Gas Liquid Flow Rate Research Articles

Experimental investigation of online solving for critical valve opening for eliminating severe slugging in pipeline-riser systems

In an offshore pipeline-riser system, the critical opening of choke valve, i.e., the maximum permanent opening to eradicate severe slugging, plays an important role in both pipeline design and offshore oil and gas production processes. However, solving critical opening online in an offshore oil field is very difficult because only topside measurements are available and system information such as inlet gas–liquid flow rates and transfer functions are unavailable or far from precise. In order to cope with this problem, manually traversal experiments were first conducted in a large-scale experimental system consists of a 114-m horizontal pipeline, an 18.7-m downward-inclined pipeline with an inclination angle of −5˚ and a 16.3-m riser. Based on the results, a new process variable characterizing cut-off ratio of outflow and a new valve parameter describing the influence of valve on flow were derived. An approximate linear relation between these two parameters was found, with which critical openings can be calculated by processing real-time data. Finally, a control scheme was designed to overcome the calculation errors and solve for critical openings on line. The performance was validated by automatic control experiments.

CO2 capture performance of AMP-EAE amine blends: Absorption in the microchannel and desorption from saturated solutions

Blended organic amine solutions are considered an effective strategy for developing highly efficient and low energy-consuming absorbents due to the possibility of combining the advantages of single amine. The 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP) and 2-(ethylamino)ethanol (EAE) amine blends were prepared in three molar ratios: blend-1 (nAMP:nEAE = 3:1), blend-2 (nAMP:nEAE = 1:1), and blend-3 (nAMP:nEAE = 1:3). The impacts of gas-liquid flow rate, amine concentration, molar ratio, temperature, and CO2 concentration on absorption performance were investigated using the serpentine microchannel. Additionally, the effects of amine concentration and molar ratio on the desorption performance of saturated solutions were also explored. The performance of amine blends in absorption and desorption was evaluated by measuring absorption rate, efficiency, and loading, as well as desorption efficiency, energy consumption, cycle capacity, and average desorption rate. The desorption results were compared to those of the benchmark solvent, 30 wt% MEA, under identical operating conditions. The results indicate that the 25 wt% blend-2 solution performs exceptionally well, exhibiting a 15 % increase in absorption efficiency compared to the AMP aqueous solution at a gas-liquid ratio of 20. Additionally, the cycle capacity and average desorption rate are 1.7 times higher than those of the 30 wt% MEA solution. Notably, the energy consumption of the 25 wt% blend-2 solution for desorption is only 60 % of the 30 wt% MEA solution.

Modeling and experimental study on a photochemical microscale continuous oscillatory baffled reactor

AbstractHerein, the first photochemical microscale continuous oscillatory baffled reactor, that is, Photo‐μCOBR, was designed and evaluated. Computational fluid dynamics simulations were used to optimize the key structural parameter and operating conditions. Then, the mixing process was simulated and the μCOBR was shown to be more than 23 times faster than the straight channel both under oscillating conditions. Finally, a glass Photo‐μCOBR was fabricated by femtosecond laser internal engraving technology, and the photocatalytic gas–liquid oxidation of dihydroartemisinic acid was performed. A yield of 65.9% was achieved in a residence time of ~120 s and at a gas–liquid flow rate ratio of 1:3 (vs. 18.6% in the capillary photomicroreactor under identical conditions). The results in this work offer guidelines for the design and operation of microscale COBRs, and the as‐fabricated Photo‐μCOBR displays good potential for gas–liquid photochemical reactions.

Mass transfer of gas–liquid two‐phase flow in asymmetric parallel microchannels with liquid feed splitting

AbstractDue to size limitations, the gas–liquid absorption capacity of a single microchannel is limited, making it difficult to achieve large‐scale CO2 capture. Therefore, the parallel microchannels combining the advantages of high efficiency and large throughput stand out. However, when the operating condition is high gas–liquid flow rate ratio, the liquid phase between bubbles almost disappears after multiple distributions, which affects the amount of gas–liquid absorption. In this study, the numbering‐up of the asymmetric parallel microchannels in the gas–liquid absorption process was investigated by splitting the liquid feed stream in two. The flow patterns under different operating conditions were obtained. The flow and distribution of gas–liquid two‐phase flow were investigated, and the reason of the distribution deterioration caused by appearance of long slug bubbles was explained by the pressure drop distribution. The total liquid mass transfer coefficient and bubble residence time were derived and obtained, and the mass transfer was further discussed.

