The uninterrupted and safe transport of oil, gas, and water from oil reservoirs to processing facilities is a challenging problem to pipeline designers and operators. In the present text, a review of the most relevant flow assurance problems is presented, describing the available knowledge and technologies for preventing, analyzing, diagnosing, and mitigating the occurrences that can potentially reduce the flow capacity of production systems. The review addresses the flow assurance problems derived from paraffin deposition, asphaltene deposition, emulsions, hydrate formation, and inorganic deposit formation.

The work reports an investigation of slug initiation in horizontal gas-liquid pipe flow induced by controlled interfacial disturbances. The idea is to investigate the limiting conditions for slug onset. To this end, disturbances with varying amplitudes were introduced at the fluid interface. An oscillating paddle was employed to generate controlled interfacial waves. These perturbations were introduced in the flow as short wavepackets of large spectral bandwidth. Thereby, disturbances in nearly all relevant wavenumbers are introduced in the flow hence providing seeds for instability mechanisms. The driving signal of the oscillating paddle was controlled and synchronized with acquisitions, enabling phase-locked measurements. The experiments were conducted at conditions close to the transition from stratified to slug/plug flow regimes. According to current findings, the disturbance amplitudes required to initiate slug increase for constant superficial gas velocity and decreasing liquid velocities. The variation of superficial liquid velocities required to initiate the slugs with respect to the disturbance amplitude displays two distinct behaviours. For small amplitudes (Amplitude/Diameter < 2%) there is a steep variation of critical liquid superficial velocity, USL. The flow becomes progressively less sensitive to disturbances as USL decreases. The slugs could not be initiated for USL values lower than approximately 20-30% of those required to initiate unforced slugs. A weakly nonlinear model based on the Landau equation was employed to predict the flow behaviour for disturbance amplitudes lower than 2% of the pipe diameter. Corresponding changes on the map of flow regimes due to weakly nonlinear effects are presented and discussed. The results suggest that weakly nonlinear corrections based on the Stuart-Landau equation are more relevant for the transition from stratified to plug flow regimes.

The present work reports an experimental characterization of linear and weakly nonlinear interfacial waves in a stratified air–water horizontal pipe flow. An oscillating paddle was employed to generate controlled waves at the liquid interface. The driving signal of the oscillating paddle was controlled and synchronized with image acquisitions, enabling phase-locked measurements and the application of ensemble averaging techniques. Velocity field measurements in the liquid and gas phases were performed simultaneously using an off-axis particle image velocimetry setup and shadowgraphy. The combined techniques allowed us to extract the coherent part of flow fluctuations related to the excited waves. This was done for a range of flow rates and wave frequencies. The selected conditions are close to the transition from stratified to slug/plug flow regimes. In the presence of linear waves, the coherent disturbances in both phases were weakly dependent on near-wall disturbances. Flow changes in the presence of weakly nonlinear waves were also investigated. In these cases, noticeable modifications in the mean flow and in turbulence distribution were observed near the interface, whereas close to the wall, the flow was weakly affected. This investigation follows the work of Farias et al. [“Characterization of interfacial waves in stratified turbulent gas-liquid pipe flow using Particle Image Velocimetry and controlled disturbances,” Int. J. Multiphhase Flow 161, 104381 (2023)], where the threshold for linear and weakly nonlinear waves was studied. Here, a clear comparison between wave-induced disturbances in linear and weakly nonlinear regimes is reported in the literature for the first time for stratified turbulent gas–liquid pipe flows. The methodology proposed is relatively simple and can contribute to describe wave-related phenomena in stratified pipe flows.

The work reports an experimental investigation on stratified gas-liquid pipe flow characteristics in the presence of controlled interfacial waves. Studies of this flow regime with controlled interfacial waves are scarce in the literature. Here, the disturbances are excited at the liquid interface by an oscillating paddle. The waves are synchronized with image acquisitions, enabling the utilization of phase-locked measurements and ensemble averaging techniques. Off-axis Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and Shadowgraph techniques were applied to provide information about mean and wave-induced modifications on the velocity fields. Results show that mean flow velocities in the liquid and gas phases close to the pipe walls adhere well to the single-phase flow log-law profile. In the liquid layer, this agreement was observed up to half of the water depth. Controlled disturbances enabled the estimation of the wave amplitude thresholds for the appearance of relevant nonlinear wave effects on the flow field. Results suggest that such a threshold can be fairly represented by a constant value of the non-dimensional parameter proposed in the work of Kirby (2008). Within the non-linear wave regimes investigated, noticeable changes in the flow field were observed close to the interface. However, near the wall the flow was weakly affected by the presence of waves, suggesting that interfacial wave effects are weakly coupled with near-wall disturbances and might be modelled independently. Moreover, contributions to interfacial shear stress due to the presence of waves were obtained experimentally. The results presented here are useful for validation and improvement of models used to predict flow characteristics in stratified flows. In addition, they contribute to shed further light on the physical mechanisms involved in the phenomenon.

