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Drift-flux model for gas-liquid flow subjected to centrifugal fields
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  • Marcos Penteado,
  • Saon Vieira,
  • Marcelo Castro,
  • Antonio Bannwart
Marcos Penteado
Universidade Estadual de Campinas Centro de Estudos de PetrĂ³leo

Corresponding Author:mendesmarkitto@gmail.com

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Saon Vieira
Petrobras
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Marcelo Castro
Universidade Estadual de Campinas Centro de Estudos de Petroleo
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Antonio Bannwart
Universidade Estadual de Campinas
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Abstract

Centrifugal pumps are used in several industrial processes. It is common the operation of this equipment with gas-liquid mixtures, which is the case of the electrical submersible pumping artificial lift method used in the oil industry. The increase of free gas fraction inside the pump may lead to unstable operation and problems such as surging and gas locking phenomena to occur. In this study a drift-flux model is proposed for the gas-liquid flow subjected to centrifugal fields using the impeller as an example. The model is closed with experimental data of bubble diameter, displacements and velocities acquired via high-speed camera at several different rotational speeds and gas mass flow rates using water as the continuous medium. From the modeling and the forces balance in the bubbles, a quantitative criterion for the start point of surging and gas locking conditions was proposed.
25 Feb 2021Submitted to AIChE Journal
26 Feb 2021Submission Checks Completed
26 Feb 2021Assigned to Editor
11 Mar 2021Reviewer(s) Assigned
04 May 2021Editorial Decision: Revise Major
15 Jul 20211st Revision Received
15 Jul 2021Submission Checks Completed
15 Jul 2021Assigned to Editor
21 Jul 2021Reviewer(s) Assigned
15 Aug 2021Editorial Decision: Accept
Feb 2022Published in AIChE Journal volume 68 issue 2. 10.1002/aic.17448