Simulation of non-Newtonian fluid flow in a horizontal pipe

Microchannel reactors exhibit distinct gas-liquid two-phase flow behaviors compared to macro-scale channels, offering advantages like efficient heat and mass transfer, compact size, and low energy consumption. Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) emerges as a potent stabilizer, enhancing mixing, homogenization and pipeline transport. Its judicious application reduces equipment strain, amplifies homogenization efficiency and finds diverse utility in food processing and beyond. However, incorrect employment bears the risk of compromised outcomes, potentially leading to product wastage. Consequently, investigating N2-CMC solution flow in microchannels holds paramount significance for elevating efficacy, minimizing usage, refining product quality and bolstering yield. In this study, we simulated the N2-CMC solution flow dynamics within an interleaved T-shaped microchannel using FLUENT which is a numerical simulation software. The simulation delved into alterations in gas-liquid two-phase flow patterns and pressure drops. We examined the impacts of liquid concentration and gas-liquid flow rate ratio on flow patterns, pressure drops and bubble lengths. The simulation results exhibited congruence with experimental data. Notably, elevated liquid concentrations correlated with higher pressure drops and elongated bubble lengths. Conversely, augmenting the gas-liquid flow rate ratio led to diminished pressure drops while elongating bubble lengths. These findings furnish insights into flow patterns and pressure drop behaviors for gas-non-Newtonian fluids within microchannels, forming a pivotal reference for microfluidic system design.

Numerical study of structural optimization for improving gas-liquid flow and microalgae carbon fixation rate in air-lift photobioreactors

In this paper, the gas-liquid flow pattern and CO2 dissolution transport process of microalgae solution in an air-lift photobioreactor (PBR) are investigated by numerical simulations. In order to promote the gas-liquid mass transfer efficiency to enhance the carbon fixation, we propose different optimization schemes for the structure. Firstly, a two-phase flow model and a mass transfer model are employed to investigate the fluid flow characteristics. The flow state is evaluated by velocity in light direction, turbulent kinetic energy (TKE), gas hold-up and CO2 mass transfer coefficient. The results show that the gas flow rate of 0.2 V/V/min is the optimum value for the inlet. Secondly, CO2 mass transfer and carbon fixation rates are analyzed for different inlet CO2 volume fractions. With the increase of CO2 volume fraction, the carbon fixation rate first increases and then decreases, the highest fixation rate reaching 2.21 × 10−4 mol m−3 s−1 at 6 %. Finally, based on numerical simulations, three optimized structures with different spacing of baffles are proposed and evaluated the performance in comparison with the original. The results show that the gas distribution and CO2 mass transfer are significantly improved, with the one-sided baffle structure is the best. In summary, this study provides a new and useful reference to evaluate the gas-liquid mixing and improve the microalgae carbon fixation rate.

Gas-liquid flow and mass transfer characteristics in improved heart-shaped structure microreactor

The gas-liquid two-phase flow and mass transfer characteristics in heart-shaped structure microreactor were visually investigated in an Advanced Flow Reactor (AFR). Three various flow patterns were observed in the experiment: Taylor-bubble flow, Taylor-flow, and unstable broken flow. The experiment observed that the bubbles only broke steadily under the action of the first heart-shaped unit obstacle; while in the latter heart-shaped units, the larger bubbles would break resulting in the unstable broken flow. The efficiency of CO2 absorption increases as the gas-liquid two-phase flow rate ratio decreases and the solution concentration rises. The volume mass transfer coefficient increases with the increase of the gas-liquid two-phase flow rate ratio and the solution concentration. The absorption efficiency and mass transfer coefficient in channel 2 with two rows of heart-shaped units is greater than channel 1 with one row of heart-shaped units. Additionally, there exists an optimal performance ratio for reactor under the appropriate gas-liquid flow rate ratio.

