Experimental and Computational Investigations on Severe Slugging in A Catenary Riser

Severe slugging can occur in a pipeline-riser system at relatively low liquid and gas flow rates during gas-oil transportation, possibly causing unexpected damage to the production facilities. Experiments with air and water are conducted in a horizontal and downward inclined pipeline followed by a catenary riser in order to investigate the mechanism and characteristics of severe slugging. A theoretical model is introduced to compare with the experiments. The results show that the formation mechanism of severe slugging in a catenary riser is different from that in a vertical riser due to the riser geometry and five flow patterns are obtained and analyzed. A gas-liquid mixture slug stage is observed at the beginning of one cycle of severe slugging, which is seldom noticed in previous studies. Based on both experiments and computations, the time period and variation of pressure amplitude of severe slugging are found closely related to the superficial gas velocity, implying that the gas velocity significantly influences the flow patterns in our experiments. Moreover, good agreements between the experimental data and the numerical results are shown in the stability curve and flow regime map, which can be a possible reference for design in an offshore oil-production system.     

Numerical Investigation on Severe Slugging in A Catenary Riser

A mathematical model is presented to study the main characteristics of severe slugging in a downward inclined pipeline followed by a catenary riser. In this model, both simplified transient model and phase distribution model are included so that the flow characteristics of each stage for severe slugging can be accurately reproduced, especially for blowout stage. The results show that the flow features of severe slugging can be simulated by the proposed mathematical model. A good agreement between the experimental data and the numerical results is observed. The model can predict the transient fluctuation of many respects, such as the superficial gas velocity at the bottom of the riser and the average velocity at the outlet of the riser.     

海底混输管线严重段塞流动的预测与控制

随着海洋油气田开发向深水海域发展,海底混输管线距离过长,且存在立管系统,容易形成严重段塞流动的现象日益严重.在严重段塞流工况下,管线的流动参数,如压降、段塞长度、段塞频率、持液率都随时间变化,并且表现为周期性变换的压力波动以及间歇出现的液塞.严重段塞流的不稳定性给油气田集输系统的设计及运行管理造成了巨大的困难.本文介绍了海底混输管线中严重段塞流动预测与控制的实验与理论研究进展,同时,对于节流、气举、分离等8类15种控制严重段塞的方法分别进行了评述,旨在为进一步开展海底油气混输管线严重段塞流动的研究提供借鉴,为工程实践提供参考.     

弯曲柔性立管举升气液两相流时的流固耦合效应研究

海洋油气混输时,气液两相流与混输立管之间的双向流固耦合作用机理十分复杂.针对柔性立管与气液两相流的流固耦合响应问题,在气液两相循环试验装置中开展了不同流型两相流流动特性及柔性立管振动响应的测试,利用高速摄像非介入测试技术同步捕捉了柔性立管的振动位移与管内的流型演变过程,对比了不同流型气液两相流诱导的立管振动响应特性,通过对比固定和振动立管内的气液两相流动特性,辨析了振动对管内两相流动的影响.结果表明:柔性立管中出现了泡状流、泡状—段塞流、段塞流、段塞—搅拌流和搅拌流五种流型,不同流型的气液两相流诱导立管振动的机理不同,在段塞—搅拌流作用时立管的振动响应最剧烈.与固定立管相比,强烈的振动不同程度地改变了气液两相流的流动特性,振动立管中部分两相流流型转变的临界条件有明显地调整,相对而言,振动对搅拌流和泡状流的影响较小.     

