J185169 DOI: 10.
2118/185169-PA Date: 19-January-17 Stage: Page: 1
Compositional Simulation of Two-Phase
Flows for Pipeline Depressurization
Luigi Raimondi, Process Simulation Services
Summary
The simulation of multiphase flow, considered in the case of coex-
isting vapor and liquid phases, is an important topic in engineer-
ing for the design of oil-and-gas production and transportation
facilities. This paper presents the development of a compositional
approach for the dynamic calculation of multiphase flows in pipe-
lines. This approach can be defined as “full compositional,”
because the vapor and liquid phases are described by taking into
account the chemical composition, presenting points of interest
from both the theoretical and the practical points of view. Physi-
cal properties required are calculated at each integration timestep
with the actual phase compositions instead of relying on property
tables previously generated from a single constant fluid composi-
tion. With this approach, in the numerical solution of the conserv-
ative two-phase-flow equations, the congruency between the
dynamic pressure, calculated by solving the Navier-Stokes equa-
tions at constant temperature, and the thermodynamic pressure of
the system becomes a critical constraint.
In the numerical solution, the overall mass balance defined by
means of the vapor- and liquid-phase densities is verified with
respect to the mass balance of each chemical component involved,
and the system pressure obtained from the solution of the momen-
tum equations is always compared with the thermodynamic value
defined by mass balance.
Of the numerous test cases created for model validation, three of
them (focused on fast depressurizations) are presented and discussed.
Similar examples are not available in the literature as solutions of
the current “state-of-the-art” commercial pipeline simulators.
Introduction
Simulation of multiphase flow in pipelines has become a very-im-
portant topic in research and engineering during the past 30 years.
The increasing exploitation of oil-and-gas reservoirs in offshore
fields and the transportation of the fluids to the onshore treatment
facilities are key factors for this development. Technical and eco-
nomic problems represented by the installation of separation
equipment have promoted the transport of oil and gas in a single
pipeline as the only feasible solution. Now, multiphase flow (in the
case of coexisting vapor and liquid phases) is a research theme of
great importance for the exploitation of oil-and-gas reservoirs: The
term “flow-assurance” defines the technology applied for the
design of pipelines and gathering and network systems, and the
prevention and solution of problems related to fluid transportation.
Simulation tools of the nuclear industry, such as RELAP (e.g.,
Relap 5 2001) and CATHARE (developed for the simulation of
water and steam flows) have provided the starting point for the de-
velopment of new gas/liquid flow simulators aimed at the solution
of the different problems faced by the oil-and-gas industry.
These needs have inspired extensive research in two-phase
flow, with a particular focus on inherent transient phenomena
such as slug-flow calculation. Today, commercial two-phase-flow
simulators such as Olga, Tacite, and LedaFlow are well-known
and widely used for steady-state and transient multiphase-flow
modeling.
A compositional approach is commonly found in commercial
process simulators (e.g., Aspen, Hysys, ChemCad, and Prosim),
Copyright V
C 2017 Society of Petroleum Engineers
Original SPE manuscript received for review 12 May 2016. Revised manuscript received for
review 18 October 2016. Paper (SPE 185169) peer approved 8 November 2016.
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but in these tools, the simulation of fluid flow in pipes is per-
formed assuming steady state: Dynamic simulation is sometimes
limited to depressurization where the pipe is modeled as a vessel
of the same volume.
A “compositional tracking module” is available in the com-
mercial simulators for multiphase flow, such as OLGA and Leda-
Flow, but there are no published cases covering the field of fast
pipeline depressurization. This lack of documentation extends to
almost the entire two-phase-flow model, which, on the basis of
proprietary data, has never been published.
By analyzing the large amount of published papers in the field
of multiphase flow, one can easily find that almost all experimen-
tal data refer to fluids of constant chemical composition: Most
experiments use simple and safe two-component systems such as
air/water, nitrogen/water, nitrogen/naphtha, and only a few more.
These two-component systems have very little similarity to
real cases, where the oil-and-gas chemical composition is defined
by tens of hydrocarbons, from methane (C1) to triacontane (C30)
and higher, light gases (typically N2, CO2, H2S), and water.
In the mentioned commercial simulation codes, the thermody-
namic approach is approximated: The standard option is to precal-
culate and store physical properties in tables from which the
simulators pick property values required by the solution algo-
rithm. The compositional approach, when available, is limited
with respect to the number of chemical components and calcula-
tion methods.
Within the numerous problems arising in the design and opera-
tion of pipelines (startup, shutdown, and restart), the calculation
of pipeline depressurization, which can arise from both planned
and unplanned events, is a central point in the evaluation of safety
consequences. As unplanned events are concerned, fast pipeline
depressurization caused by rupture is probably the most-severe
effect that requires accurate simulation. The calculation of the
outflow of highly flammable gas and oil is very important in
assessing the safety consequences in the nearby environment.
The fast depressurization of a pipeline has hazardous effects:
Apart from the dispersion or management of the discharged fluid,
the most important inner effect is the significant reduction of the
wall temperature, eventually below the ductile/brittle transition
point of the steel. Because Joule-Tomson effects related to these
operations create a remarkable fluid cooling, the prediction of
good values of the temperature reached by the pipeline material is
a desirable result of the simulation. Low temperatures can also
promote the formation of hydrates when the fluids contain water,
not only as a separated liquid phase, but also when present in low
amounts in the vapor phase. In the following sections, a different
and extended thermodynamic approach is presented for the solu-
tion of multiphase flows and fast depressurizations.