Study on Flow Characteristics of Venturi Accelerated Vortex Drainage Tool in Horizontal Gas Well

Vortex drainage gas recovery has been used to carry liquid from gas wells. However, the traditional vortex tools in gas wells cannot produce long effective distance spiral flow at a low gas flow rate, and their operating mechanism has not been thoroughly analyzed. In this paper, the venturi acceleration vortex tool for a horizontal gas well is designed to improve drainage performance. The tube drainage, the vortex tool, and the venturi accelerated vortex tool were applied in a horizontal tube to investigate their drainage capacities by a horizontal well multiphase flow experimental device. The influence of different gas flow rates and liquid flow rates on the length of the spiral flow and pressure drop produced by the three tools was analyzed. The results show that the vortex tool can convert the gas–liquid mixing flow into the gas–liquid separation flow, that is, the liquid flows spirally along the wall and the gas flows in the center of the horizontal tube. Compared with the vortex tool, the venturi accelerated vortex tool can form a longer and more stable spiral flow. The laminar spiral flow reduces the total pressure drop in the tube. The length of the spiral flow increases with the increase in the gas flow rate. With the increase in the liquid flow rate, the spiral flow is not clear because of the turbulent flow. The length of the spiral flow and the pressure drop for the venturi accelerated vortex tool with different gas and liquid flow rates are analyzed to guide the application of the tool. This study provides a new means for the drainage of a horizontal gas well and further clarifies the working mechanism of the vortex drainage tool.

Flow rate measurements of slug flow by pressure differences of a venturi tube with a swirler

When the elongated bubbles and liquid slugs of slug flow alternately flow through a throttling element, the strong random fluctuations of pressure difference leads to low accuracy of online measurement of gas-liquid flow rates. In this paper, slug flow is converted into an annular flow before entering a venturi tube using a swirler, and the pressure fluctuation amplitude of the gas-liquid two-phase flow is greatly reduced, and the linear correlation between the pressure difference and the gas-liquid flow rates is more significant. The effects of gas-liquid flow rates on the axial pressure difference ΔPs across the swirler, the radial pressure difference ΔPr on a cross-section downstream of the swirler and the axial pressure difference ΔPo of the venturi tube were studied under the condition of 40%–82% gas volume fraction. The square root of the pressure difference increases linearly with the liquid/gas flow rate, and the empirical correlations between the square root of the pressure differences and the gas-liquid flow rates are established. By combining the empirical correlations in pairs, three flow rates measurement models of slug flow based on double pressure differences are established. When ΔPo and ΔPs are used as the measurement parameters of flow rates, the relative errors of liquid-phase flow rate and gas-phase flow rate are below ±2% and ±15%, respectively. When ΔPo and ΔPr are used as the measurement parameters of flow rates, the relative errors of liquid-phase flow rate and gas-phase flow rate are below ±3% and ±15%, respectively. It provides high-precision, low-cost and non-radioactive two-phase flow measurement technology for oil-gas gathering and transportation.

Continuous ultrasonic ozone coupling technology-assisted control of ceramic membrane fouling coupled enhanced multiphase mixing to treat dye wastewater and CFD flow field simulation

In this study, ozone catalysts (hydrogenation-modified red mud, HM-RM) successfully prepared by hydrogenation-modification of industrial hazardous solid waste red mud (RM) as a raw material in accordance with the viewpoint of treating waste with waste and using waste. Meanwhile, as for the common phenomenon of membrane fouling, uneven distribution of multiphase solid catalysts and ozone in liquids, the addition of ultrasound can not only disperse materials, but also play a role in online cleaning of ceramic membranes and catalysts. The optimum treatment conditions for Rhodamine B (RhB) solution with volume of 2 L and concentration of 40 mg/L were catalyst concentration of 0.4 mg/L, reaction temperature of 45 °C, ultrasonic time of 1 h, ultrasonic intensity of 600 W, removal rate of RhB was up to 90 %. In addition, the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation method was used to investigate the fluid flow between the two gas-liquid phases and the effect of the negative pressure of the membrane pump on the fluid by the analysis of flow, pressure and ozone flux of the ceramic membrane(CM) reaction apparatus. The CFD simulation results showed that at the inlet gas-liquid flow rate of 3 m/s and the negative pressure of 20,000 Pa, the maximum flow rates of CM-1 were 3 m/s, 0.752 m/s for CM-2, and 0.228 m/s for CM-3, respectively. Vortices, which are beneficial to solid-liquid mixing and gas-liquid mass transfer, formed between the suction port CM-1 of CM-1 and the inlets of CM-2 and CM-3. This discovery is consistent with relevant experimental research results. Significantly higher concentrations of both •OH and dissolved ozone were observed in the US/HM-RM/O3 system compared to other systems, indicating the significant improvement in ozone utilization rate through the application of ultrasound. The superiority of the US/HM-RM/O3 device was demonstrated. The real dye effluent was tested under optimum operating conditions and the results showed that COD and TOC were reduced by 81.34 % and 60.23 % respectively after 180 min of treatment. The above research can provide technical support for the treatment of dye wastewater using Ultrasound-enhanced ozone oxidation ceramic membranes.

