Scaling two-phase gas-liquid flow in horizontal pipes

Abstract

Two-phase flow in pipelines is analyzed by experimental facilities and also numerical analysis. The experimental facilities are designed by scale-down field pipelines. Therefore, the accuracy of experimental data is strongly dependent on the scaling method. In this research, an approach for downscaling field pipelines into experimental facilities is proposed. The fluid flows in different scales for various flow patterns including Stratified, Stratified Wavy, Slug, Plug and Bubbly are numerically simulated and validated against full-scale experimental data. The results of the scaled-down model simulation are in excellent agreement with the full-scale facilities, affirming the robustness of the downscaling method. This research enhances the understanding of scaled-down experiments for various flow conditions.