
continuoous, allowingg in this way the liquid droplet is modelled wiith the transport of the
interpenetration of one phase
p into the othher one. The scalar variable α, which reprresents the voluumetric
momenttum transfer between
b the twwo different fraction of liquuid in the total fl
fluid flow.
phases is taken into account through thee term M
The idea is too represent the eeffect of the disspersed
that connsiders the forcces acting on the
t interface phase with thhe help of a siimple scalar traansport
betweenn the fluids: drrag, lift, virtuaal mass and equation, reduucing in this waay the equationss to be
turbulennt effect. For eaach phase it is possible to solved to sim mulate the mulltiphase phenom menon.
express the mass andd momentum conservation
c Instead of sollving the continuuity equation an nd two
respectivvely as: momentum traansfer equationss, one for each phases,
p

   U   0
thus three equations.
e The simplified approach
(4) presented heree allows solving only one conntinuity
t
equation and one momentum m transfer equatiion for
 U 
   U U     Reff    p   g   (5)
M
the continuouus phase. Thee continuity eq quation
t   introduced, simmulates the disppersed phase floow and
the separationn process betweeen the liquid anda the
Where Reff is the combined turbulent and viscous gas. Applying g the steady staate condition and
a the

4
G Montenegro et
G. e al. /JAFM, Vol. 9, Special Isssue 1, pp. 1-9, 20016.

hhypothesis of incompressiblee flow, the m mass the seettling Vt . Thee value of Vt is, therefore,
c
conservation equuation is rearrangged in the follow
wing mined by means oof an iterative prrocedure.
determ
f
form, which is implemented in the solver ccode
(
(Malalasekera, 2007;
2 Ferziger): An adv vantage of this ssimplified approoach is that the
 system
m of equations iss now decoupledd. There in no
    U   0 (9) more interaction beetween the moomentum and
t
contin
nuity equations oof the two phasess, but there is a
T general forrm of the mom
The mentum conservaation
single phase system of o equation pluus a decoupled
e
equation, obtainned with the Eulerian approoach
transport equation w which exploits thet convective
f
fixing a cell vo olume in the space, can be wrritten
term. This means thatt the system cann be modelled
w the followin
with ng notation:
also ass a steady state process,
p resultingg in a dramatic
U
   UU U     T   S f (10) reducttion of the compuutation demand.
t
w
where T is the sttress tensor of a Newtonian fluidd. 5
5. PRELIMIRA
ARY SIMULATIIONS
A
Applying the steeady state and incompressible
i f
flow
c
condition and neglecting the diiffusive transporrt of
t liquid particcles, which are transported onlyy by
the To vaalidate the simpplified approachh, simulations
c
convection, the final equation for the transporrt of were carried
c out on a pipe with sqquared section.
t droplet volu
the ume fraction caan be formulated as This allowed
a having a calculation mesh
m free from
f
follows: typical issues that generate
g errors,, in order to
quicklly optimize the t CFD appplication. The

   U   S p (11) geomeetry is representeed by a 16 meteers pipe, with a
t squareed cross section cross section off 0.36 m2 (Fig.
S n this way it is possible to simplify the
4). In
The source term
T m p , is mathem matically introduuced calculaations, reducingg the time necessary to solve
a a scalar quaantity inside th
as his formulation and the prooblem, and provviding the possib bility to easily
s
should mimic thhe separation of the t liquid phasee due analysse the results. The mesh in this case is
t the gravity efffect. Considerinng the physics off the
to compo osed by a simplee block.
s
sedimentation prrocess, it is posssible to undersstand
t the gravity produces
that p a flow of liquid particlees in
t direction off the gravity. Thhis flow producces a
the
f
flux that can be conveniently represented byy the
d
divergence operaator. For this reaason, it is possible to
r
rearrange the souurce term as a flux
fl term, given by a
v
vertical velocityy multiplied by the orthogonal area
o the cells:
of

   U     Vt  . (12)
t Fig. 4:Square duct ggeometry and mesh
m detail.
The volumetric flux of this neew divergence tterm
T
c
comes from the terminal
t velocityy calculated in E
Eq.1. The simulations are m managed focusing the attention
T face center value of the terrminal velocity used
The u on thee influence on tthe final solutioon of different
i the discretizzation of the divergence
in d term
m is parammeters, such as thhe mesh size, thee discretization
o
obtained by lineear interpolationn of the cell ceenter schemmes and the soluution algorithm ms. The results
v
values of the terrminal velocity field. Equationn 12 obtainned have allowed the comparisoon of both the
c be also writtten in a more compact
can c formulaation CFD approaches: thee eulerian-euleriian two phase
c
considering the volumetric
v flux given by the sum m of approaach and the simmplified single-pphase one. The
t two convecctive contributioons: gas convecction
the simulaated cases are illlustrated in the Figs 5 and 6,
a deposition:
and where a threshold ffilter highlights a separation

