Pourcel, Florent; Smith, Ivar Eskerud et Duchesne, Sophie (2017). Slug Flow Simulation, A Way to Improve Air Scouring of Water Mains? Procedia Engineering , vol. 186 . pp. 601-608. DOI: 10.1016/j.proeng.2017.03.276.
Ce document n'est pas hébergé sur EspaceINRS.Résumé
When transporting gas and liquid in the same pipe, waves might become unstable and grow until they bridge the entire pipe cross-section. This flow pattern is called slug flow, and consists of alternating pockets of gas and liquid plugs propagating at high speed through the pipeline. Simulation of slug flow is a topic widely investigated in the oil and gas industry, where slug flow is not desired due to its chaotic nature and increased wall shear stress. The method for cleaning water mains known as air scouring uses this increase of wall shear stress in order to get high efficiency in particle, scale, biofilm and tubercle removal. This is believed to be more effective than unidirectional flushing and to use up to 40% less water. The efficiency of the cleaning depends on the characteristics of the slugs such as length, velocity and frequency, which are determined by amongst others the water and air superficial velocities, interface friction, fluid properties and pipe properties. The use of slug flow simulation may help to obtain the optimal slug flow characteristics for every sequences of air scouring in order to save both time and water, and ensure the most efficient cleaning of the water mains. Sluggit is a computational slug flow simulator developed at NTNU for the oil and gas industry. The objective of our work was to validate its predictions for slug flow characteristics within water distribution systems. Slug flow is generated with tap-water and compressed air in a 50 m long PVC pipe with 150 mm of internal diameter. Water distribution system conditions, such as pressure and exit diameter are reproduced. The slug characteristics from the experiments are recorded, and compared with the predictions of Sluggit.
| Type de document: | Article |
|---|---|
| Mots-clés libres: | slug flow; air scouring; water mains |
| Centre: | Centre Eau Terre Environnement |
| Date de dépôt: | 28 nov. 2018 15:46 |
| Dernière modification: | 28 nov. 2018 15:46 |
| URI: | https://espace.inrs.ca/id/eprint/7726 |
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