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Experimental and numerical study of pressure drop in pipes packed with large particles

Authors:
Faik Hamad at Teesside University
Faik Hamad
Christiano Garcia S. Santim at ISDB FlowTech
Christiano Garcia S. Santim
  • ISDB FlowTech
Foad Faraji at Teesside University
Foad Faraji
Mustafa Al-Dulaimi at Al- Esraa University College
Mustafa Al-Dulaimi
  • Al- Esraa University College
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Abstract and Figures

This study investigates the pressure drop in horizontal pipes packed with large particles that result in small pipe-to-particle diameter ratio both experimentally and numerically. Two horizontal pipes of 0.1905 and 0.0254 m ID filled with cylindrical or spherical particles are used to collect the experimental data for single and two-phase flows. The porosity has same value for both pipes when they packed with cylindrical particles which is 0.75, however has different values when packed with spherical particles, 0.7 for the large pipe and 0.57 for the small pipe. The Roe-type Riemann solver proposed by Santim and Rosa Int J Numer Methods Fluids 80 (9), 536–568, [36] which uses the Drift-Flux model is modified aiming to predict the pressure drop in porous media through the implementation of a new source term in the system of equations. Empirical models available in the literature are used to calculate the single and two-phase flows pressure drop. The motivation is to verify the solver capability to reproduce the two-phase flow pressure drop in porous media and to compare some empirical models existing in the literature against the experimental data provided modifying some empirical coefficients when necessary.
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ORIGINAL
Experimental and numerical study of pressure drop in pipes
packed with large particles
F.A. Hamad
1
&C.G.S. Santim
2
&F. Faraji
1
&Mustafa J Al-Dulaimi
3
&P. Ganesan
4
Received: 29 January 2020 /Accepted: 10 August 2020
#Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract
This study investigates the pressure drop in horizontal pipes packed with large particles that result in small pipe-to-particle
diameter ratio both experimentally and numerically. Two horizontal pipes of 0.1905 and 0.0254 m ID filled with cylindrical or
spherical particles are used to collect the experimental data for single and two-phase flows. The porosity has same value for both
pipes when they packed with cylindrical particles which is 0.75, however has different values when packed with spherical
particles, 0.7 for the large pipe and 0.57 for the small pipe. The Roe-type Riemann solver proposed by Santim and Rosa Int J
Numer Methods Fluids 80 (9), 536–568, [36] which uses the Drift-Flux model is modified aiming to predict the pressure drop in
porous media through the implementation of a new source term in the system of equations. Empirical models available in the
literature are used to calculate the single and two-phase flows pressure drop. The motivation is to verify the solver capability to
reproduce the two-phase flow pressure drop in porous media and to compare some empirical models existing in the literature
against the experimental data provided modifying some empirical coefficients when necessary.
1 Introduction
Single and multiphase flow through porous media are frequently
used in many fields of science and engineering such as environ-
mental (filtration), biomedical (transport of macromolecules),
electrical (micro devices), chemical (reactors, fuel cells) and
petroliferous (reservoirs). This wide range of applications,
explaining the urgency to study this complex area.
In reference to the Oil & Gas industry, most of reservoirs con-
tain two/three phases either oil and water, gas and water or oil, gas
and water. In addition, most of the flows in these reservoirs can be
considered as multiphase flow in porous medium. Thus, reliable
empirical, analytical and numerical models are needed to accurate-
ly predict important/critical parameters such as pressure drop, void
fraction, superficial velocities of the phases and heat & mass trans-
fer coefficients aiming to apply them on the several problems
resolution (e.g. static pressure obtaining at the well inlet in the
wellbore-reservoir coupling). In this context, this study presents a
multiphase numerical modelling that aims to calculate the pressure
drop inside the pipes packed with two different particle types
(cylindrical or spherical) in a considerably range of air velocities
under various CWF (Constant Water Flow) rates.
Due to the complexity of porous material characteristics, it
is difficult to emphasize the exact definition of porous media.
The porous media is defined by Bastian [3] as a body com-
posed of persistent solid parts, called solid matrix, and the
remaining of the void space (or pore space) that can be filled
with one or more fluid e.g. oil, water and gas. In another
definition [16] proposed porous medium as a solid containing
regular or random seperated holes in its interior, which fre-
quently occur within the solid body.
*F.A. Hamad
f.hamad@tees.ac.uk
C.G.S. Santim
christianosantim@gmail.com
F. Faraji
f.faraji@tees.ac.uk
Mustafa J Al-Dulaimi
mustafa@esraa.edu.iq
P. Ganesan
poo_ganesan@um.edu.my
1
School of Science & Engineering, Teesside University,
Middlesbrough TS1 3BA, UK
2
CEPETRO, Cora Coralina Street, 350, Campinas, São
Paulo 13083-896, Brazil
3
Department of Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Technologies
Engineering, Al-Esraa University College, Baghdad, Iraq
4
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-020-02944-4
/ Published online: 26 August 2020
Heat and Mass Transfer (2021) 57:111–123
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
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