Development of the entropy generation investigation for slug flow in a large diameter pipe

Abstract

The slug flow phenomenon falls within the category of intermittent flow profiles, and due to its disorder and fluctuations at high pressures, the industry's focus is on avoiding its occurrence. The features of this flow lead to internal corrosion and damage to the pipelines. Entropy generation rate (EGR) is known as flow irreversibility, which is related to the rate of liquid holdup and pressure-drop, in slug unit. The present work presents a comprehensive analysis on the intermittent slug flow behavior, its associated frequency of slug, pressure drop, liquid holdup, slug body length, and the EG experimental studies using a High-Speed Camera Analysis (HSCA). To achieve this objective, horizontal pipe (HP) with a length of 10 m and a diameter of 80 mm at vessel pressure and ambient temperature has undergone a scrutiny. The slug flow has been determined, and the HSCA recorded for 20 experimental cases. Superficial velocities (SVs) of gas and liquid were set in ranges of 1.05–3.49 (m.s−1) and 0.77–1.2 (m.s−1), respectively. At first, pressure drop, slug length, and slug frequency are experimentally investigated; therefore, the EG is extracted by using a novel approach.