Fluid-flow equations are coupled with thermodynamic equa-
tions of state (EOSs) for the evaluation of fluid properties, taking
into account all possible changes in pressure, temperature, and
fluid compositions, and the numerical method used for the calcu-
lation of the fluid temperature and phase separation is analyzed in
detail in terms of thermodynamic constraints.
In this presentation, themes such as the evolution of the flow
type (stratified, bubble, slug, and others) and the calculation of
friction factors are not analyzed in detail, and only the importance
of composition changes during the dynamic of the two-phase flow
is discussed in the final examples. The vapor/liquid two-phase-
flow model has been developed on the basis of methods already
published, as detailed by Table 1.
1
 J185169 DOI: 10.2118/185169-PA Date: 19-January-17
Flow Model Configuration
Stratified Horizontal, inclined
Slug Horizontal, inclined
Slug Vertical
Bubble Vertical
Annular Vertical
Annular Horizontal, inclined
Droplet entrainment and deposition Horizontal
Droplet entrainment and deposition Vertical
Churn Vertical
Taylor bubble and gas bubble entrainment Horizontal, vertical
Countercurrent and flooding Vertical, inclined
Table 1—Two-fluid-flow models and relevant references.
Fluids dynamics equations and solution algorithms have been
implemented into an existing process-simulation code (XPSIM
2015), which has provided a general thermodynamic framework
for the calculation of the vapor/liquid equilibrium for real mix-
tures of hydrocarbons and their physical and transport properties
(enthalpy, density, viscosity, and others).
In particular, thermodynamic and transport properties of real
mixtures are evaluated by applying EOSs commonly used in oil-
and-gas engineering-design activity. Well-known cubic EOSs
such as the Soave-Redlich-Kwong (SRK) or the Peng-Robinson
(PR) are used for the calculations presented in the next sections.
However, more-complex thermodynamic equations, such as the
GERG-2004 model designed for light hydrocarbons C1–nC8 and a
few other gases (see Kunz and Wagner 2012), are also available
for the calculation of sensitivity tests and comparisons of results
obtained with different thermodynamic models.
The next sections present the results achieved in the develop-
ment of this extended code for the simulation of multiphase-fluid
transport in the oil-and-gas industry.
Fluid-Dynamics Equations and Models
The equations required for the description of single-phase and
multiphase flows are well-known, and their derivation is presented
in many textbooks and almost all the publications related to multi-
phase-flow dynamics. Among available documentation, we can
cite two of them: (1) the historically relevant and fundamental
textbook on fluid dynamics of Landau and Lifchitz (1971) and (2)
the more-recent text of Ishii and Hibiki (2006). So, conservation
equations for mass, momentum, and energy are given here with-
out any derivation and particular comments. In the following, a
fluid system formed by Nc chemical components (e.g., methane,
ethane, nitrogen, and others) is considered, and the relative
amount of the chemical components is defined by the number of
moles or mass units. The composition is described by a vector z
of dimension Nc, and each individual chemical component is iden-
tified by an index i.
When conservation equations contain both phase and chemical
component indices, the first will be written as subscript and the
second as superscript.
Two approaches are currently used to describe fluid dynamics
of a gas/liquid two-phase system: (1) drift-flux models or (2) two-
fluid models.
In the first method, momentum-balance equations of the vapor
and liquid phases are coupled, and the different phase velocities
are described by means of drift relations; many chapters of Ishii
and Hibiki (2006) are dedicated to this approach.
Instead, the two-fluid model uses separate equations to
describe the flow of the vapor and liquid phases with their interac-
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References
Taitel-Dukler (1976)
Cook and Behnia (2000), Bendiksen and Espedal (1992),
Bonizzi et al. (2009)
Brauner and Ullman (2004), Van Hout et al. (2002)
Lisseter and Fowler (1992)
Barnea and Taitel (1989)
Barnea (1991)
Pan and Hanratty (2002b), Berna et al. (2014)
Pan and Hanratty (2002a), Berna et al. (2014)
Govan et al. (1991)
Brauner and Ullmann (2004), Nydal and Andreussi
(1991), Bonizzi and Issa (2003)
Vijayan et al. (2001), Govan et al. (1991)
tions included in the interface momentum exchanged, as
described by Taitel and Dukler (1976) for stratified flow. In the
following study, the two-fluid model is used.
Conservation of Mass. Fluid-dynamic equations, for pipeline
simulation, are considered in one dimension (pipe length) only.
By introducing a control volume V, mass conservation is given by
the differential equation
@ak qk @
þ ðak qk uk Þ ¼ fk ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð1Þ
@t @z
where q is the mass density, a the volume fraction, u the velocity,
and f the phase mass generated. Here, the subscript k is used to
indicate the vapor or liquid phase: the value 1 identifies the vapor
phase (V), whereas the index 2 is used for the liquid phase (L).
For a two-phase system, vapor and liquid volume fractions ak
sum to unity:
aV þ aL ¼ 1: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð2Þ
In Eq. 1, the last term f defines phase changes caused by evap-
oration and condensation or mass addition and subtraction related
to fluid injection or leaks.
When only evaporation and condensation exist, the liquid and
vapor terms sum to zero:
fV þ fL ¼ 0: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð3Þ
Thermodynamic and transport properties, which are usually
considered functions of the pressure and temperature only, in the
case of a multicomponent fluid mixture, are also dependent on the
phase compositions. Phase composition is denoted by the vector z
with components zi that represent the molar or weight fraction of
the i th chemical component. In some cases, the symbol y is used
to identify the vapor composition vector and x for the liquid
phase. Therefore, in general, the calculation of the liquid and
vapor densities can be defined by the following functions:
qk ¼ qðT; P; zk Þ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð4Þ
qV ¼ qðT; P; yÞ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð5Þ
qL ¼ qðT; P; xÞ: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð6Þ
In a similar manner, phase enthalpies, entropies, viscosities,
and thermal conductivities are calculated as functions of pressure,
temperature, and phase compositions, as
 J185169 DOI: 10.2118/185169-PA Date: 19-January-17 Stage: Page: 3 Total Pages: 12