    U - Vt   0 ((13) efficieency of 99%. It can be noticed that
t the length
t of the complete segreegation of the liquid
l phase is
IIn this frameworrk, it is really im
mportant to definee the approxximately the saame for the tw wo approaches,
c
correct boundarry on the terminal velocity. A As a approxximately 14 m. In this particulaar case there is
M
Matter of fact, im
mposing at the boundary a Neum mann no expperimental correelation that cann be exploited,
c
condition wouldd imply to assiggn an incoming and therefo ore, the CFD reesults are compaared to the 1D
o
outgoing flux att those patches where there shhould Stokess’ approach. Thee particle diametter used for the
n be any kind of flow. To acco
not ommodate this iissue calculaations has been cchosen equal to 150 μm.
a slip type bouundary conditio on on the term minal
v
velocity field hass been imposed.
The drag coefficcient is computeed with the Schiiller-
T
N
Neumann modell previously presented. In this ccase,
s
since there is onnly one velocityy (the gas veloccity),
a
assumptions neeed to be made ini order to estimmate
t
the relative vellocities. In partticular, it has bbeen
a
assumed that thee two phases arre moving one with Fig. 5:Singlle-phase approaach.
r
respect to the oth
her only by the term responsiblee for

5
G. Monttenegro et al. /JA
AFM, Vol. 9, Sppecial Issue 1, ppp. 1-9, 2016.

experimental database.
d
An analysis ofo the velocity vvector in the dirrection
orthogonal to the main flux reevealed the preseence of
a lifting effectt at the end of tthe downcomer, where
the rotational flow caused byy the variation of the
geometry distuurbs the depositiion process. Thee liquid
Fig. 6. Two-phases approach
h. droplets, moddelled as sphericcal particles, aree lifted
by this flow causing the ooverestimation of the
The 1D D Stokes’ meethod underesttimates the separation length. This effect iis shown in Fig. 9.
segregattion length, provviding a value off 9.68 m. The
maximum m error obtaineed is about 40% %. The main
reason of
o this discrepanccy is due to the fact that the
1D theoory approximatees the flow as a 1D flow,
whose component
c of the velocity in i the axis
direction
n is uniformly diistributed over thhe flow area.
This is obviously
o not reaalistic and thereffore does not
account that in the midddle on the pipe thhe velocity is
higher, causing
c an increease of the lengtth necessary
to allow the separaation. Imposin ng uniform
distribution of the velociity and setting sllip boundary
conditionns, the case beecomes equivaleent to a 1D
case, ressulting in a sepparation length close
c to one
given byy the 1D theory.
After havving validated thhe two approachhes, a simple Fig. 8. a) Sin
ngle-phase thresshold filter; b) Two-
T
part of a real slug catcheer, composed off a finger and phase thresholdd filter.
a 45° incclined downcom mer has been considered (Fig.
7). This geometry perm mits to test the behaviour
b of
CFD sollvers, comparinng the results obbtained with
the exxperimental inndustrial standdards. The
downcom mer is 4 m lonng, with a diam meter of 30
inches. The
T finger is incclined by 1.15°, and is 40 m
long, wiith a diameter ofo 48 inches. Thhe mesh size
has beenn chosen after a sensitivity anaalysis on the
volumetrric fraction disstribution. The calculation
grid, connsidering these two parameterrs, has been
generateed using the messh cartesian mesh generator
of Open nFOAM, namelly snappy HexxMesh. This
mesh gennerator creates a high quality, heex-dominant
mesh sttarting from a background mesh m and a Fig. 9. Rootational flow in
nside the fingerr.
surface representation
r o the geometry that will be
of
studied. Furthermore, surface refinnement and The solver does not take into account that thee liquid
boundary y layers have been included in the final deposited on the bottom off the pipe cann not be
mesh. Also
A in this case several test sim
mulations are dragged in thee same way of siingle droplets. ForF this
performeed, in order to further optimiize both the reason, a coallescence model has been implem mented
CFD sollvers. The attenntion has been posed
p on the to simulate thhe real behaviouur of the liquid already
a
influencee of the mesh anda the boundarry condition collected at the
t bottom of tthe geometry, liimiting
characteristics. this lifting efffect. The idea inn this case is to find a
threshold valuue of the volum me fraction of liquid,
above whichh the droplets start to agggregate,
generating parrticles with largeer diameter. The model
implemented individuates the αlim value whenn a cell
is completelyy full of spherrical particles without
w
merging phenomena (Fig. 10)).

