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Heat transfer and multiphase flow with hydrate formation in subsea pipelines

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An Erratum to this article was published on 12 August 2015

Abstract

A new predictive model is developed to analyze hydrate formation with coupled heat and mass transfer in a pipe. The model tracks the particle velocity at each time step, while estimating the growth of the hydrate using the change in Biot number and dimensionless time. The numerical results are validated experimental results for R134a hydrates. The effects of change in heat transfer ratio, phase change number, superheating, and pipe diameter on hydrate formation are reported in this paper. The results indicate that higher heat transfer ratio between the internal and external fluids reduces the possibility of hydrates creating a blockage in the pipeline. The pipes with smaller diameters are also found to reduce the possibility of hydrate formation at a constant pipeline pressure. The results show that at temperatures below −10 °C, changing thermophysical properties have limited impact on the rate of hydrate formation in the pipe.

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Abbreviations

a :

Constant

As :

Reaction surface area (m2)

b :

Constant

Ch :

Concentration of hydrate (kg/m3)

dh :

Hydrate diameter (m)

D:

Mass diffusion coefficient (m2/s)

f :

Fugacity (Pa)

g:

Acceleration due to gravity (m/s2)

H :

Hammaker constant

h:

Convective heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K)

I:

Growth rate of hydrate (m/s)

k:

Thermal conductivity (W/mK)

l:

Length (m)

lv :

Latent heat of vaporization (kJ/kg)

m :

Mass (kg)

mw :

Molecular mass (g/mol)

n:

Particle size distribution

nv :

Vapor density (mol/m3)

Ph :

Phase change number

r:

Radius (m)

r f :

Instantaneous radius of hydrate (m)

Ro :

Pipeline radius (m)

Sh:

Sherwood number

T :

Temperature (K)

t:

Time (s)

u:

Velocity (m/s)

y:

Molar fraction

z o :

Distance between the particle and the wall (m)

1:

External

2:

Internal

a :

Ambient

cr:

Critical

f :

Interface temperature

eq:

Equilibrium

h:

Hydrate

∞:

Freestream

i:

1, 2, 3, …

l:

Liquid

o :

Initial

p:

Particle

r:

Fluid

sup:

Superheat

α :

Thermal diffusivity (m2/s)

β:

Restitution coefficient

η :

Dimensionless time

λ :

Kinematic constant (mol/m2 Pa s)

μ :

Dynamic viscosity (Pa s)

ρ :

Density (kg/m3)

σ:

Surface potential energy (J)

τ v :

Residence time (s)

θ :

Dimensionless temperature

θ hr :

Heat transfer ratio

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Acknowledgments

Financial support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and Research and Development Cooperation of Newfoundland and Labrador, is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 240 Prince Phillip Drive, St. John’s, NL, A1B 3X5, Canada

    A. Odukoya & G. F. Naterer

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  1. A. Odukoya
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  2. G. F. Naterer
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Correspondence to A. Odukoya.

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Odukoya, A., Naterer, G.F. Heat transfer and multiphase flow with hydrate formation in subsea pipelines. Heat Mass Transfer 51, 901–909 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-014-1457-3

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