Hk ¼ HðT; P; zk Þ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð7Þ where hk is the internal heat-transfer coefficient of the phase k in

contact with the pipe wall, which is calculated as a function of the
Nusselt number, and Ak is the pipe internal surface in contact with
Sk ¼ SðT; P; zk Þ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð8Þ the same phase (White 1988).
Naturally, the fluid can be heated or cooled as a function of its
lk ¼ lðT; P; zk Þ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð9Þ temperature, the temperature of the external medium, pipe-wall
physical properties and thickness, insulation properties and thick-
kk ¼ kðT; P; zk Þ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð10Þ nesses, soil depth and conductivity, and other factors. All these
parameters are taken into account by the simulation code for the
and in Eqs. 7 through 10, H denotes the enthalpy, S the entropy, l calculation of the Qk term.
the dynamic viscosity, and k the fluid thermal conductivity. The dynamic heat-transfer equation is solved by considering
insulation thicknesses and material characteristics (density, con-
ductivity, and heat capacity) to obtain the inner-pipe-wall temper-
Momentum Balance. The momentum-balance equation of phase
ature, which determines heat transfer with the flowing fluid.
k is written as
When a compositional approach is used, the mass balance of
@ak qk uk @ the chemical components contained in the vapor and liquid phases
þ ðak qk uk uk þ ak PÞ must be considered.
@t @z
Excluding the existence of chemical reactions and ignoring
@
¼ Pk ak þ ak qk gsin# þ Mjk þ MkW ; . . . . . . . . . . . ð11Þ mass diffusion of the chemical species, the change of the local
@z composition of the fluid phases contained in a control volume V is
where P defines the pressure in the control volume, # is the incli- the effect of convective flow and vapor/liquid equilibrium.
nation of the pipe, Mjk is the drag force between phase k and phase Taking into account a control volume, the mass balance of the
j, and MkW is the frictional pressure drop of phase k generated by ith chemical component of the system (e.g., methane) in the k-
its interaction with the pipe wall. The drag force between the liq- phase can be written as
uid and vapor phases satisfies the condition Mjk ¼ Mkj.
When dealing with vapor/liquid two-phase flow, a @mik @
þ ðmik uk Þ ¼ fki ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð18Þ
“conservation-volume” equation must be added to the previous @t @z
mass-balance equations. It expresses the fact that the sum of vol-
ume fractions of the phases must be equal to unity and can be where the index i applies to all chemical components existing in
written as the fluid system (from 1 to Nc). The term mik is the mass of com-
ponent i in the control volume and can be defined with the phase
aV @qV aL @qL 1 @ 1 @ density and the weight fraction of the component i in the fluid
þ ¼ ðaquÞV  ðaquÞL ; . . . ð12Þ phase k:
qV @t qL @t qV @z qL @z
where the derivative of the z-coordinate represents the spatial mik ¼ ak qk wik : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ð19Þ
gradient.
As in Eq. 1, the term f ik is the amount of mass caused by evap-
Energy Balance. The last conservation equation considered is oration/condensation or additional injections or leaks. When only
that of energy and can be derived in the form evaporation and condensation are involved, the vapor fv and liquid
      fl parts sum to zero for each chemical component.
@ u2k @ u2k When the differential equations are integrated, by assuming
ak qk Ek þ þ a k qk E k þ uk
@t 2 @z 2 the temperature is constant across one timestep Dt, the change of
@ the phase densities can be related to the change of pressure, and
¼ Qk þ P  uk þ Lk ;                    ð13Þ Eq. 12 can be rewritten as
@z
 
where Ek is the internal energy of phase k, Qk represents the heat aV @qV aL @qL @P 1 @ 1 @
exchanged through the pipe wall, and Lk is the enthalpy change þ ¼ ðaquÞV  ðaquÞL :
qV @P qL @P @t qV @z qL @z
related to condensation or evaporation. For the latter, we have the
obvious relation Lv þ Ll ¼ 0.                    ð20Þ
By introducing phase enthalpy Hk and using the thermody-
namic equation, The complete set of Navier-Stokes equations is solved with a
mixed implicit/explicit integration procedure. Details of the
Pk applied integration method are not given, and a valuable reference
Hk ¼ E k þ ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð14Þ
qk is the text of Ferziger and Peric (2002). The component mass-bal-
ance equations (Eqs. 18 and 19) are integrated with an explicit
the energy-balance equation can be rewritten as schema on the basis of the new phase velocities and densities
obtained in the previous steps. An overview of the procedure,
@ak qk Hk @ Dak Pk
þ ðak qk Hk uk Þ ¼ þ Qk : . . . . . . . . . ð15Þ used for the numerical solution, is described in the next section.
@t @z Dt
The heat Q, exchanged between the fluid and the external am- Numerical Solution
bient, is The selection and implementation of a numerical method used for
the solution of the Navier-Stokes differential equations are still
Q ¼ UAðT  Te Þ: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð16Þ
complex and demanding tasks, notwithstanding the large amount
of papers published on the numerical solution of hyperbolic par-
Here, U is a global heat-transfer coefficient, A the transfer surface
tial-differential equations. In the literature, one can find numerous
area, T the fluid temperature, and Te the external temperature.
methods ranging from the “method of characteristics” (MOCs)
In a more-detailed form, the same equation can be written in
(Mahgerefteh et al. 1999), explicit Euler methods, conservative
terms of the fluid temperature T and internal-pipe-wall tempera-
finite-volume methods derived from the Godunov approach
ture Tw as
(Godounov 1979), advection upwind model solution (AUMS)
methods (Liou 2001), and others. One has to consider that pipe-
Qk ¼ hk Ak ðT  Tw Þ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð17Þ
line length may range from a few meters to hundreds of

