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Article

Flow Management in High-Viscosity Oil–Gas Mixing Systems: A Study of Flow Regimes

1
State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
2
Machine Manufacture Plant, Changqing Oilfield Company, China National Petroleum Corporation, Xi’an 710200, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Energies 2025, 18(6), 1550; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18061550
Submission received: 21 February 2025 / Revised: 16 March 2025 / Accepted: 17 March 2025 / Published: 20 March 2025
(This article belongs to the Section H: Geo-Energy)

Abstract

The flow management of the gas–liquid mixture module is crucial for the transmission efficiency of crude oil-and-natural gas-gathering and transportation systems. The concurrent flow of high-viscosity crude oil and natural gas in gas–liquid mixing is investigated numerically by adopting an improved volume of fluid (VOF) model programmed with the OpenFOAM v2012 software package. Over a wide range of superficial velocities for the oil, from 0.166 to 5.529 m/s, and natural gas, from 0.138 to 27.645 m/s, a variety of flow regimes of bubble flow, plug flow, slug flow, and annular flow are encountered successively, which are essentially consistent with the Brill and Mandhane flow regime identification criteria. The results show that the oil volume fraction, fluid velocity, and bubble slip velocity together affect the growth of bubbles in the pipeline at a low gas velocity. In the case of slug flow, the phenomenon of liquid film plugging is noticeable, and the flow is very unstable, which should be avoided as much as possible. Nonetheless, it is commended that stable plug flow and annular flow with a high oil transportation efficiency and minimal power consumption are friendly working conditions.
Keywords: flow management; oil–gas mixed transport; slip velocity; transportation efficiency flow management; oil–gas mixed transport; slip velocity; transportation efficiency

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MDPI and ACS Style

Tian, J.; Li, M.; Wang, Y. Flow Management in High-Viscosity Oil–Gas Mixing Systems: A Study of Flow Regimes. Energies 2025, 18, 1550. https://doi.org/10.3390/en18061550

AMA Style

Tian J, Li M, Wang Y. Flow Management in High-Viscosity Oil–Gas Mixing Systems: A Study of Flow Regimes. Energies. 2025; 18(6):1550. https://doi.org/10.3390/en18061550

Chicago/Turabian Style

Tian, Jiaming, Mao Li, and Yueshe Wang. 2025. "Flow Management in High-Viscosity Oil–Gas Mixing Systems: A Study of Flow Regimes" Energies 18, no. 6: 1550. https://doi.org/10.3390/en18061550

APA Style

Tian, J., Li, M., & Wang, Y. (2025). Flow Management in High-Viscosity Oil–Gas Mixing Systems: A Study of Flow Regimes. Energies, 18(6), 1550. https://doi.org/10.3390/en18061550

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