Engineering Commons^™

Transient Multiphase Flow Simulation For Unloading Of Frac Hit Gas Wells, Miguel Angel Cedeno Moreno

Doctoral Dissertations

"This work seeks to develop a fully step-by-step transient multiphase flow simulation valid for unloading gas wells using nitrogen. It studies the behavior of nitrogen for unloading horizontal gas wells with gas injection in the annulus. The work investigates unloading non-Newtonian fluids such as those which invade offset wells when a frac hit occurs during hydraulic fracturing operations in unconventional wells. The effect of varying tubing depth and injection pressure are included in the study.

Results show that as the plastic viscosity increases, the nitrogen volume and time to unload will be increased. As tubing depth increases, the nitrogen volume …

The Effects Of Low Aspect Ratio And Heat Exchanging Internals On The Bubble Properties And Flow Regime In A Pilot-Plant Bubble/Slurry Bubble Column For Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis, Hayder Al-Naseri

Doctoral Dissertations

"Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (F-T) is a process utilized to convert the syngas mixture of CO and H₂ to synthetic fuel and chemicals that executed commercially by using the bubble/slurry bubble column reactor. The experimental results reveal that the investigated parameters, in terms the presence of internals, and reducing the aspect ratio and the solids loading, increase the local gas holdup, interfacial area, bubble passage frequency, and decrease the bubble rise velocity, bubble chord length. Meanwhile, the aspect ratio H/D = 4, and 5 provide enough height to established the fully developed flow regime. As a result of the variation in …

Mixing Dynamics In Municipal Water Storage Tanks, Pramod Narayan Bangalore

Masters Theses

"The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of different control variables on mixing in municipal water storage tanks using Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD) solutions with ANSYS FLUENT for isothermal, positively and negatively buoyant inflow conditions. Poor mixing of old water and new water leads to dead zone formation, which when introduced in the distribution system can cause major water quality issues. Data for this study was generated using Multiphase CFD flow modeling technique using Volume of Fluid (VOF) approach with species transport. The vessel was considered to be mixed when Coefficient of Variation (COV) dropped below 0.10.

Results …

Influence Of Dynamic Factors On Nonwetting Fluid Snap-Off In Pores, Wen Deng, Matthew Balhoff, M. Bayani Cardenas

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Snap-off is an important dynamic multiphase flow phenomenon which occurs in porous media. It plays a dominant role in the residual trapping and mobilization/immobilization of nonwetting fluids such as hydrocarbons or CO₂. Current studies, applications, and threshold criteria of snap-off are mostly based on static or equilibrium conditions. Thus, the dynamics of snap-off which is relevant for many real world applications has rarely been systematically studied. While a static criterion indicates the snap-off potential for nonwetting fluids, the competition between the time required for snap-off and the local pore throat capillary number determines whether snap-off actually occurs. Using a theoretical …

Local Gas Holdup In A Draft Tube Airlift Bioreactor, Hu Ping Luo, Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Airlift Column Bioreactors Are Gas-Liquid Contact Devices Characterized by a Rising Channel and a Down Flow Channel Due to Gas Holdup Differences in These Two Channels. Local Gas Holdup Distribution Strongly Affects the overall Gas-Liquid Flow Dynamics in Airlift Columns. in This Work, Local Gas Holdup Distributions in a Draft Tube Airlift Column Covering Both Bubbly Flow and Churn-Turbulent Flow Regimes Have Been Studied using Computed Tomography (CT) Technique as Well as Conventional Techniques. the Radial and Axial Evolutions of the Gas Holdup Distribution Will Be Discussed, Together with the Effects of Superficial Gas Velocity and Geometry Parameters. the Obtained …

Local Characteristics Of Hydrodynamics In Draft Tube Airlift Bioreactor, Hu Ping Luo, Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Airlift Column Reactors Have Been Widely Used in Bioprocesses. the Design, Scale-Up, and Performance Evaluation of Such Reactors All Require Extensive and Accurate Information About the Gas-Liquid Flow Dynamics, Particularly as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Has Become More Popular in the Last Decade. However, Due to the Limitation of Most Conventional Techniques for Gas-Liquid Flow Dynamics Measurement, Only Global Hydrodynamic Parameters (E.g., Cross-Sectionally Averaged Liquid Circulation Velocity, overall Gas Holdup, and overall Mass Transfer Rate) Have Been Extensively Studied. the Local Flow Characteristics (E.g., the Macro-Mixing and the Turbulence Intensity) Remain Unclear. in This Study, We Use the Computer Automated …