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 J185169 DOI: 10.2118/185169-PA Date: 19-January-17
kilometers, and the problems to be simulated can have time inter-
vals from a few seconds, in the case of fast depressurization
caused by a full-bore rupture, to a few days in the case of startup
or shutdown of long transmission lines. So, one critical constraint
was to keep the integration timestep at acceptable values, to
ensure that the code can be used by a flow-assurance engineer in
daily calculations for projects and design assessments. Some of
the most referenced integration methods have been implemented
and tested, but many have been found either not sufficiently stable
(MOC and explicit Euler) or requiring very-low integration time-
steps (e.g., AUMS) and have been eventually abandoned.
At the end, an implicit staggered mesh model (“staggered
arrangement” in Ferziger and Peric 2002, p. 166) has provided
sufficient stability and was used to integrate the multicomponent-
fluid dynamic equations. As implemented in this context, some
other algorithms bring erroneous mass balances that, in turn, gen-
erate absurd pressure and temperature values.
With this approach, pressure, density, and energy are calcu-
lated at the center of each control volume, while phase velocities
are defined at the surfaces separating control volumes. The inte-
gration algorithm proceeds along the following main steps:
1. Define a time interval Dt on the basis of the previous calcu-
lation history. For each control volume, an upper value of
the Courant number uDt/Dx well below unity is used as a
limiting criterion for the timestep, and the latter is reduced
also on the basis of the relative pressure change across each
timestep.
2. Solve the system defined by the vapor and liquid momen-
tum-balance (Eq. 11) and the volume-conservation (Eq. 20)
to derive updated phase velocities and an estimated pressure
value. For each control volume, there exist three independ-
ent variables, so the total number of equations to be solved is
3NV where NV is the number of control volumes.
3. Solve the mass-balance equations to obtain the updated
mass content of each control volume by use of an implicit-
integration model.
4. From the new mass content, a new pressure value is esti-
mated on the basis of the vapor- and liquid-compressibility
values.
5. Solve the energy balance with the updated phase velocities
to obtain the new fluid status with an implicit integration
method.
6. Solve the component-balance equations with an explicit
Euler integration method.
7. For each control volume, verify that calculated new pres-
sure values are coherent and derive the new temperature
and vapor fraction by performing flash calculation with the
EOS selected by the user.
8. New vapor and liquid-phase compositions are obtained at
the end of the previous step.
9. Recalculate all fluid properties (density, enthalpy, entropy,
heat capacity, viscosity, and thermal conductivity) for the
vapor and liquid phases with the updated values of pressure,
temperature, and compositions.
These steps are repeated until the final-simulation time is
reached or some other termination criteria are satisfied.
In the upcoming EOS and Temperature Calculation section,
the calculation of the thermodynamic status (temperature, pres-
sure, and vapor fraction) of the fluid contained in a control vol-
ume after an integration step is discussed in detail.
When dealing with depressurization, the calculation of the
mass flow rate discharged through a hole or a control valve is also
a critical point. The algorithm verifies that the fluid velocity
does not exceed the local sound velocity, allowing one to reach
the latter value when a sufficient pressure drop is available. The
calculation of sound velocity, when performed for a two-phase
real fluid, with an EOS is not straightforward: A discussion of this
topic can be found in Raimondi (2011), where the numerical eval-
uation of the speed of sound by use of the Peng-Robinson EOS
is presented, and calculated values are compared with experimen-
tal values.
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Models for Flow Regimes and Friction Factors. The evaluation
of the momentum-exchange terms Mik and Mkw , defined in Eq. 11,
which represent, respectively, the vapor/liquid phase interaction,
and the fluid-phase/wall interaction is a critical point in the solu-
tion of the viscous Navier-Stokes equations. Unreliable calcula-
tions of these terms produce nonphysical results with the effect of
a very-fast divergence of the whole-solution algorithm.
As mentioned, fluid-dynamics equations are developed on the
basis of a two-fluid model, taking into account the flow patterns
and their identification with respect to
• Vapor and liquid volumetric flow rates
• Pipe diameter and inclination
• Vapor and liquid densities
• Vapor- and liquid-transport properties
The flow regimes considered are stratified, annular, slug, bub-
ble/churn, and distributed bubble.
The equations for the definition of these flow regimes and their
boundaries have been selected through the analysis and verifica-
tion of a large set of available articles on the subject. The selec-
tion from available open literature of the equations to be used for
the identification of flow patterns, their transition boundaries,
the equilibrium holdup, and the interface friction factor describing
the momentum exchange between phases turned out to be
very complex.
Many published correlations are built on a very limited range
of experimental data, and their extrapolation, even to very-near
regions, generates unacceptable results.
The pioneering work of Taitel and Dukler (1976) still repre-
sents a milestone in the mechanistic approach to flow-pattern
identification, liquid holdup, and pressure-drop calculation.
Latest developments tend to be driven by a quasicomputa-
tional-fluid-dynamics simulation of the systems.
The paper of Bonizzi et al. (2009) gives an interesting over-
view and insight about how mechanistic descriptions of the gener-
ation and collapse of bubbles and drops can be incorporated into
the equations defining the liquid and vapor flow fields and how,
with small control volumes, it is possible to identify the genera-
tion of slug flow as a perturbation of the stratified flow.
Of the very limited number of the most fruitful papers listed in
the References section, one must mention Barnea (1991) for annu-
lar flow; Taitel and Barnea (1990), Nydal and Andreussi (1991),
and Cook and Behnia (2000) for slug flow; and Pan and Hanratty
(2002a, b) for the evaluation of liquid entrainment in both hori-
zontal and vertical annular flows. Table 1 includes flow models to
be considered in a reliable two-phase-flow simulation and the
most-important reference papers.
EOS and Temperature Calculation
In a two-phase fluid flow, a thermodynamic EOS represents the
integration between fluid mechanics and the constraints existing
between vapor and liquid phases. When a compositional approach
is used, fluid properties (which are dependent on the system com-
position, local temperature, and pressure) are also connected with
the solution of the Navier-Stokes equations. For example, the
pressure must satisfy both the thermodynamic EOS and the
momentum-balance equation. The result of the numerical solution
of the flow equations (momentum and mass balance) during a
time increment Dt produces new values of the density and fluid
pressure. Similarly, the solution of the energy equations generates
new values of the energy contained in a control volume V0. So, at
the new time t0 , new values of the internal energy are derived and
must be connected to local temperature, pressure, and densities as
E ¼ EðT; VÞ, E ¼ EðT; PÞ, or E ¼ EðT; qÞ. When an EOS for a
multicomponent chemical system is applied, the pressure, temper-
ature, and density (or volume) should also satisfy the EOS. In
abstract form, the latter can be written as
UðT; P; V; zÞ ¼ 0: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð21Þ
If we consider one of the cubic EOSs, used extensively in oil-
and-gas simulation, the previous EOS takes the form
 J185169 DOI: 10.2118/185169-PA Date: 19-January-17
RT aðTÞ
P¼  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð22Þ
ðV  bÞ VðV  bÞ
for the SRK equation (Soave 1972), or
RT aðTÞ
P¼  . . . . . . . . . . . . ð23Þ
ðV  bÞ VðV þ bÞ þ bðV  bÞ
for the PR equation (Peng and Robinson 1976). In Eqs. 22 and 23,
a and b are evaluated from the values ai and bi, which are charac-
teristic parameters of each pure chemical component, and from
the vapor-phase composition y or liquid-phase composition x as
X
NC
b¼ zi bi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð24Þ
i of the new value of the internal energy obtained from the integra-
X
NC
a¼ zi zj ai ai ð1  kij Þ: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð25Þ
i;j
In addition, at equilibrium, vapor-and liquid-phase composi-
tions must satisfy the equality of the chemical potentials in the
two phases:
liV ¼ liL : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð26Þ
In the field of the calculation of thermodynamic equilibrium
with the use of EOSs, the fundamental relations of the equality of
the chemical potentials li are transformed into the equality of
phase fugacities and finally into the definition of equilibrium con-
stants, or K-values.
Avoiding the detailed derivation, which can be found in Poling
et al. (2001), of the vapor/liquid equilibrium equations, the equi-
librium constraint is described by the K-value relations as
yi
¼ Ki ðT; P; x; yÞ: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð27Þ
xi
Only for low-pressure multicomponent systems, Eq. 27 can
take the simple and well-known form:
yi p0i ðTÞ
¼ ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð28Þ
xi P
where p0i is the vapor pressure of the ith component.
In detail, the Ki function has a mathematical expression that
is a highly nonlinear function of 2Ncþ2 variables and is depend-
ent on the EOS selected for the description of the system to be
simulated. The complexities involved in the numerical solution
of this problem, which requires the analysis of the phase-split
stability, have been thoroughly analyzed and described by
Michelsen (1982).
One of the relevant points for the dynamic simulation of fluid
flow is the evaluation of the change of the fluid temperature with
time. This becomes very important for multiphase flow when
additional evaporation or condensation affecting vapor and liquid
phases must be considered. Both retrograde condensation and
evaporation are complex effects, which are not uncommon in the
field of fluid flow at high pressure. Usually, the temperature is cal-
culated after fluid pressure and phase velocities have been
updated as results of the integration through a timestep.
The well-known Clausius-Clapeyron equation,
dP DH
¼ ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð29Þ
dT TDV
is frequently used to define the link between pressure and temper-
ature of vapor and liquid phases in equilibrium. Here, DV is the
difference between the vapor and liquid volumes, and DH is the
difference of the vapor and liquid enthalpies.
Eq. 29 permits the calculation of temperature difference after a
pressure change has been derived (e.g., by the solution of the mo-
mentum-conservation equations) and is often applied for the cal-
culation of flashing flows (Leung 1990).
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Strictly speaking, the Clausius-Clapeyron equation is valid
only when the two phases in equilibrium have the same composi-
tion (i.e., when the system is formed by a single chemical compo-
nent). For multicomponent systems, temperature and pressure
changes along the saturation line are connected by a more-com-
plex equation (Gibbs 1878) because the variation of the chemical
potentials li must be taken into account:
X
Vk dP  Sk dT  mik dlik ¼ 0: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð30Þ
i
After the energy equation has been integrated, a new value E0
of the total energy per unit mass is obtained, and can be compared
with the value E at the previous time t0. To compute the new tem-
perature, a number of possible paths can be used, all on the basis
tion of the balance equation. For a vapor/liquid system, the energy
of the unit mass can be written as
E ¼ EV wV þ EL wL ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð31Þ
where wk is the weight fraction of the liquid or vapor phase. By
taking the differential of Eq. 31 and considering the constraints
wV þ wL ¼ 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð32Þ
dwV þ dwL ¼ 0; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð33Þ
we can write, assuming the vapor fraction as independent
variable,
dE ¼ wV dEV þ ð1  wV ÞEL þ ðEV  EL ÞdwV : . . . . . . . ð34Þ
The differentials are expanded in terms of the partial deriva-
tives with respect to pressure and temperature as
   
