Characteristics of flow field and water concentration in a horizontal deadleg

Deadlegs are defined as the inactive portion of the pipe where the flow is stagnant. Corrosion in deadlegs occurs as a result of water separation due to the very low flow velocity. The present work provides an investigation of the effect of deadleg geometry and average flow velocity on flow field and oil/water separation in deadlegs. The investigation is based on the solution of the mass and momentum conservation equations of an oil/water mixture together with the volume fraction equation for the secondary phase. A fluid flow model based on the time-averaged governing equations of 3-D turbulent flow has been developed. An algebraic slip mixture model is utilized for the calculation of the two immiscible fluids (water and crude oil). The model solves the continuity and momentum equations for the mixture, and the volume fraction equation for the secondary phase utilizing an algebraic expression for the relative velocity. Flow visualization experiments were conducted in order to validate the numerical procedure. Good agreement was obtained between the calculated and measured flow patterns. Results are obtained for different lengths of the deadleg. The considered fluid mixture contains 90% oil and 10% water (by volume). The inlet flow velocity ranges from 0.2 to 10 m/s and the deadleg length to diameter ratio (L/D) ranges from 1 to 10. The results showed that the size of the stagnant fluid region increases with the increase of L/D and decreases with the increase of inlet velocity. The results also indicated that the water volumetric concentration increases with the increase of L/D and influenced by the deadleg geometry.