Soft measurement model for wet gas flow rate based on ultrasonic and differential pressure sensing

Non-separation measurement of gas–liquid two-phase flow is of great significance to industrial production and theoretical research on two-phase flow. In this paper, a soft measurement method of wet gas flow rate based on ultrasonic and differential pressure (DP) sensors is proposed. A total of 129 sets of experimental data are obtained in DN50 horizontal pipe, the superficial velocity of gas and liquid ranging from 5 m s−1 to 33 m s−1 and 0.015 m s−1 to 0.6 m s−1, respectively. Ten feature parameters of ultrasonic signals such as the time difference between two echoes and kurtosis factor are proposed from time and frequency domain. As well as the power spectral density, mean value and standard deviation value are analyzed based on DP signals. Furthermore, the Spearman correlation coefficient is introduced to evaluate these feature parameters quantitatively. And nine parameters which are highly correlated to gas–liquid flow rate are selected as the inputs of the soft measurement model. Finally, Decision Tree, least square support vector machines and artificial neural network (ANN) models are established through training with the experimental data. Comparison results show that ANN has the lowest prediction errors on the test set, with the mean absolute percentage errors of 1.49% and 3.2% for gas and liquid, respectively.

General prediction models for void fraction and specific surface area of gas–liquid microflows

AbstractThe flow characteristics of void fraction and specific surface area are important to predict the mass transfer and reaction performances in gas–liquid microreactors. However, the models and trends for the two parameters in different flow patterns remain ununified and insufficient. Accordingly, this work first time studies the void fraction and specific surface area in a very wide flow pattern range (Taylor, short bubble, bubbly, and bubble swarm flow). The results show that at the same gas–liquid flow rates, the void fraction decreases with bubble size in Taylor and short bubble flow but is totally opposite in bubbly and bubble swarm flow. Importantly, the variation of specific surface area with bubble size is independent of the flow pattern and decreases with bubble size. Finally, based on bubble size, two general models for the two parameters are developed. This work provides a new direction for the unification of flow characteristics.

Control of selectivity in the oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural to 5- formyl-2-furancarboxylic acid catalyzed by laccase in a multiphasic gas-liquid microbioreactor

The selectivity of 5-formyl-2-furancarboxylic acid (FFCA) was studied in a batch bioreactor and microbioreactors with different internal diameters (ID). Using microbioreactors, the effect of the flow rate of the liquid and gas phase on the yield, space time yield (STYFFCA), and gas–liquid mixture velocity (UM) of the reaction was evaluated. The biooxidation in flow microbioreactors, a selectivity of 100 % for FFCA was achieved, while with the batch bioreactor at the same substrate concentration a selectivity of 6.7 % was obtained. The highest yield (30 %) with 15 mM of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) was reached at a gas–liquid flow rate of 0.5 µL/min and the highest STYFFCA (0.07 mol m−3 min−1) was achieved at a gas–liquid flow rate of 1.5 µL/min with the microbioreactor with an ID of 0.5 mm. The UM values (0.5 to 1.6 cm min1) indicated that the reaction takes place under a kinetic regime without mass transfer limitations.