@Ek @Ek
dEk ¼ dT þ dP: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð35Þ
@T P @P T
Finally, by substituting the expansion of Eq. 35 into Eq. 34, a
final expression relating the changes of pressure and temperature
to the change of the internal energy is obtained, and this relation
can be expressed as
DE ¼ f ðDT; DPÞ: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð36Þ
At this stage, we have one equation with two independent vari-
ables (i.e., the changes of pressure and temperature); one of them
must be eliminated, and more than one option is possible. How-
ever, the simplest solution that relates pressure and temperature
changes through the Clausius-Clapeyron equation has been disre-
garded because of the described shortcomings. Another possible
solution path is to use directly the pressure values derived by the
integrations of the momentum- and volume-balance equations and
to calculate the new temperature value. The solution procedure
adopted was to use a second equation, derived from mass balance,
generating an updated mass content of the control volume V at
time tþDt. Because the new mass content can be expressed as a
density value, we can write
Dq ¼ f ðDT; DPÞ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ð37Þ
which, together with Eq. 36, allows the calculation of updated
temperature and pressure values.
Model Validation and Numerical Results
The solution of the equations described in the previous sections
has been implemented within a process-simulation software
(XPSIM 2015), providing the thermodynamic framework required
for the calculation of vapor/liquid equilibrium and phase proper-
ties. Because fluid properties are not derived from predefined
tables (i.e., interpolated or extrapolated), but are calculated for all
5
 J185169 DOI: 10.2118/185169-PA Date: 19-January-17
control volumes at each time-integration step as functions of
phase compositions, the simulation time required to solve a given
problem results in a generally higher and very dependent number
of chemical components used to describe the flowing fluid. How-
ever, a deeper insight into fluid composition changes and their
effects on the evolution of the fluid dynamics is obtained.
Three simulation cases are presented:
• One “Isle of Grain” full-bore rupture experiment, which pro-
vides a significant overall validation of the model
• Depressurization of a pipeline filled with a three-component
fluid to show compositional changes
• A pipeline shutdown operation followed by partial depressu-
rization and subsequent displacement of the residual fluid by
an inert gas
In the following presentation, the terms “initial pipe end” and
“final pipe end” are frequently used: They are taken from the
description of the Isle of Grain experiments. The first term defines
the side where, during normal flow, the fluid enters the pipeline
(0-m distance). The second term indicates the opposite side where
the fluid normally exits the pipeline (total pipeline length).
In the examples presented, pipeline leaks or full-bore ruptures
are always at the final pipe end.
For the calculation of the mass discharged through the leak or
valve, the methods defined by an American Petroleum Institute (API)
standard (API Standard 520 2008) are used. A discussion of the
methods proposed by this standard and a detailed description on how
they can be applied in connection with rigorous thermodynamics and
EOSs was presented by Raimondi (2007). This approach ensures that
the velocity of the fluid discharged from the pipeline leak does not
exceed the sonic speed when critical flow conditions are established
by the pressure difference existing between the volume element that
includes the leak and the external environment (atmosphere or blow-
down system). All the test cases have been simulated with the PR
EOS for vapor/liquid equilibrium and thermal properties.
Experimental results required for the validation are almost not
available in the public domain: There is no publication dealing
with variable fluid composition monitored by analyzers or other
instruments. Moreover, some published results do not provide
enough details to be used for model validation: So, the Isle of
Grain experiments are still the most-comprehensive experimental
results dealing with pipeline depressurizations. In the field of CO2
transportation, some experimental results have been published
recently: One of these experiments (Ruden et al. 2014) has been
simulated and discussed by the author of this study in a publica-
tion dealing with acid gas transportation through pipelines (Rai-
mondi 2016).
Case 1—Validation of the Model. It is well-known that pipeline
ruptures are problems that are difficult to simulate reliably. The
calculation of the rapid pressure and temperature changes is rec-
ognized as a “stress test” of the numerical algorithm implemented
for the solution of the fluid-flow equations. In the field of pipeline
depressurization, the experiments performed some years ago by
BP and Shell and known as the Isle of Grain experiments are often
mentioned, and their results are discussed and compared.
These tests are well-representative of the problems connected
to the rapid depressurization of evaporating fluids generating low
internal temperatures, which represent a potential risk of possible
brittle fracture.
These experiments, documented in a report by Richardson and
Saville (1996a, b), dealt with the rupture of a pipeline (100 m
long) filled with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) that has depressu-
rization that is completed in approximately 30 seconds. Because
the fluid used was nearly-pure propane (95% propane, 5% n-bu-
tane), the simulation of these experiments is not suitable to picture
the change of fluid composition during the depressurization
caused by a very-small change of the overall composition.
Instead, their simulation represents a very-critical test of the fluid-
dynamics model and numerical-integration algorithm.
Of the experimental results obtained, that identified as
“experiment P40” is the most-discussed in the literature, so it is
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used as a reliable validation test. Publications by Mahgerefteh
et al. (1999, 2006a, b) present discussions and simulated
results limited to the comparison with experimental data (pres-
sure, temperature, and inventory) without any additional calcu-
lated fluid properties such as velocity and liquid fraction obtained
in the present study. Moreover, in these studies, the homogeneous
two-fluid model is used, which implies that the same velocity
value is used for the liquid and vapor phases. There are no
published results obtained with the previously mentioned com-
mercial simulators.
Pipeline characteristics and experimental conditions are these:
(a) material, carbon steel; (b) inner diameter, 154.0 mm; (c) outer
diameter, 168.6 mm; (d) wall roughness, 0.05 mm; (e) orifice di-
ameter (circular), 154 mm; (f) initial pressure, 21.6 bar; (g) initial
temperature, 17.8 C; and (h) ambient air temperature, 19.1 C.
The properties used for carbon steel are density of 7854 kg/m3,
heat capacity of 434 J/kg.K, and thermal conductivity of 53.6
W/m.K.
Initially, the pipeline is filled with LPG at 17.8 C and 21.6
bar, and all the initial content (approximately 930 kg) is dis-
charged into the atmosphere in approximately 20 seconds. In this
short time interval, the internal fluid temperature shows a very-
large decrease down to approximately 30 C.
Experimental data reported are (a) pipeline inventory vs. time,
(b) pressure vs. time at initial and final points, and (c) temperature
vs. time at initial and final points.
These data are available as image plots from which it is diffi-
cult to extract exact numerical values (Richardson and Saville
1996a, b). Some data presented by these graphs (for the last part
of the depressurization) could be questioned because (a) inventory
data show an increase of the mass content and (b) pressure figures
show values below 1 atm.
The experiment is simulated by letting the liquid LPG flow
through the pipeline for a very short time t0 (0.2 seconds), when
the inlet and outlet valves are closed. The full-bore rupture at the
pipeline exit starts at time t1 equal to 1.0 second. In the graph
cited in the following paragraph, calculated data are shifted by 1
second to set the full-bore rupture at t ¼ 0 seconds, as presented
by experimental data.
The agreement of the calculated data is quite good, consider-
ing that no tuning parameter is used and that the discharge coeffi-
cient has been set to 1.0.
In this simulation, the calculation of the heat exchanged with
the external ambient represents a critical point, because
• Internal heat-transfer coefficients are functions of fluid prop-
erties and phase velocities.
• Pipe internal temperature is the result of the transient heat
flux across the pipe wall.
• External heat-transfer coefficient is a function of the exter-
nal ambient (air with convective flux) and its properties.
All these parameters are calculated at each integration time
and for each control volume, and the heat exchanged between
fluid and pipe wall is calculated with Eq. 17.
The introduction of approximations such as an overall heat-
transfer coefficient or other averaging condition generates com-
pletely different results.
Timesteps are automatically adjusted by the algorithm within
a specified range: In this case, the lower limit is set at 1.0  105
seconds, and the upper limit at 0.002 seconds. Calculated values
presented in the figures cited next have been stored with a fre-
quency of 0.1 seconds.
When the mechanistic two-fluid model is used in the simula-
tion, rapid fluctuations of both pressure and temperature are
obtained at the final pipeline end where the rupture is located.
At this point, the fluid velocity reaches values of approxi-
mately 100 m/s, and the correlations developed for lower fluid ve-
locity are working in a completely extrapolated region.
In this particular case, the fraction of liquid drops exceeds 0.8,
so if a homogeneous/no-slip flow model is used for the calculation
of the two-phase friction factor only, more-stable and slightly bet-
ter results are obtained. Fig. 1 shows experimental and calculated
 J185169 DOI: 10.2118/185169-PA Date: 19-January-17 Stage: Page: 7 Total Pages: 12