The present work describes an experimental study of a horizontal, gas-liquid pipe flow in the intermittent regime. Event-triggered, high-speed stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (SPIV) combined with laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) were used to measure all three components of the velocity vector at different pipe cross-sections, referred to the elongated bubble nose tip. A 40-mm inner diameter pipe was used as test section, while water and air with superficial velocities of jL = 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 m/s, and jG = 0.5 m/s formed the intermittent flow pattern. A set of photogate sensors was used to measure the two-phase flow statistics, and to trigger the SPIV system, allowing for the determination of ensemble-averaged, three-component velocity fields of the turbulent liquid flow in cross-stream planes around the elongated gas bubble. The original data obtained revealed the influence of the faster-moving gas bubbles on the dynamics of the liquid velocity field, providing valuable information for a better understanding of the physics governing the flow, and for validation of numerical models. The velocity measurements near the pipe bottom wall allowed the determination of the wall shear stress in the liquid plug region.

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has become the alternative procedure to high-risk patients who are diagnosed with aortic valve stenosis. Differently from the traditional open-chest surgical procedure, a small variation on the prosthetic aortic valve deployment angle is expected with the TAVI procedure. The hemodynamic patterns of the blood flow in the ascending aorta are related to the development of many cardiovascular diseases. There are, however, few data available in the literature correlating the aortic valve tilt angle to hemodynamic effects. In this work, a 3D printed aorta model made of a transparent silicon resin was produced, based on the anatomy of a specific patient submitted to a TAVI procedure. The stereoscopic Particle Image Velocimetry technique was employed to measure three-component velocity fields at closely spaced cross-sectional planes, along the ascending aorta. The measurements were performed for a constant flow rate corresponding to the peak of the systolic phase of the cardiac cycle. Averaged velocity fields and turbulent quantities were determined for both, the base case, with no valve tilt, and for cases with an inclination of 4° and 8°, oriented at the four anatomical directions of the human body reference system, namely anterior, posterior, right and left. The results revealed the dominant flow patterns in the ascending aorta formed by a jet-like inlet flow impinging on the curved aorta right wall, inducing a significant eccentricity on the axial velocity profile. Regions of reverse flow were identified and linked to the abrupt area change associated with the typical reduced inlet diameter of TAVI implants. The impinging flow and wall curvature effects established circulation patterns defining a helical flow structure. The influence of the inlet flow orientation on the flow turbulent characteristics was assessed by the spatial evolution of the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE), Reynolds and viscous stresses. The maximum values of TKE were found around the inlet jet boundaries and concentrated in the neighborhood of the right aorta wall where the eccentric axial flow prevailed. Spatial distributions of the maximum Reynolds stresses were similar to the TKE distributions and presented maximum stresses typically one order of magnitude higher than the maximum average viscous shear stresses. Maximum average viscous stress distributions were revealed at the jet-like flow boundaries and in the vicinity of the right wall, displaying moderate stress levels that, according to the literature, can be sufficient to produce cell damage and platelet activation. The complex nature of the flow field was revealed by streamlines obtained from the measured flow fields, allowing the identification of the influence of the inlet flow orientation and tilt angle on the position of the stagnation point on the aorta right wall, as well as the angle of incidence of the jet-like flow on the wall. A simple model based on momentum balance was used to estimate the pressure increment on the wall due to flow impingement. The model captured the influence of the inlet flow orientation, indicating that pressure increases of the order of 40% in relation to the base case condition were obtained for the 8°, left inlet flow orientation.

The main goal of this work was to obtain well-converged liquid velocity profiles for intermittent gas-liquid flows in a horizontal pipe. To this end, air and water with superficial velocities of JG = 0.5 m/s and JL = 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 m/s, respectively, were driven into a 18-m acrylic test section with an inner diameter of 40 mm. All three-components of the velocity vectors were measured in a pipe cross-section using a highfrequency stereoscopic PIV system, together with the laser induced fluorescence technique. Photogates were used to measure the unit cell translational velocity, as well as to trigger data acquisition, allowing the calculation of ensemble-averaged velocity fields at specific positions, referenced to the gas-bubble nose tip position. An instantaneous image masking procedure was implemented, allowing the determination of non-dimensional ensemble-averaged velocity profile in the liquid film, referenced to gas-bubble boundary. The high-frequency system employed allowed the determination of the influence of the faster-moving gas bubble on the liquid velocity field in the plug region. The data presented are relevant to the validation and improvement of one-dimensional two-phase numerical models, as well as to better understand this complex flow.

