Oil-water two-phase flow redistribution in horizontal and near horizontal pipelines

This paper presents a study to numerically investigate the effect of the operational and design parameters on the oil-water two-phase flow re-distribution in horizontal and near horizontal pipeline and their effect on pipe internal corrosion. The present simulations were carried out for pipe diameters of 100 mm, 154 mm, and 202 mm and for Reynolds numbers range from 6:37×10³ to 1:59×10⁵. The typical oil production conditions in Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) are used in the present study. These conditions cover a mixture of Arabian oil, whose density and viscosity range from 830 kg=m³ to 998:2 kg=m³ and from 2 cP to 30 cP respectively, with water cuts of 20, 30 and 50 %. Effect of pipe inclinations of 15± up and 15° down are also investigated. The numerical results showed good agreement with available experiments and models at different inlet mixture velocities and water cuts. The results emphasize the strong effect of inlet mixture velocity, oil physical properties, and pipe inclination on the water holdup and the flow patterns and consequently on the corrosion rate.