1000 24

875 21

750 18

Pressure (bar)
Inventory (kg)
625 15

500 12

375 9

250 6

125 3

0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Elapsed Time (seconds)
Elapsed Time (seconds)
Fig. 1—Case 1. Mass content vs. time. Experimental ( ), calcu-
Fig. 2—Case 1. Calculated pressure values at initial/final pipe
lated ( ).
ends. Final end ( ), initial ( ).

24.0 24

21.0 21

18.0 18

Pressure (bar)
Pressure (bar)

15.0 15

12.0 12

9.0 9

6.0 6

3.0 3

0.0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Elapsed Time (seconds) Elapsed Time (seconds)

Fig. 3—Case 1. Pressure values at initial pipe end. Calculated Fig. 4—Case 1. Pressure values at final pipe end. Calculated
( ), experimental ( ). ( ), experimental ( ).

values of the mass content of the pipeline during the depressuriza-
tion. Fig. 2 presents the change with time of the calculated pres-
sure values at the initial and final pipe ends.
Figs. 3 and 4 compare calculated and experimental data of the
pressure, respectively, at the pipeline inlet and outlet.
Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate the sharp change of the internal fluid
temperature compared with experimental values at the final and
initial pipe ends, respectively.
In particular, the fast temperature change at the fluid exit point
can be easily explained and related to the vapor/liquid equilibrium
temperature (41.4 C at 1 atm), which is established by liquid
evaporation at the low outlet pressure. The subsequent rapid tem-
perature increase is determined by the heat exchanged with the am-
bient when the liquid fraction becomes zero at the discharge point.
Fig. 7 presents the calculated fluid velocity at the exit point
where the full-bore rupture is located.

