Investigation of pipeline’s slope effect on separation process of liquid droplet from gas phase in a finger type slug catcher using Computational Fluid Dynamics

A Slug catcher is the first apparatus which is located after wellbore and converts slug two-phase flow to stratified two-phase flow. If separation of gas from liquid does not occur at slug catchers, slug flow might be formed in the pipelines and downstream devices could be at risk of destruction. As a consequence, presence of slug catchers play a significant role for separation of liquid droplet from gas. In this study, a steady state simulation of two-phase flow in finger type slug catcher located in the Iran South Pars gas field has been investigated by Computational Fluid Dynamics methodology using ANSYS FLUENT 17 software. The data sheet from phase 4 the South Pars gas field has been utilized for geometry simulation of pipe and input feeds. In three standard slopes of slug catcher’s pipe two-phase flow separation process has been investigated and compared to each other. The results show that by increasing standard slope in separation section, the length of liquid separation has increased. Studying of other design parameters is suggested for investigating the effects on separation of liquid droplet from gas flow

Keywords:

Two-phase flow , Eulerian Model , Computational Fluid Dynamics , Slug Catcher