Experimental Investigation of Disturbing the Flow Field on the Vortex-Induced Vibration of Deepwater Riser Fitted with Gas Jetting Active Vibration Suppression Device

An experimental investigation on the disturbance effect of jet-type active vibration suppression device on vortexinduced vibration of deep-sea riser was carried out in the wave-flow combined flume. The vibration suppression device was designed in which the jet pipe was horizontally fixed to the front end of the riser. By varying three different excitation spacings and multi-stage outflow velocities, the influence law of the dominant frequency,dimensionless displacement and other dynamic response parameters was studied under different excitation spacings,and the mechanism and sensitive characteristics of the disturbance suppression were explored. The results indicate that the variation of excitation spacing makes gas curtain enter the strong disturbed flow region at different velocities and angles, and the coupling relationship between excitation spacing and reduced velocity is the key factor to enter the strong disturbed flow region to achieve the optimal disturbance suppression. In the strong disturbed flow region,the influence of gas curtain on the dominant frequency is obviously affected by the flow velocity, while the vibration displacement is stable at the same amplitude and is weakly affected by the flow velocity. Gas curtain can effectively disturb the formation of vortex shedding, destroy the strong nonlinear coupled vibration of the riser, and achieve better vibration suppression effect. In the weak disturbed flow region, the vortex length of the riser tail is prolonged,the strong nonlinear coupled vibration of the riser is gradually restored, and the vibration suppression effect of the device gradually decreases.     

Effect of upward internal flow on dynamics of riser model subject to shear current

Numerical study about vortex-induced vibration(VIV) related to a flexible riser model in consideration of internal flow progressing inside has been performed.The main objective of this work is to investigate the coupled fluid-structure interaction(FSI) taking place between tensioned riser model,external shear current and upward-progressing internal flow(from ocean bottom to surface).A CAE technology behind the current research which combines structural software with the CFD technology has been proposed.According to the result from dynamic analysis,it has been found that the existence of upward-progressing internal flow does play an important role in determining the vibration mode(/dominant frequency),vibration intensity and the magnitude of instantaneous vibration amplitude,when the velocity ratio of internal flow against external current is relatively high.As a rule,the larger the velocity of internal flow is,the more it contributes to the dynamic vibration response of the flexible riser model.In addition,multi-modal vibration phenomenon has been widely observed,for asymmetric curvature along the riser span emerges in the case of external shear current being imposed.     

Dynamic Characteristics of Marine Risers Conveying Fluid

The lateral vibration differential equation for a marine riser conveying fluid is derived by useof the small deflection theory.and the effect of internal flow velocity and top tension on the natural fre-quency of the riser is studied by use of FEM.At the same time,the preliminary relationship between thenatural frequency and riser span under different internal flow velocities is obtained,the effect of riser sup-ports on the vibration frequency is computed.It is found that the natural frequency of the marine riser in-creases with the increase of top tension.however decreases with the increase of internal flow velocity.In ad-dition,the frequency decreases drastically with the increase of riser span.     

海洋立管复模态动力特性分析

考虑阻尼的影响,研究海洋立管的动力特性。通过分析管内流体及管外海洋环境荷载的共同作用,建立海洋立管涡激振动偏微分方程,进而得到立管动力特性方程,用复模态分析法求解动力特性方程得到立管考虑阻尼的自振频率。算例计算表明:考虑阻尼的立管自振频率略小于不考虑阻尼的立管自振频率;立管的自振频率随着内流流速的增加而减小,但内流流速不大时,影响较小;管道长度对立管的自振频率影响较大。     

Dynamic and static analysis of a marine riser

A frequency domain normal mode solution is presented for the dynamic response of an unbuoyed marine riser subjected to periodic excitation from a surface vessel in the direction of wave propagation. The variable tension beam-column equation is solved in terms of normal modes of free vibration of the riser and the rigid body displacement. Drag forces on the riser are represented by Morison's formula taking account of the velocity of the riser and wave-induced fluid velocity. A periodic solution for the flexural motion of the riser and the bending stress is then obtained by means of an iterative solution of the frequency response function. The drag force induced stresses arising from a linearly varying current are also determined. The results presented compare favourably with those obtained by other methods.     

