Gas entrainment at a propagating slug front

Brown, Melvin and Dellar, Paul (2007) Gas entrainment at a propagating slug front. European Study Group with Industry > 59th ESGI [Nottingham 26/3/2007 - 30/3/2007].

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Item Type:	Study Group Report
Study Group:	European Study Group with Industry > 59th ESGI [Nottingham 26/3/2007 - 30/3/2007]
Company Name:	Hydro Oil & Energy
Industrial Sector:	Energy and utilities
Additional Contributors:	Schulkes, Ruben and Bauer, Robert and Baxter, Steven and Bell, Christopher and Booth, Richard and Byatt-Smith, John and Carter, Rebecca and Dellar, Paul and Fozard, John and Gajjar, Pragnesh and Garratt, John and Hold, Andriy and McBurnie, Sarah and Novikovs, Andrejs and Ockendon, John and Patel, Dharesh and Stewart, Peter and Tilley, Burt and Vanden-Broeck, Jean-Marc
ID Code:	139
Deposited By:	Richard Booth
Deposited On:	20 May 2008

Problem Statement

When oil is produced, the reservoir pressure decreases and the oil flow rate
decreases in proportion to the decreasing pressure difference between the
reservoir and the processing facility. At low oil flow rates, a well becomes
unstable and this leads to reduced production and processing problems. The
formation of slug flow in pipelines is a manifestation of such instability. The
front of a slug may be regarded as a propagating, continuously breaking wave,
which continuously entrains gas. The Study Group was asked to explore
alternative or new ways to treat the gas entrainment problem, to improve
understanding of physical processes governing entrainment and to suggest
models for the various phenomena. The Study Group obtained mathematical
models of slug propagation in horizontal and inclined pipelines, examined
possible models of gas entrainment, and outlined an approach to modelling
the onset of slug flow. This report summarises that work, and it suggests
directions for further investigation.

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