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Received 1 June 2001; received in revised form 20 August 2001; accepted 13 March 2002
Abstract
A model of release of the gas dissolved in the liquid phase during two-phase flow through a Venturi tube is proposed. Using
several simplifying assumptions, the analytical solution for a proposed model for the pressure drop is obtained. This solution can
be used for estimating the flow conditions at which the contribution of the pressure drop due to the gas release is significant compared
with that due to the flow acceleration. The dimensionless parameters appearing in the solution can be used for interpretation of
the experimental data on gases flashing during flows through differential pressure devices and other flow constrictions. 2002
Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
0955-5986/02/$ - see front matter 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 9 5 5 - 5 9 8 6 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 1 3 - 4
14 T. Elperin et al. / Flow Measurement and Instrumentation 13 (2002) 13–16
release of the gases may significantly increase the volu- phase yields the equation for the concentration of the
metric flow rate of the mixture. Moreover, the mass dissolved gas:
transfer changes the momentum transfer between the
phases. Both effects will give rise to the pressure drop dC
(1⫺a)uL ⫽ ⫺ṁ. (5)
with subsequent incorrect interpretation of the flow dz
meter readings unless the effects of the dissolved gas
Analysis of the equation for the gas concentration shows
release are allowed for. The aim of the present study is
that the value of mass transfer and, consequently, the
to qualitatively investigate the two-phase flow through
degree of its influence on two-phase flow is higher in
a Venturi meter in the presence of dissolved in liquid
flows with low gas void fraction, when the most likely
gas, and to obtain a criterion indicating when the gas
regime is bubbly flow. Hence, the assumption of homo-
release should be taken into account in the measure-
geneous flow, i.e. uL ⫽ uG, can be accepted for the
ment process.
investigation of flows with dissolved gases. We also neg-
lect the friction forces and gravitational pressure drop
since at high velocities, when the gas release is signifi-
2. Basic equations cant, they are negligible compared with the flow acceler-
ation.
In the most general form, the motion of one-dimen- Combining continuity and momentum conservation
sional two-phase flow can be described using the two- equations for both phases and using the aforementioned
fluid model, when the single-phase flow theory is applied assumptions, we obtained the following system of two
to each phase separately. The governing equations are dimensionless equations
as follows:
冦
dP 1 dA
Continuity equation for phase i (i ⫽ G, L): ⫺ ⫽ ⫺2U2 ⫹ 2NCNMU⌬C
dZ AdZ
d (1) , (6)
(r a u A) ⫽ ⫺⌫ij d(⌬C) NM 1 dP
dz i i i ⫹ ⌬C ⫽ ⫺
dZ (1⫺a)U EudZ
and
Momentum conservation equation: where P ⫽ (p0⫺p) / 1 / 2rmu20 is the dimensionless press-
ure difference, Z ⫽ z / D0 is the distance, A ⫽ (D / D0)2
dui dp (2) is the cross-sectional area, U ⫽ u / u0 is the mixture velo-
riui ⫽ ⫺ ⫺rigcos(ḡ,z̄) ⫹ fi,
dz dz city, and ⌬C ⫽ (C⫺Cp) / Cp0 is the concentration differ-
ence normalized by the saturation concentration at inlet
where z is spatial coordinate in the flow direction, ri,
conditions. The dimensionless parameters in Eq. (6) are
ai and ui are density, holdup and velocity of phase i,
the Euler number, Eu ⫽ P0 / 1 / 2rmu20; the ratio of gas
respectively, ⌫ij is the mass flux from phase i to phase
concentrations in liquid and gaseous phases, NC ⫽
j at the channel section of area A and ⌫LG ⫽ ⫺⌫GL ⫽
Cp0 / rG; the dimensionless volumetric mass transfer
ṁA, fi denotes the force of interaction between phases
coefficient, NM ⫽ D0kLa / u0; and rm stands for the mix-
and friction forces. Eqs. (1) and (2) have to be comp-
ture homogeneous density, rm ⫽ arG ⫹ (1⫺a)rL. The
lemented with closure relationships for gas void fraction
initial conditions for the system described by Eq. (6) are
a, interface and wall friction forces fi, and volumetric
⌬C0 ⫽ 0, P0 ⫽ 0.
mass transfer rate ṁ.