Experimental and numerical investigation of a counter-current flow bubble column

Bubble columns are gas–liquid contactors that are used in many process-engineering applications. A counter-current liquid flow is frequently imposed to adjust the bubbles’ residence-time and thus optimize mixing and mass-transfer. The present work describes measurements in such a device together with corresponding computational fluid dynamics simulations based on the Eulerian two-fluid framework. Bubble-size and -velocity are measured by shadow-imaging for a large range of gas and counter-current liquid flow rates, as well as different nozzle sizes. The corresponding liquid flow-fields are characterized by Particle Image Velocimetry. From the large experimental database, a few cases are selected to analyze the flow structure and effects of the bubble-size. In the simulations, different models for the drag- and lift-force acting on the bubbles are evaluated. While good agreement between experiments and simulations could be achieved for the gas-fraction and gas-velocity, differences are found for the liquid-velocity, which is generally overestimated in the calculations.

CO2 absorption and desorption performance by ChCl-MEA-PZ deep eutectic solvent aqueous solutions

With the increasingly serious climate problem, carbon dioxide capture has been paid more and more attention. Deep eutectic solvent (DES), which is environmentally friendly and simple to synthesize, has attracted considerable attention as a new type of carbon dioxide absorbent. Choline chloride (ChCl) - monoethanolamine (MEA) - piperazine (PZ) DESs were prepared. The chemical reaction between ChCl-MEA-PZ DES and CO2 was confirmed to be the zwitterionic mechanism by NMR spectrum analysis. The influences of molar ratio between ChCl, MEA and PZ, gas–liquid flow rates, water content and CO2 concentration on CO2 absorption character were studied by a microchannel reactor. Under appropriate conditions, CO2 absorption efficiency could reach 99.95 %. The addition of promoter PZ could significantly enhance CO2 absorption performance. Additionally, desorption energy consumption of DES solution after CO2 saturation is lower than that of the standard 30 wt% MEA solution, which proves process friendliness of the DES. This study not only provides technical support but also sheds light on the potential applications of DESs in CO2 capture.

The Effect of The L/G Ratio on SO2 Removal Efficiency in Seawater Absorption Columns

Steam Turbine Power Plants are widely known as one of the primary sources of electricity generation, utilizing coal combustion. However, this process leads to the emission of air pollutants, including sulfur dioxide (SO2), which is considered harmful. To mitigate this issue, Seawater Flue Gas Desulfurization (SWFGD) has been implemented as a control device to reduce the concentration of SO2. Previous studies on SWFGD have mainly focused on operational factors such as gas flow rate and liquid flow rate using artificial seawater as the absorbent. However, there is a lack of research on utilizing natural seawater, particularly from Indonesia, as the absorbent. Hence, this study aims to determine the efficiency of SO2 removal using Indonesia's natural seawater and investigate the influence of varying the L/G (liquid-to-gas) ratio on the overall removal efficiency. The study employed a packed tower reactor with a counter-current flow configuration. The gas concentration of SO2 used in this study is 1500 ppm, which is adjusted to match the existing conditions in the Steam Turbine Power Plant. The variations in seawater flow rate range from 150 to 250 liters/hour, while the variations in gas flow rate range from 1 to 10 m3/hour at 30oC. So, the L/G ratio value is within the range of 20.9 to 104.5. The results indicated that an increase in the L/G ratio corresponded to an increase in the total removal efficiency. The highest achieved efficiency reached 98.5%, while the lowest efficiency recorded was 84%.

Mechanism of nanoparticle aggregation in gas-liquid microfluidic mixing

Using gas-liquid segmented micromixers to prepare nanoparticles that have a homogeneous particle size, controllable shape, and monodispersity advantages. Although nanoparticle aggregation within a microfluid has been shown to be affected by the shear effect, the shear effect triggering conditions in gas-liquid two-phase flow is unclear and the aggregation behavior of nanoparticles under the shear effect is difficult to predict, resulting in uncontrollable physical and chemical properties of nanoparticle aggregates. In this study, a numerical simulation of nanoparticle aggregation in gas-liquid two-phase flow under the shear effect is performed using the CFD-DEM method. Then, the effects of total flow rate, gas-liquid two-phase flow ratio, and particle volume fraction on particle aggregation were analyzed to achieve control of particle aggregation shape and size. Meanwhile, the triggering mechanism of the shear effect and the mechanism of the shear effect on the aggregation of nanoparticles were clarified. The results show that increasing the total flow rate or decreasing the gas-liquid two-phase flow rate ratio can induce the shear effect, which reduces the particle aggregation size and makes the morphology tend to be spherical. Moreover, increasing the particle volume fraction, and total flow rate or decreasing the gas-liquid two-phase flow rate ratio also increases the number of particle collisions and induce interparticle adhesion. Hence, particle adhesion and the shear effect compete with each other and together affect particle aggregation.