Fig. 7. Downcomer
D + finger
f geometryy and final
mesh
h detail.
The finaal results are shown
s in Fig. 8. As it is
possible to see, in this case
c the results obtained, in
terms off liquid volumetrric fraction, usinng the single-
phase ap pproximation is not in agreemeent with the
Euleriann-Eulerian approoach. In particullar, it seems
to overestimate the to otal length off separation,
whereas the two-phasse simulation computes c a Fig.
F 10. α limit ccondition.
separatioon in agreem ment with thee industrial

6
G Montenegro et
G. e al. /JAFM, Vol. 9, Special Isssue 1, pp. 1-9, 20016.

The model maintains constantt the value off the

T incom
ming flow. For this purpose a single phase
d
droplet diameter until the alphha limit is reacched. solverr, without conssidering the sccalar transport
A
After this pointt, the particle diameter
d is obtaained equatiion of the volum
metric fraction, haave been used.
w an exponenntial fit, which innterpolates the innitial
with
d
diameter of thee liquid sphere and the maxim mum
d
diameter achievvable, or in oth her words the cell
e
equivalent lengtth. The result obtained using the
m
modified singlee-phase solver similar to the one
a
achieved with thhe two-phase so olver (Fig. 11). This
c
confirms the impprovement in thee prediction thatt can
b achieved inntroducing the coalescence moodel.
be
H
However, the result is coonditioned by the
a
assumption madde to define the limit level of α and
t interpolate thee values of the maximum
to m diametter.

Fig. 12. a) Slug catch

her finger-type 3D
3 model.

Fig. 11. a) Single-phase

S coaalescence modell
threshold filteer; b) Two-phasse threshold filter.

The final compaarison with the industrial standdards

T
i
illustrates a suubstantial underestimation of the
e
experimental prrocedure and of
o the 1D Stookes’
a
approach compaared to the CFDD analysis (Tab. 1).
T
This comparisoon reveals the lack of accuuracy Fig. 13. Sim
mplified 3D model.
a
achieved with the main typical process deesign
a
adopted in the industry which does not take into The fllow is assumed tto be completely y composed by
a
account 3D effeccts. gas. The
T solver usedd for this simulaation is already
implemmented in OpeenFOAM, for incompressible
i
flow and
a exploits the SIMPLE algoritthm for steady
Table 1 Compaarison of the diffferent approacches state problems. The simulation is performed
Expeeriment 1D CFDD considdering a turbulent incompressibble flow and a
al ap
pproach Stookes approaach steadyy state conditionns. The result is shown in Fig.
Lsep[m] 10.06 11.29 13.000 14.

Moreover, it iss important to highlight that the

M
r
reduction of tim
me achieved usiing the new sinngle-
p
phase approach to the study of the multiphase flow
f
d
dynamics, is around the 25

5. CONC
CLUSION

Every simulationn presented in the

E t previous secction
i performed with
is w simplified. In this section,, the
f
facility considerred is a real fingger type slug cattcher
(
(Fig. 12). Fig. 14. Gaas flow distributtion.
The 3D model can be simpliified exploiting the
T
s
symmetry of thee device. The fin
nal 3D model useed is The Fig
F shows an accceptable level of o symmetry in
r
reported in Fiig. 13. The mesh m is generrated the fluuid distribution, which can be observed
o in the
c
considering the results of the previous
p preliminary velociity field obtainedd inside the pipes. In order to
s
simulations, andd in particular thhe downcomer plus have a clearer unnderstanding on o the flow
f
finger configurattion. distribbution, the volummetric flow havve been probed
A single phase simulation of thhe slug catcherr has acrosss general planes defined by the user allowing
b
been performed to assess the cap
pacity of the faccility to evaaluate how the flow is distribuuted along the
t receive and to distribute homogeneously
to h the fingers. This is impportant informattion since the
usual procedure is to assume a uniforrm distribution
7
G. Monttenegro et al. /JA
AFM, Vol. 9, Sppecial Issue 1, ppp. 1-9, 2016.

of the gaas flow over all the

t fingers. design and vaalidation proceddure augmented with a
fixed oversizee margin of 20% %. Moreover thee result
Tablle 2Percentage of the total flow
ws in the achieved by the experimenttal process dessign is
differrent pipes affected by a too high unncertainty, due to the
Q [%]
[ experimental correlation that does not considder the
Splitter 1 51.116% dispersed phasse particle diameeter.
Splitter 2 48.884%
Downcomer 1 14.776%
Downcomer 2 15.110%
Downcomer 3 20.112%
Downcomer 4 20.114%
Downcomer 5 15.111%
Downcomer 6 14.777%

As it is possible
p to see (T
Tab. 2), the current layout of
the slugg catcher seem ms to gather annd distribute
homogennously the incooming flow from the well.
Having evaluated the fluuid dynamics off the device,
it is noww possible to prroceed with the multi-phase
simulatioon using the single
s phase appproximated
olver (FFig. 15) and thee multiphase app proach (Fig.
16). Thee average particcle diameter is set to 1000
μm, in agreement withh the specificattions of the
extractioon site.