20
20.0
13.5
10
7.0
Temperature (°C)

0.5
Temperature (°C)

0
–6.0
–10 –12.5
–19.0
–20
–25.5

–30 –32.0
–38.5
–40 –45.0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0.0 3.3 6.7 10.0 13.3 16.7 20.0 23.3 26.7 30.0
Elapsed Time (seconds) Elapsed Time (seconds)

Fig. 5—Case 1. Temperature values at final pipe end. Calculated Fig. 6—Case 1. Temperature values at initial pipe end. Calcu-
( ), experimental ( ). lated ( ), experimental ( ).

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100 1.000
90 0.875
80

Liquid-Volume Fraction
0.750
70
Velocity (m/s)

0.625
60
50 0.500

40 0.375
30
0.250
20
0.125
10
0 0.000
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30
Elapsed Time (seconds) Elapsed Time (seconds)

Fig. 7—Case 1. Calculated fluid velocity at final pipe end vs. time. Fig. 8—Case 1. Calculated liquid fraction at initial and final pipe
ends. Initial ( ), final ( ).

During the depressurization, at the final pipe end, the flow re-
gime becomes almost immediately annular because of the very-
high fluid velocity with a very-low liquid fraction, as described by
Fig. 8, which shows the change of the liquid-volume fraction dur-
ing the depressurization at the initial and final points of the pipe-
line. Oscillations of the liquid fractions can be correlated to the
fast-moving liquid waves arriving at the rupture point as entrained
by the vapor fraction.
The mechanistic two-fluid model can also give other insights
into the liquid/vapor phase interactions during the short depressu-
rization time; for example, Fig. 9 shows the changes of the flow
regime at the middle point of the pipeline.
Case 2—A Three-Component System. This second example
presents the simulation of the depressurization of a longer pipe-
line caused by a leak or an emergency operation. To illustrate a
larger composition change, a different fluid mixture is used, as
shown by Table 2.
The phase-envelope shown by Fig. 10 gives the pressure and
temperature region where vapor and liquid phases are in equilib-
rium. The pipeline is assumed to be 1 km long (internal diameter
of 0.154 m, with the same parameters used in Case 1, filled with
the fluid defined by Table 2 initially stored at 120 bar and 25 C).
The pipeline is initialized, allowing the mixture to flow
through and by closing inlet and outlet valves after 10 seconds to
obtain pressure stabilization. The leak, through a hole of 50-mm
diameter at the pipe end, is started at 60 seconds.
At the initial temperature, the bubblepoint pressure is less than
120 bar, so the discharged phase is initially liquid, but, during the
depressurization, the fluid very soon enters the two-phase region.
5
4 in design and operation practice, we have selected a case where
3
Flow Map
Pressure curves, presented by Fig. 11, show the values of the
initial and final pipe ends: Initially, the fluid discharged is liquid,
so the pressure drop is very fast and becomes slower with the
increase of the vapor fraction. Small pressure oscillations can be
related to the existence of reverse pressure waves. As shown by
the same figure, equilibrium with the external atmospheric pres-
sure is reached in approximately 10 minutes, and the simulation is
continued up to 20 minutes. Besides pipe-wall interactions, the
vapor and liquid friction factors are calculated by considering
the shear stress between the phases generated by their different
velocities, taking into account the established flow pattern
(see Table 1).
The internal fluid temperature is reported by Fig. 12, which
shows the oscillatory behavior at the final pipe end where the fluid
is discharged. This can be related to the fast evaporation, caused
by a high heat-transfer coefficient, of the incoming liquid slugs.
When the outlet liquid mass becomes negligible, the outlet tem-
perature reaches a value in equilibrium with the external tempera-
ture at 19.1 C.
As in the Isle of Grain case, the large-temperature oscillation
calculated at the fluid exit can be correlated to the oscillating exit
pressure and the liquid film, which also changes sharply as liquid
slugs or liquid mass waves reach the final pipe end.
The initial mass content is 9443 kg, and its change is presented
by Fig. 13. At the end of the depressurization, the remaining mass
is liquid formed by n-butane and n-octane only.
Fig. 14 shows the change of the mixture composition at the
initial pipe end: The methane content becomes nearly zero after 10
minutes. Therefore, it is not possible to evaluate reliably pressure
and temperature changes with the initial fluid composition only.
Case 3—Depressurization and Displacement. Among the infi-
nite cases of the depressurizations of hydrocarbon mixtures found
the fluid contained in the pipeline is first depressurized and then
displaced by an inert chemical component.

The problem simulates the depressurization of a pipeline, PL1,

connecting two offshore platforms, as required by operating pro-
cedures. The pipeline PL1 (630 m long, internal diameter of
2
0.268 m) transports the fluid from one offshore platform to a

1
No. Component Molar Fraction (%)

1 C1 50
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
2 n-C4 40
Elapsed Time (seconds)
3 n-C8 10
Fig. 9—Case 1. Calculated flow map at 50 m. Single phase 0,
stratified 1, annular 2, slug 3, bubble 4, distributed bubble 5. Table 2—Fluid composition of the “three-component system.”

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*Phase envelope PHE1 - Cumulative plot*

135.5

119.8

104.1

Pressure (bar) 88.4

72.7

56.9

41.2

25.5

9.8
–114.8 –85.9 –57.0 –28.1 0.8 29.7 58.6 87.6 116.5 145.4 174.3
Temperature (°C)
Dewpoint curve Bubblepoint curve V/F 0.100000 curve V/F 0.500000 curve V/F 0.900000 curve

Fig. 10—Case 2. Phase envelope of the methane, n-butane, and n-octane mixture.

140.0 30.00

120.0 25.00

20.00
100.0
Temperature (°C)
Pressure (bar)

15.00
80.0
10.00
60.0
5.00
40.0
0.00

20.0 –5.00

0.0 –10.00
0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200

Elapsed Time (seconds) Elapsed Time (seconds)

Fig. 11—Case 2. Calculated pressure at pipe ends vs. time. Ini- Fig. 12—Case 2. Calculated temperature value at pipe ends vs.
tial end ( ), final end ( ). time. Initial end ( ), final end ( ).