深海悬垂取水管振动特性研究

深海悬垂取水管的设计趋向于大直径、高内流流速,内流对取水管振动特性的影响不可忽略,分析内部流动引起的管道动态失稳行为以及评估失稳临界流速具有重要工程意义。基于小尺度模型试验,研究内流对深海悬垂取水管道振动特性的影响规律,结果表明：随着内流流速增加,取水管模型会发生动态失稳行为,表现为一种间歇性的近周期运动,该运动主要由管道一阶弯曲模态引起的不稳定性诱导。管道材料、顶端连接方式及底部配重块均影响其动态稳定性,顶端固定连接时质量比小的管道更易发生动态失稳;顶端变为铰接时,质量比大的管道失稳临界流速变小,质量比小的管道失稳临界流速变大。相比顶端边界条件,底部配重块对管道失稳临界流速影响不显著但可以减小其振动幅值。     

The influence of nonlinear hysteretic seabed interaction on slug-induced stress oscillations in steel catenary risers

Steel catenary risers (SCRs) are usually cost-effective solutions in the development of offshore fields and the transferring of the hydrocarbons from the seabed to the floating facilities. These elements are subjected to the fatigue loads particularly in the touchdown zone (TDZ), where the oscillating SCR is exposed to cyclic contact with the seabed. The slug-induced oscillation is a significant contributor to the fatigue loads in the TDZ. The cyclic seabed soil softening under the wave-induced riser oscillations and the gradual penetration of the SCR into the seabed are widely accepted to have a significant influence on SCR fatigue performance. However, this has never been investigated for slug-induced oscillations due to the lack of integrated access to comprehensive numerical models enabling the simulation of the riser slugging and nonlinear hysteretic riser-seabed interaction at the same time. In this paper, an advanced interface was developed and verified using the multi-point moving tie constraint in order to examine the influence of cyclic seabed soil softening on slug-induced oscillations of SCR. The interface was integrated with a pre-developed user subroutine for modeling of the nonlinear hysteretic riser-seabed interaction and incorporated into a global SCR model in ABAQUS. A comprehensive parametric study was conducted to investigate the influence of slug characteristics and nonlinear seabed soil model on slug-induced, wave-induced, and combined wave/slug induced oscillations of SCR in the TDZ. It was observed that the nonlinear seabed model could significantly affect the embedment of the SCR into the seabed under the slug-induced oscillations and consequently improve the fatigue life. The developed user interface was found to be a strong framework for modeling riser slugging.     

Experimental Investigation on Vortex-Induced Vibration of Deep-Sea Risers of Different Excitation Water Depths

The vortex-induced vibration test of the deep-sea riser was carried out with different excitation water depths in the wave-current combined water flume.By dimensionally changing the multi-stage water depth and hydrodynamic parameters such as outflow velocity at various water depths,the dynamic response parameters such as dominant frequency,dimensionless displacement and vibration trajectory evolution process of the riser under different excitation water depths were explored to reveal the sensitive characteristics of the dynamic response of vortexinduced vibration of the risers under different excitation water depths.The results show that different excitation water depths will change the additional mass of the riser and the fluid damping and other parameters,which will affect the spatial correlation and stability of the vortex shedding behind the riser.In the lock-in region,the distribution range of the characteristic frequency becomes narrow and centered on the lock-in frequency.The increase of the excitation water depth gradually advances the starting point of the lock-in region of the riser,and at the same time promotes the excitation of the higher-order vibration frequency of the riser structure.Within the dimensionless excitation water depth,the dominant frequency and dimensionless displacement are highly insensitive to the excitation water depth at high flow velocity.The change of the excitation water depth will interfere with the correlation of the non-linear coupling of the riser.The“8-shaped”gradually becomes irregular,and the vibration trajectories of the riser show“O-shape”,“X-shape”and“Crescent-shape”.     

陡波形立管涡激振动疲劳损伤参数敏感性分析

基于柔性杆理论和尾流振子模型计算陡波形立管的涡激振动响应;综合使用S-N曲线法、雨流计数法、Palmgren-Miner线性累积疲劳理论对立管涡激振动导致的疲劳损伤进行计算分析。并以MATLAB为平台编写相应计算程序,将本文计算得到的静力分析结果、固有频率和疲劳损伤分别与专业海工计算软件OrcaFlex和已发表文献进行对比验证。进一步对陡波形立管在涡激振动下的疲劳损伤进行参数敏感性分析,结果表明:浮子段长度、浮力因子、弹性模量、海流速度、波浪高度对陡波形立管疲劳损伤均有较大影响,有望为陡波形立管的实际工程设计提供参考。     