Gas-liquid two-phase flow rates measurement using physics-guided deep learning

Machine learning has been widely used in the gas-liquid two-phase flow field. However, data-driven machine learning methods are often considered black-box methods which may lead to insufficient interpretation and extrapolation abilities. Combining machine learning and physical principles is a promising method to improve the generalization abilities and interpretation of the deep neural network model, which is still a challenge in gas-liquid two-phase flowrates measurement. In this work, we propose a physics-guided deep learning model for gas-liquid two-phase flow rate measurement through the differential pressure meter. The simplified physical constraint term of gas-liquid two-phase flow is established based on the momentum equation and continuity equation of gas-liquid two-phase flow, and then, the physical constraint term is added to the loss function of the deep neural network. Consequently, the predictions of the model not only satisfy the target values but also conform to the physical term. The performance of the physics-guided neural network (PGNN) is tested and compared with an artificial neural network (ANN) model that is trained without the physical constraint term. Results show that the gas and liquid flow rates could be measured simultaneously with satisfactory accuracy using the proposed PGNN model, more importantly, the model also performs well on a wider range of testing conditions (Gas Volume Fraction, GVF>95%). It indicates that this method is possible to improve the generalization and interpretation of the purely data-driven neural network model.

Study on effect of gas-liquid two phase physical feature on slug flow in microchannels

At present, there are relatively few studies on the slug flow generation mode obtained by exchanging gas-liquid two-phase inlets. In this study, an experimental system combining microfluidic devices and high-speed cameras was used to study the effects of gas-liquid two-phase flow rate, liquid physical parameters, etc., On the characteristic length, generation period and other generation characteristics of slug flow, and dimensionless analysis was conducted to investigate the main factors affecting the characteristic length of gas slug. Results show that 1) when the gas flow rate affects the aeroelastic generation characteristics, the aeroelastic characteristic length increases from 443 μm when the gas flow rate increases changes to 657 μm. The generation period decreases rapidly at first and then the change amplitude slows down. The maximum value of aeroelastic generation frequency is 217 s-1; 2) when studying the effect of different liquid flow rates, increasing the liquid flow rate, the characteristic length of the gas bomb gradually decreases, and the generation period of the gas bomb gradually increases. Aeroelastic characteristic length from 770 μm changes to 378 μm. The range of aeroelastic generation cycle is 4–13.4 ms, and the maximum value of aeroelastic generation frequency is 250 s-1; 3) there is a functional relationship between the ratio of aeroelastic characteristic length to channel size L/d and dimensionless gas-liquid flow ratio Q*, Reynolds number Re, Weber number We: L/d=3.677Q*0.58/Re0.11.

Experimental study of gas–liquid two-phase operating characteristics and bubble evolution law of a semi-open mixed-flow pump

This work experimentally studied the influence of gas and liquid distribution on a semi-open mixed-flow pump performance. High speed photography technology was contributed to obtain the evolution law of bubbles in the impeller. The results show that the inlet gas volume fraction (IGVF) and liquid flow rate are the main factors affecting the performance of the pump. The pressurization capacity linearly decreases with the increase in IGVF when the liquid flow rate is close the best efficiency point. However, this factor suddenly drops when the IGVF reaches a certain critical value under the condition of a low liquid flow rate. The spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of the isolated bubbles and gas column in the segregated flow were investigated. In addition, the bubbles are evenly distributed, and the flow pattern is mainly bubbly flow (BF) or aggregated BF (ABF) in the impeller inlet area without blades. Under small liquid flow rate conditions, the bubbles tend to coalesce into larger-sized gas-pocket with an increase in IGVF. The tip leakage vortex increases the turbulence intensity of the flow field. The results show that the bubbles downstream of the tip leakage vortex in the impeller channels are more easily broken into smaller bubbles and form a BF or ABF.