Eventos Anais de eventos
COBEM 2023
27th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF WATER-MEG MIXING IN A HELE-SHAW CELL WITH CHANGE OF DIRECTION
Submission Author:
Pedro Leineker Ochoski Machado , PR
Co-Authors:
Pedro Leineker Ochoski Machado, Anna Liston, Leonardo Souza, Elcilane Freitas, Joel Karp, Amadeu Sum, Moisés Marcelino Neto, Rigoberto Morales
Presenter: Pedro Leineker Ochoski Machado
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2023.COB2023-0570
Abstract
The formation of hydrates is often observed after unplanned shutdowns in the petroleum production lines, representing a significant threat to the operation as they can agglomerate and cause either partial or total blockage of the pipeline. The presence of water, oil and gas in the pipeline, plus to the low temperatures and high pressures related to the restart of the operation, provokes the formation of these compounds. It then becomes necessary to use strategies that inhibit their formation such as the injection of thermodynamic inhibitors, which change the hydrate formation curve when mixed with water. Despite their wide application, the mixing of thermodynamic inhibitors such as MEG (monoethylene glycol), with water is not fully understood, as there is a lack of studies about the water-MEG mixing in the literature. Thus, this work proposes to investigate the water-MEG mixing experimentally. To this end, experiments are conducted in a transparent Hele-Shaw test section (6-mm gap between flat plates) with different flow orientations (vertical and horizontal), thus enabling the visual monitoring of the mixing process. MEG was injected into quiescent water in the test section at different locations, with different injection directions (perpendicular and coaxial with the flow direction), different flow rates and different concentrations, resulting in different Reynolds (Re), Atwood (At), and Froude (Fr) numbers. Samples were collected and analyzed via a HANNA® instruments Digital Refractometer for Ethylene Glycol Analysis Hl96831. The experimental results showed that the injection methodology greatly affects the mixing since proper mixing is easily achieved by vertical injection, and poor mixing is obtained by injection in a horizontal section mostly due to buoyant forces resulting from the density difference (MEG is heavier than water). To improve the mixing in a horizontal section, diluted MEG and higher flow rates can be used.
Keywords
thermodynamic inhibitor, Mixing, water-MEG mixing, hydrate inhibitor