An Experimental Study on Dynamics Features of Three Side-by-Side Flexible Risers Undergoing Vortex-Induced Vibrations in A Uniform Flow

A vortex-induced vibration(VIV) experiment on three side-by-side risers subjected to a uniform flow was carried out in a combined wave-current flume. The dynamic features of interference effect on three side-by-side risers were investigated by varying fluid velocity and inter-riser spacing. The distributions of dimensionless displacement,dominant frequency, and displacement trajectory of the model risers were measured using mode decomposition and wavelet transform techniques. The coupled interference of inter-riser fluid to adjacent risers at different spacings was disclosed by introducing the "interference ratio" concept. The results show that at spacings smaller than 6.0 D, the three model risers display appreciable deviations in their displacement responses in cross-flow or in-line direction,attributable to the strong proximity disturbance and wake interference between the risers. When the spacing is increased to 8.0 D, wake interference still makes great difference to the dynamic response of the risers in both directions. As reduced velocity increases, the three risers show higher agreement with an isolated riser in overall dominant vibration frequency in CF direction than that in IL direction at all spacings and the side risers, although symmetrically placed, do not vibrate symmetrically, as a result of the steady deflection of clearance flow within the riser group. Interference effect results in a remarkable unsteady mode competition within the risers; quantitation of the interference levels for the three risers at different spacings with interference ratio revealed that under low flow velocities and large spacing ratios, clearance flow constitutes a non-neglectable interferer for three side-by-side risers.     

Vortex modes and vortex-induced vibration of a long,flexible riser

Investigations of the velocity and vorticity fields in the wake of a flexible riser with a length to diameter ratio of 181 were conducted in a towing tank at moderate Reynolds numbers in the range of 9400–47,000. Wake velocity measurements were made with the riser freely vibrating in both in-line and cross-flow directions. The motion and wake field of the riser, undergoing free vibration, were simultaneously measured by accelerometers installed inside the riser and by using a digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV) system. The vortex-induced vibration (VIV) results show that the riser freely oscillated at multiple vibration frequencies and amplitudes at each Reynolds number. Mixed vortex modes, ‘2S’, ‘2P’ and ‘P+S’, were observed in the near wake of the riser at different instants of time. The occurrence of these vortex modes depended on the Reynolds number, dominant frequency and mean amplitude. At lower Reynolds number, the single stable mode ‘2S’ dominated the wake. With the increase of Reynolds number, the percentage of the ‘2S’ modes decreased while the percentage of ‘2P’ modes increased steadily except at Reynolds numbers of 14,100 and 47,000. The ‘P+S’ modes occurred mostly at a Reynolds number of 14,100 accompanied by more ‘2P’ modes and less ‘2S’ modes. At this Reynolds number, the frequency of the VIV was very close to the natural frequency of 0.72 Hz, which was obtained from a riser decay test in steady water and the average amplitude to diameter ratio reached 0.95, the highest found in these tests.     

Laboratory Measurements of Vortex- and Wake-Induced Vibrations of A Tandem Arrangement of Two Flexible Risers

The dynamic response of two flexible model risers in tandem arrangement immersed in a stepped current was analyzed. The risers, with an external diameter of 20 mm and a total length of 6200 mm, had an aspect ratio of 310. They were hinged to the support structure at the center-to-center distances away 3?12 times the external diameter. The top 1200 mm was exposed to a uniform current at a speed which was up to 0.9 m/s (the Reynolds number was 18000) and the rest in still water. The dynamic responses, which were obtained through the Fiber Bragg Grating strain gauges mounted on the surface, were analyzed by studying the cross-flow amplitudes and modal weights. The cross-flow vibration were observed up to the third mode, and the modal transformation from the second mode to the third mode was clearly observed. The experiment confirmed that the typical vortex-induced vibration (VIV) had occurred on the up-stream riser. But for the down-stream riser, the main excitation mechanism was wake-induced vibration (WIV). The modal transformation of WIV was more complex than that of VIV, which might be helpful for other researchers to study the interference effect.     