Illegal tapping of fuel pipelines has recently become one of the most relevant safety problems faced by the industry. Hundreds of illegal interventions have been reported around the world, causing a significant number of deaths, relevant impacts on the environment, and capital loss. Therefore, it is important to develop systems that are able to detect such scenarios at an early stage, enabling a fast counteract. To this end, machine learning algorithms can train models on available data for detecting future issues. Most recently, ensemble learning and dynamic classifier selection (DCS) techniques have been achieving promising results in supervised learning tasks. Such models are usually trained based on a single criterion. However, it is desirable to take into account both the number of false positives (FP) and false negatives (FN) for the illegal tapping detection task, since they are conflicting and both lead to financial losses and/or accidents. Therefore, this work proposes a novel DCS technique based on multiple criteria, namely overall local class-specific accuracy (OLCA), which employs multi-criteria decision making for dynamically selecting the best classifier for a new sample given the local true positive and negative ratios. A numerical experiment is conducted for assessing the generalization performance of the proposed method in an oil pipeline, with the goal of detecting illegal taping using pressure transient signals. Results show that OLCA is able to reduce the number of both FP and FN when dynamically selecting the classifiers of a baseline Random Forest ensemble.

Detailed local and averaged measurements of wax deposition in an annular pipe section were conducted and combined with a comprehensive simulation model. The objective of the study was to contribute...

The random-in-appearance turbulent flow of boundary layers seem to display packages of organized coherent structures near the wall. The understanding of the generation and interaction of these structures and their contribution to the production and dissipation of turbulence is of great relevance to the modelling and control of wall-bounded flows. The present work is a contribution to the knowledge about organized coherent structures at the logarithmic region of turbulent boundary layers at relatively high Reynolds number. From a six-camera tomo-PIV experiment, conducted in a wind tunnel with a Reynolds number based on the momentum thickness of 8500, conditional statistics were obtained that allowed the characterization of low- and high-speed regions, ejections, sweeps and vortices. The analyses confirmed findings from previous works in the literature regarding ejection and sweep structures as being major contributors to the turbulent production, while vortices are responsible for dissipating this energy in the self-sustaining turbulent process. The vortical structures were found to be close to low-speed regions, being responsible to maintain these regions and to induce ejection and sweep events. The conditional statistics on the coherent structures at the log-region obtained in the present work were in good agreement with the literature, including statistics at the inner and outer regions of the canonical flow of a flat plate boundary layer, which suggest some possible general structure organization.

The thermal conductivity of even carbon number n-alkanes from n-dodecane to n-dotriacontane (C22H46 to C32H66) was measured in both the liquid and solid phases, in the temperature range from 297.15 to 353.15 K at 0.1 MPa. To assure the purity and map the solid phase of the different samples during the thermal conductivity measurements of the solid samples, the melting point, solid-solid transition temperature and their respective enthalpies were also evaluated. The thermal conductivity measurements for the liquid and solid samples were obtained within uncertainty levels better than 3% and 5%, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the thermal conductivity of liquid n-hexacontane, n-octacontane, n-triacontane and n-dotriacontane, and, for solid samples, from n-docosane to n-dotriacontane. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Gas–liquid intermittent flows can be found in many engineering applications, nevertheless a detailed knowledge of this flow pattern is still not fully available. In the present work, an experimental study was conducted with the objective of developing a measurement procedure capable of providing ensemble-averaged three-component velocity fields in the liquid phase of a gas–liquid, intermittent, horizontal flow in a pipe. To this end, a high-frequency stereoscopic particle image velocimetry system (SPIV) was employed, combined with the laser induced fluorescence (LIF) technique to separate the light scattered by the liquid–gas interfaces from that emitted by the fluorescent tracer particles. A set of photogates was used to trigger the SPIV system, allowing for the measurement of velocity fields in the liquid plug, downstream of the elongated bubble, and in the liquid film, upstream of the elongated bubble nose position. The triggered measurements allowed the determination of ensemble-averaged three-component velocity fields at different positions in relation to the bubble nose, obtained from the replication of a sufficiently large number of bubble passage events. Contours of the liquid flow streamwise vorticity component in cross-stream planes upstream and downstream of the bubble nose tip were also obtained from the SPIV measurements. The photogate system was also employed to measure the bubble velocity. This information was used to transform time-based into space-based velocity field data. This allowed the construction of a three-dimensional representation of the ensemble-averaged structure of the gas bubble nose and the associated vortical structures induced in the liquid flow. The three-component velocity information obtained revealed the influence of the gas bubble motion on the liquid flow in the plug and liquid film regions.