The first approximation to the solution of the system
Given the concentration C of the dissolved in liquid
described by Eqs. (6) can be obtained by observing that
gas, the volumetric mass transfer rate is
the second term on the right-hand side (RHS) of the first
ṁ ⫽ kLa(C⫺Cp), (3) equation, i.e., the pressure drop due to gas release, is
much smaller than the pressure drop due to acceleration.
where kL is the liquid side mass transfer coefficient, a Thus, it is possible to solve for the concentration differ-
is the specific interfacial area and Cp is the equilibrium ence using the initial approximation for the pressure
concentration of the dissolved gas at pressure p, which drop P ⫽ 1⫺1 / A2 and assuming that the mass transfer
is assumed to be a linear function of pressure: coefficient and gas void fraction remain nearly constant
Cp ⫽ Hp. (4) during the flow. This yields
冕
Z
We neglected the mass transfer due to the homogeneous
2 1 dA
nucleation in Eq. (3), since it is unlikely that during the ⌬C(Z) ⫽ ⫺ exp[b(h)⫺b(Z)] 3 dh, (7)
flow through the Venturi meter the concentration differ- Eu A dh
0
ence will reach the nucleation limit.
The mass balance for the control volume of liquid where
T. Elperin et al. / Flow Measurement and Instrumentation 13 (2002) 13–16 15
b(Z) ⫽
NM
1⫺a 冕
A(Z)dZ. (8)
where DL is the liquid diffusion coefficient (cm2/s), s is
the surface tension (dynes/cm2), mL is the liquid phase
dynamic viscosity (cP) and D0 is the tube diameter (in.).
For the general shape of the profile A(Z) the concen- The two-phase friction pressure drop (dp/dz)TPf is calcu-
tration difference along the Venturi is represented by an lated using the Lockhart–Martinelli correlation [8]:
incomplete gamma function. However, in the particulate
(dp / dz)TPf C 1
case A ⫽ (1 ⫹ KZ) ⫺ 1, where coefficient K is determ- ⫽ 1 ⫹ ⫹ 2, (13)
ined by the Venturi outlet to inlet area ratio, Eq. (7) can (dp / dz)Lf X X
be integrated analytically to yield where X2 is the ratio of the friction pressure gradient
冉 冊冉 冊
NM ⫺1 NM (dp/dz)Lf for the liquid flowing alone to that for the gase-
2
⌬C ⫽ 2⫹ A⫺2⫺A(1⫺a)K . (9) ous phase, (dp/dz)Gf. The value of the coefficient C
Eu (1⫺a)K depends on flow regime (turbulent or laminar) of each
Using this concentration profile the solution for the phase, e.g. for turbulent–turbulent flow C ⫽ 20.
pressure drop through the Venturi tube for flows of low The results of the model evaluation for three different
gas void fraction is values of the initial gas void fractions are presented in
Fig. 1. It can be seen that at velocities of the order 3
4NMNC ⫺2 m/s the relative magnitude of the pressure drop due to
⌬P ⫽ (1⫺b⫺1) ⫹ (b ⫺2b⫺4 ⫹ 1), (10)
EuK the release of the dissolved gas is of the order of 1%,
and in flows with a low gas void fraction it exhibits fast
where b is the Venturi outlet to inlet area ratio. The first growth with the flow velocity, with little dependence on
term on the RHS represents the acceleration pressure the mixture composition. Although this model was
drop, ⌬Pa, and the second is the pressure drop due to developed assuming a low void fraction we also applied
the gas release, ⌬PM. The solution in Eq. (10) is valid it to the flow with a high void fraction, a ⫽ 0.5. The
while ⌬PM / ⌬PaⰆ1. The same condition can be used as result, anticipated by virtue of Eq. (5), confirms that the
the estimate of the gas release influence on the Venturi effect of gas release on high void fraction flows is much
meter performance: weaker than in the case of low void fraction.
⌬PM 4NMNC
⫽ (1 ⫹ 2b⫺2). (11)
⌬Pa EuK
4. Conclusions
Eq. (11) shows that, for particular a Venturi meter and
the same mixture, the effect of the gas release grows The developed model describing two-phase gas–liquid
approximately as the inlet mixture velocity squared. flows in the presence of dissolved gases in the liquid
phase demonstrates the importance of allowing for the
gas release when pressure drop devices are used for two-
3. Model evaluation phase flow measurements. It has been shown that even
at moderate velocities the correction for this phenom- [3] A. Danesh, PVT and Phase Behavior of Petroleum Reservoir
enon can be of the order of several percent. Fluids, in: Elsevier, 1998.
[4] R. Ishii, Y. Umeda, S. Murata, N. Shishida, Bubbly flows through
Although the model was developed using several sim- a converging–diverging nozzle, Physics of Fluids 5 (1993)
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to estimate the limit when the models used in the meter- [6] H. Lemonnier, S. Selmer-Olsen, Experimental investigation and
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flow homogeneity hold. It has also been shown that the flow through orifice plates and nozzles, Chemical Engineering
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[8] R.W. Lockhart, R.C. Martinelli, Proposed correlation of data for
minor. Further, the non-dimensional parameters, NC and isothermal two-phase two-component flow in pipes, Chemical
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Acknowledgements ceedings of the 1997 ASME International Mechanical Engineer-
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