珠江磨刀门河口环流结构动力特征分析

河口环流结构关系到物质输运、泥沙沉积和地貌变化等物理过程。根据2019年磨刀门河口原型观测平台洪枯季连续观测分层潮流资料,统计洪枯季、大小潮河口东、西汊的涨落潮流及历时变化特征,利用理论方法解析河口东西汊平面环流和重力环流结构,进一步引入混合参数研究河口纵向环流中的潮汐应变环流。研究发现枯季东、西汊在转潮时刻存在东涨西落的平面环流结构,洪季平面环流特征较不明显;枯季重力环流强度整体略大于洪季,西汊重力环流强于东汊,表层向海环流流速可达0.2～0.25 m/s,而底层向陆环流流速相对较小。洪季大潮期由潮不对称性驱动的潮汐应变环流相对较大,进而增强了纵向环流的强度。河口垂向余流结构同样表现洪枯季、大小潮的变化规律。洪季余流整体较大,西汊在小潮期表层余流流速超过0.6 m/s,而东汊余流则明显呈现表层向海、底层向陆的分布特征,枯季余流整体较小,表明其对物质输运和河口地形塑造作用较弱。     

Experimental Study on Cross-Flow Induced Vibrations in Heat Exchanger Tube Bundle

Vibration in heat exchangers is one of the main problems that the industry has faced over last few decades. Vibration phenomenon in heat exchangers is of major concern for designers and process engineers since it can lead to the tube damage, tube leakage, baffle damage, tube collision damage, fatigue, creep etc. In the present study, vibration response is analyzed on single tube located in the centre of the tube bundle having parallel triangular arrangement (60°) with P/D ratio of 1.44. The experiment is performed for two different flow conditions. This kind of experiment has not been reported in the literature. Under the first condition, the tube vibration response is analyzed when there is no internal flow in the tube and under the second condition, the response is analyzed when the internal tube flow is maintained at a constant value of 0.1 m/s. The free stream shell side velocity ranges from 0.8 m/s to 1.3 m/s, the reduced gap velocity varies from 1.80 to 2.66 and the Reynolds number varies from 44500 to 66000. It is observed that the internal tube flow results in larger vibration amplitudes for the tube than that without internal tube flow. It is also established that over the current range of shell side flow velocity, the turbulence is the dominant excitation mechanism for producing vibration in the tube since the amplitude varies directly with the increase in the shell side velocity. Damping has no significant effect on the vibration behavior of the tube for the current velocity range.     

海洋环境荷载下输液立管的静、动力特性研究

考虑管内流动流体和管外海洋环境荷载共同作用 ,建立海洋立管侧向运动微分方程。用Hermite插值函数离散 ,在微机上编写海洋立管静、动力分析程序 ,通过计算分析研究管内流体对立管侧向变形和应力的作用 ;另外 ,探讨管内流体的流动速度和立管顶端的预张力对立管动力特性的影响。结果表明 ,立管变形和应力均随管内流体流动速度增加而增大 ,同时内流速度的增大会降低立管的固有频率 ,但适当增大立管顶端预张力会抵消内流流速增加引起的固有频率下降。     

Random dynamic response of a tethered buoyant platform production riser

A new normal mode spectral analysis method is presented for calculating r.m.s. riser deflections, bending stresses and lower ball joint angles. Forces on the riser consist of: (a) non-linear fluid drag taking account of the relative velocity due to tethered buoyant platform (TBP) motion, riser elastic deflection and wave induced fluid velocity, (b) wave induced fluid acceleration, (c) inertia forces due to TBP acceleration, and (d) buoyancy. The non-linear fluid drag forces are linearized using Tung and Wu's approximation based on the r.m.s. relative fluid velocity and current. A wide range of results is presented for risers in water depths up to 1000 m and it is observed that 6 normal modes are sufficient for calculating bending stresses. A static analysis is also presented for bending stresses due to wave and current induced drag forces and riser offset.