Macro-Mixing In A Draft-Tube Airlift Bioreactor, Hu Ping Luo, Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Airlift Reactors Are Pneumatically Agitated Reactors that Have Been Widely Used in Industries, Particularly in Bioprocesses. Extensive Studies About the Flow Dynamics in Airlift Column Reactors Exist; However, Most of These Studies Have Focused on Global Hydrodynamic Parameters using Conventional Techniques. the Local Flow Characteristics, such as the Macro-Mixing and the Turbulence Intensity, Are Crucial for Reliable Design and Scale-Up, and They Remain Unclear. This Work Focuses on Studying the Macro-Mixing in a Draft-Tube Airlift Bioreactor Utilizing an Advanced Flow Dynamic Measurement Technique, Computer Automated Radioactive Particle Tracking (CARPT). True Residence Time Distribution Analyses for the overall Column as Well …

Liquid Saturation And Gas-Liquid Distribution In Multiphase Monolithic Reactors, Tobias Bauer, Shaibal Roy, Ruediger Lange, Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Monolith Bed is One of the Promising Catalytic Reactors for a Number of Chemical Gas-Liquid-Solid Processes. in the Present Work, Liquid Saturations for Five Different Monoliths Have Been Investigated Experimentally in a Cold-Flow Unit with a Reactor Diameter of 5.0 Cm. the Influences of Gas and Liquid Flow Rates and of the Direction of Two-Phase Flow on Liquid Saturation Were Examined. the Results Indicate that the Direction of Flow Has No Significant Influence on Liquid Saturation for Proper Gas-Liquid Distribution. the Experimental Results Are in Good Agreement with Predictions of the Drift Flux Model using the Distribution Parameter Proposed …

Quantification Of Solids Flow In A Gas-Solid Riser: Single Radioactive Particle Tracking, Satish Bhusarapu, Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan, Milorad P. Dudukovic

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Solids in Risers of Circulating Fluidized Beds (CFB) Exhibit Local Backflow and Recirculation. Measurement of the Concentration-Time Response to an Impulse Injection of Tracer, Even at Two Elevations Cannot Determine the Residence Time Distribution (RTD) of Solids Uniquely. Hence, Evaluation of RTD in Risers from Conventional Tracer Responses is Difficult and Often Not Possible. in Addition, Estimating the Solids Circulation Rate in These Closed Loop Systems, is a Non-Trivial Problem. in This Work, a Single Radioactive Particle in the CFB Loop is Tracked during its Multiple Visits to the Riser And, by Invoking Ergodicity, Solids Circulation Rate, Accurate Solids RTD …

Liquid Holdup And Pressure Drop In The Gas-Liquid Cocurrent Downflow Packed-Bed Reactor Under Elevated Pressures, Jing Guo, Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

An Experimental Investigation of the Residence Time Distribution, Liquid Holdup, and Pressure Drop in a Gas-Liquid Downflow Packed Bed Reactor with Porous Particles Operated under Elevated Pressures is Presented. the Effects of the Two-Phase Flow Rates and Reactor Pressures on the External Liquid Holdup and Pressure Drop Are Discussed. a Mechanistic Model, Which Accounts for the Interaction between the Gas and Liquid Phases by Incorporating the Shear and Velocity Slip Factors between Phases, is Employed to Predict the External Liquid Holdup and Pressure Drop for the Experimentally Covered Flow Regime. the Involved Parameters, Such as Shear and Velocity Slip Factors …

A Lagrangian Description Of Flows In Stirred Tanks Via Computer-Automated Radioactive Particle Tracking (Carpt), A. R. Rammohan, A. Kemoun, M. (Muthanna) H. Al-Dahhan, M. P. Dudukovic

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In This Study, Computer-Automated Radioactive Particle Tracking (CARPT) is Implemented for the First Time in the Characterization of Flows in Stirred Tanks. Both the Experimental Set-Up Are Discussed. the CARPT Technique is Seen to Capture Qualitatively Most of the Important Flow Phenomena Observed in Stirred Tank Flows, Like the Two Recirculating Loops above and Below the Impeller and the Dead Zones at the Bottom of the Tank. the CARPT Data is Also Used to Extract ''Sojourn'' Time Distributions in Different Zones of the Reactor. These Distributions Are Used to Partially Quantify the Observed Dead and Active Zones in the Tank. …