Multiphase Flow R&D

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has been actively involved in applied multiphase flow research and development for more than a decade. This research program is conducted primarily for the oil and gas, petrochemical, energy, and food processing industries.

A key feature of the Institute program is the ability to apply technical expertise developed in one industry to support activities in another. As an example, a unique transparent slurry developed by SwRI to investigate fundamental flow characteristics of coal slurries was later used to solve problems encountered with cements used for horizontal oil and gas wells.

The SwRI multiphase flow research program includes investigations in:

• Slurry and non-Newtonian flow
• Separation and mixing
• Erosion and erosion/corrosion
• Fluidized bed and particle flow
• Environmental fluids
• Two-phase flow (piping hydraulics)
• Safety and pollution prevention equipment

A unique transparent slurry developed by SwRI is used to study the performance of mechanical flow modifiers for cementing of horizontal well bores.

Chemical reaction mixer simulation performed at SwRI shows the vorticity fields in a flow resulting from two impinging jets in a cross flow.

Slurry and Non-Newtonian Flow

• Deviated well-bore cleaning and chip transport
• Cementing horizontal well bores
• Oil well safety valves
• Fundamental coal slurry studies
• Coal slurry nozzle research

SwRI experiments have established important parameters in drilling hydraulics as part of the non-Newtonian flow research program.

Separation and Mixing

• Sloshing in offshore platform separators
• Performance of production separators
• Scale-model studies of oil/water separators
• Foam and emulsion in separators
• Separator instrumentation and control
• Bioreactor mixing
• Chemical process mixing
• Bulk chemical carrier tank ventilation mixing
• Performance of industrial dryers

Erosion and Erosion/Corrosion

• Fluidized bed boiler tube metal wastage
• Offshore piping erosion/corrosion
• Jet engine combustor dome erosion
• Jet engine nozzle fouling

Institute investigators incorporate a high speed videographic motion analysis system to study particle motion in an atmospheric fluidized bed.

Fluidized Bed and Particle Flow

• Pressurized fluidized bed heat transfer
• AFBC in-bed tube metal wastage
• Spouted bed heat exchanger
• Air distribution for modular AFBC
• Coal combustor nozzle evaluation

A unique SwRI high temperature atmospheric fluidized bed facility is used to investigate in-bed tube metal wastage of coal combustion systems.

Environmental Fluids

• Chemical vapor release in marine operations
• Venting rate model and hazards assessment
• Shipboard tank gauging
• Bulk carrier tank atmospheric control
• Venting rate and atmospheric dispersion
• Mixing and dilution of hazardous chemicals
• Crew exposure studies
• Chemical spills onto waterways
• Modeling of river hydrodynamics
• Liquid dynamics in liquid natural gas (LNG) cargo tanks
• Pipeline break flow model

Chemical spills are studied with the aid of this 3,600-square-foot tank that replicates the environmental conditions of a lake or inland bay.

Inhalation and dermal exposure hazards are measured and assessed by SwRI staff members on offshore platforms and chemical tankers.

Two-Phase Flow (piping hydraulics)

• Hydraulic transients in nuclear reactor cooling
• Loss of coolant accident (LOCA) pool swell in Mark I containment
• LOCA and air bubble interaction in reactor suppression pools
• Fuel alcohol distillation
• Waste energy recovery
• Modeling of steam flow system
• Turbulent buffeting of tube bundles
• Engineering filter technology

Safety and Pollution Prevention Equipment

• Sub-surface safety valve testing (API 14-A)
• Wellhead surface safety valve testing (API 14-D)
• Safety valve fire testing (API 6F)

Five-watt laser Doppler anemometer non-intrusively measures flow velocity in an variety of fluid dynamics experiments.

SwRI qualifies sub-surface and well head equipment in accordance with API standards at this safety valve test facility.

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