1.000
10000
0.875
8750
0.750
7500
Mole Fraction
Inventory (kg)

0.625
6250
0.500
5000
0.375
3750
0.250
2500
0.125
1250
0.000
0 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200
0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 Elapsed Time (seconds)
Elapsed Time (seconds)
Fig. 14—Case 2. Component molar fractions at initial pipe end
Fig. 13—Case 2. Calculated mass content vs. time. vs. time. Methane ( ), n-butane ( ), n-octane ( ).

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No. Component Molar Fraction (%) *Phase envelope PHE1 - BP & DP curves
85.92
1 H2O 0.0172
76.40
2 N2 0.6984
66.89
3 CO2 4.5054

Pressure (bar)
57.38
4 H2S 6.6298
47.86
5 C1 39.1120
38.35
6 C2 23.4063
28.83
7 C3 22.2626
19.32
8 i-C4 0.8409
9.81
–109.3 –93.5 –77.6 –61.8 –46.0 –30.1 –14.3 1.6 17.4 33.2 49.1
9 n-C4 1.4369
Temperature (°C)
10 i-C5 0.3492
Dewpoint curve Bubblepoint curve

11 n-C5 0.3753
Fig. 15—Case 3. Phase envelope of the fluid mixture.
12 C6 0.2604

13 C7 0.0716 The calculated fluid-flow rate, discharged through the control

14 C8 0.0263
valve, is shown by Fig. 16, whereas Fig. 17 pictures the complete
history of the calculated fluid pressure and temperature at the inlet
15 C9 0.0063 pipe end.
Fig. 18 shows how the nitrogen fraction changes during the
16 C10 0.0013 depressurization and suggests that the operating procedure is com-
pleted in approximately 1 hour.
Table 3—Case 3 fluid composition. However, inspection of Fig. 17 suggests that the operation
should be carried out in a longer time (i.e., by diminishing the
supplied nitrogen-flow rate to avoid the sharp decrease of the in-
nearby one. The global composition of the hydrocarbon fluid is ternal temperature caused by the sudden evaporation of the hydro-
given by Table 3, and the vapor/liquid phase envelope is shown carbon liquid phase).
by Fig. 15.
At normal conditions, the fluid enters the pipeline at 15 C and Conclusions
100 bar, and happens to be in a supercritical state because the
operating pressure is above both the critical point (33 C, 86 bar) This study describes the results obtained in the development of a
and the cricondenbar point. Because of an abnormal condition software tool for the simulation and analysis of multiphase trans-
generated at one platform, the pipeline is closed (5 minutes after port through pipelines, which takes into account the chemical
the simulation start); 10 minutes afterward, the depressurization is composition of the fluid. In performing the numerical integration,
started through a control valve at the final end. This control valve chemical equilibrium and thermodynamic-fluid properties (den-
has a diameter of 1 in. and a “discharge coefficient” equal to 0.8 sity, energy, and viscosity) are calculated at each timestep without
is used for the calculation of the outlet flow rate. The pipeline any loss of detail, which would arise from the use of precalculated
inlet is connected to a nitrogen-supply facility, providing the gas property tables.
at 30 C when the pipeline pressure decreases below 20 bar. By extending the two-fluid model with chemical-components
The operation continues until the hydrocarbon fluid is com- mass balances, this approach allows better flow-assurance analy-
pletely displaced: At this point, the pipeline is ready for a subse- ses in the fluid-transport engineering.
quent restart operation. A process-simulation software (XPSIM) has provided the ther-
modynamic framework used to implement this integrated
approach. Fluid-dynamics models required by the mechanistic
description of the vapor/liquid phase interactions for the calcula-
100000 tion of liquid holdup, flow regimes (with their transitions), and
two-phase friction factors have been developed with only avail-
87500
able literature publications and data without the use of proprietary
75000 information.
Flow Rate (kg/h)

In the solution procedure adopted, the overall mass balance

62500 defined by means of the vapor- and liquid-phase densities is veri-
fied with respect to the mass balance of each chemical component
50000
involved. Also, the system pressure, obtained from the solution of
37500 the momentum equations, is always compared with the thermody-
namic value defined by mass-balance equations.
25000 The validity of this approach is demonstrated by the results
obtained in the simulation of three complex and significant test
12500 cases. The first case compares calculated results with experimen-
0
tal values from the Isle of Grain experiments: The good agree-
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 ment between calculated and experimental values represents an
Elapsed Time (minutes) important validation of the algorithms developed.
For this case, simulations performed with other commercial
Fig. 16—Case 3. Discharged mass flow rate through the outlet- simulation tools are neither described nor discussed in multi-
control valve. phase-flow literature.

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110.0 30.0

100.0 23.0

90.0 16.0

80.0 9.0

Temperature (°C)
Pressure (bar)
70.0 2.0

60.0 –5.0

50.0 –12.0

40.0 –19.0

30.0 –26.0

20.0 –33.0

10.0 –40.0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Elapsed Time (minutes)

Fig. 17—Case 3. Pressure and temperature history at initial pipe end. Pressure ( ), temperature ( ).

Nomenclature l ¼ phase viscosity, Pas

a ¼ attraction parameter in cubic EOS l ¼ chemical-component thermodynamic potential, J/kg mol
b ¼ volume parameter in cubic EOS
E ¼ internal energy, J/kg
Subscripts and Superscripts
f ¼ mass exchanged between phases, kg/m3s
e ¼ external
H ¼ fluid or phase enthalpy, J/kg
i ¼ phase index or volume index
k ¼ thermal conductivity, W/mK
L ¼ liquid phase
k ¼ interaction coefficient in cubic EOS
V ¼ vapor phase
K ¼ vapor/liquid equilibrium constant
0 ¼ pure-chemical component
M ¼ interphase momentum exchange
w ¼ pipe wall
p ¼ vapor pressure of pure component, Pa
P ¼ system pressure, Pa
S ¼ fluid or phase entropy, J/kgK References
t ¼ time, seconds API Standard 520, Sizing, Selection, and Installation of Pressure-Reliev-
T ¼ system temperature, K ing Devices in Refineries: Part I—Sizing and Selection. 2008. Wash-
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Luigi Raimondi is director of Process Simulation Services. Previ-
ously, he was the manager of the Process Simulation and Sw
Development Department at Snamprogetti for more than 15
years. Raimondi’s current interests and research include ther-
modynamics, phase equilibria, and multiphase flows, and, in
these fields, he has authored more than 10 technical papers.
He holds a PhD degree in industrial chemistry from the Univer-
sity of Milan, Italy. Raimondi is a member of SPE.
2017 SPE Journal