Numerical solution of the liquid film model for intermittent gas-liquid flows

Resumo

Multiphase flows occur in several industrial sectors, such as oil and natural gas production and transport.
Its understanding gives several technical and economic advantages. Gas-liquid flows are often grouped into three
main patterns: dispersed, separated, and intermittent. A succession of liquid pistons (aerated or non-aerated) and
elongated gas bubbles parallel with a thin liquid film that repeats itself over the pipe in a non-periodic way describes
the intermittent or slug flow. These flows can occur in a steady state considering the unit cell concept. Thus, the
hydrodynamic parameters of this kind of flow can be estimated using several models developed based on this
concept. This work aims to solve numerically one of the models more complete for film profile estimation using a
fourth-order Runge-Kutta method. A computational code is being written in MATLAB to implement the film profile
model and the empirical correlations for estimating the closure parameters. The numerical results obtained for the
film and piston lengths were compared with experimental data from the literature to validate the model solution
employed. In addition, liquid film (or elongated gas bubble) profiles were plotted graphically for visualization and
comparison with descriptions presented in the literature.