Fig. 17.. Design evaluation procedure..

The final syntthesis of all the m

models, consideerations
and solutionss reported in tthe previous parts is
combined in a general designn evaluation validation
procedure abble to combinne the computtational
lightness achieeved with the sinngle-phase steaddy state
Fig. 15. Single phase simulatiion. solver and thee high level of aaccuracy typicall of the
two-phase appplication. In this way the perfectt trade-
off, between accuracy and reduction of reequired
simulation timme, is reached, making econom mically
and technicallly feasible the aapplication of th
he CFD
approach in thhe Oil and Gas seector.
The proceduree (Fig. 17) is ann iterative proceess that
starts from the current exxperimental ind dustrial
standard and consequently aapplies the CFD D tools
presented prevviously in the reeport. The singlee-phase
steady state appproach is usedd to obtain a quiick and
accurate distrribution of the phases
p inside thhe slug
Fig. 16. Two phases
p simulatioon. catcher. The results
r obtainedd in this way arre then
used as initiall condition for thhe two-phase unnsteady
The assumption
a of
o incompresssible flow application, reducing
r the tiime required forf the
approxim mates the real flow characteeristics, but simulation.
considerring that the pressure drop allong a slug
catcher is limited, the expansion n ratio is 5. CON
NCLUSION
approxim mately equal, to one. This allow ws to neglect
the coompressibility without losinng solution In this workk, a CFD approoach on slug catcher c
accuracyy. Moreover, thee flow velocitiees inside the design and raating has been studied.
s Main benefits
b
pipes coorrespond to loow Mach numbbers (<0.3), have been demonstrated throughout model
confirmiing the validity of the incomprressible flow applications and comparissons with ind dustrial
assumpttion. As it is posssible to see the threshold
t set standard resuults. It has beeen pointed ou ut that
to 99% of separation efficiency, higghlights the differences arre mainly relatted to the multtiphase
completee segregation of the dispersed phase. This flow simulatio
on nature itself iinstead of empirrical or
result is in agreement to
o the run time daata collected semi-empiricaal approach geneerally applied to design
by the monitoring systtem positioned on the real slug catcher facilities. This inevitably lead d to a
field andd with the indusstrial standards used for the better undersstanding of syystem behavioor and

8
 G. Montenegro et al. /JAFM, Vol. 9, Special Issue 1, pp. 1-9, 2016.

separation mechanism, allowing both to improve Engineering Data Book, Gas Processor
design and better handle change in operating Association.
conditions. The latter can be easily translated in the
ability to support facilities management and Gossman A. D., R. I. Issa, C. Lekakou, M. K.
operation problem solving. Looney and S. Politics (1992)
Multidimensional modelling of turbulent two-
On the other side it has to be mentioned that CFD phase flows in stirred vessels, AIChE J.
simulations are time consuming operations. As a
consequence a trade-off between calculation efforts Hill D. P. (1998), The computer simulations of
and result accuracy has to be achieved. dispersed two-phase flows, Imperial College of
London, London,
In the present paper, the single-phase steady state
application has been recognized as the best Malalasekera, H. K. and W. Versteeg (2007) An
compromise among the aforementioned parameters. introduction to computational fluid dynamics,
Main focus points are on the coalescence PEARSON Prentice Hall.
mechanism of the liquid particle and on the average Naumann, L. and A. Schiller (1933), Uber die
droplet diameter, individuated as the most critical grund legend en Berechnungenbei,
parameters responsible for reliable and consistent Vereinsdeutscher Ing.
results.
OpenCFD Ltd., “OpenFOAM Programmer’s
This activity has allowed the evaluation of a new Guide”. Online available:
workflow for slug catcher design, allowing to http://www.openfoam.org
enhance a standard procedure which in the past has
always been based on empirical correlations. OpenCFD Ltd., “OpenFOAM User’s Guide”.
Online available: http://www.openfoam.org
REFERENCES Rusche H. (2002), Computational Fluid Dynamics
of Dispersed Two-Phase Flows at High Phase
B. P. “Energy Outlook 2035”, 2014. Online Fractions, Imperial College of London,
available: http://www.bp.com London.

Ergun S. (1952). Fluid flow through packed Weller H. G. (2002a), A code independent for finite
columns, Chem. Eng. Progr. volume algorithm, Technical report-Nabla Ltd.

Ferziger J. H., and M. Peric, Computational Weller H. G. (2002b), Derivation, modelling and
Methods for Fluid Dynamics, Springer, third solution of the conditionally averaged two-
edition phase flow equations, Technical report-Nabla
Ltd.
Gas Processing Supplier Association (2004)

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