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 

Beggs & Brill Method

Sun, 30 Aug 2015

Beggs and Brill (1973) correlation, is one of the few correlations capable of handling all ow directions

encountered in oil and gas operations, namely uphill, downhill, horizontal, inclined and vertical ow for two phase

uid.

Total pressure gradient is described by following relation.

dP/dZ = [(dP/dZ)Fric. +(dP/dZ)Ele.]/(1-Ek)

where, (dP/dZ)Fric. is pressure gradient due to friction, (dP/dZ)Ele. is hydrostatic pressure difference and Ek

estimates pressure loss due to acceleration.

Flow Pattern Map

A ow regime is identi ed based on the Froude number of the mixture (Frm) and input liquid content (no slip

liquid holdup CL).

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Frm = vm²/ g.D

where, vm is mixture velocity, D is pipe inside diameter and g is gravitational constant.

CL = QL/ (QL + QG)

where, QL is liquid volumetric ow and QG is gas volumetric ow.

The transition lines for correlation are de ned as follows:

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L1 = 316 CL0.302
 
L2 = 0.0009252 CL-2.4684
L3 = 0.1 CL-1.4516
L4 = 0.5 CL-6.738

Segregated Flow

CL < 0.01 and Frm < L1

OR CL >= 0.01 and Frm < L2

Intermittent Flow

0.01 <= CL < 0.4 and L3 < Frm <= L1

OR CL >= 0.4 and L3 < Frm <= L4

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Distributed Flow

CL < 0.4 and Frm >= L4

OR CL >= 0.4 and Frm > L4

Transition Flow

L2 < Frm < L3

Liquid Holdup, EL(θ)

Once ow type has been determined, liquid holdup for horizontal ow EL(0) is calculated.

EL(0) = a CLb / Frmc

Flow Regime a b c

Segregated 0.98 0.4846 0.0868

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Flow Regime a b c  

Intermittent 0.845 0.5351 0.0173

Distributed 1.065 0.5824 0.0609

EL(0) must be greater than CL, if EL(0) is smaller than CL, then EL(0) is assigned a value of CL. Actual liquid

volume fraction is obtained by multiplying EL(0) by a correction factor, B(θ).

EL(θ) = B(θ) x EL(0)

B(θ) is obtained as -

B(θ) = 1 + β(sin(1.8θ) - (1/3)sin³(1.8θ))

where θ is the angle of inclination of pipe with horizontal.

Correction factor β is calculated as following -

β = (1 - CL)ln( d.CLe.NLVf.Frmg )

Uphill d e f g

Segregated 0.011 -3.768 3.539 -1.614

Intermittent 2.96 0.305 -0.4473 0.0978

Distributed β=0

Downhill d e f g

All 4.7 -0.3692 0.1244 -0.5056

Liquid velocity number, NLV is given by:

NLV = 1.938 Vsl(ρL/ (g.σ))1/4

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Vsl is no slip liquid velocity, ρL is liquid density, g is gravitational constant and σ is surface tension.
 

For transition ow,

EL(θ)transition = AEL(θ)segregated + BEL(θ)intermittent

where A and B are as following -

A = ( L3 - Frm)/(L3 - L2)
B = 1- A

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Liquid holdup, EL(θ) is used to calculate mixture density ρm.

ρm = ρL.EL(θ) + ρG.(1-EL(θ))

(dP/dZ)Elevation
Pressure change due to the hydrostatic head of the vertical component of the pipe is given by:

(dP/dZ)Ele. = ρm.g.sin(θ)/(144.gc)

(dP/dZ)Friction
Calculate no slip Reynold's number using no slip mixture density and viscosity.

ReNS = ρNS.Vm.D/μNS

No slip friction factor, fNS is then calculated using Colebrook-White equation.

Ratio of friction factor is de ned as

fTP/ fNS = eS

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Value of S is governed by following conditions -

 

S = ln(2.2y - 1.2)

if 1 < y < 1.2, otherwise -

S = ln(y)/(-0.0523 + 3.182.ln(y) - 0.8725.(ln(y))2 + 0.01853.(ln(y))4 )

where y is de ned as

y = CL / EL(θ)²

Pressure loss due to friction is:

(dP/dZ)Fric. = 2.fTP.Vm².ρNS /(144.gc.D)

Pressure loss due to acceleration, factor Ek is given by:

Ek = ρm.Vm.Vsg/(gc.P)

where, Vsg is no slip gas velocity and P is gas pressure.

Spreadsheet for Beggs & Brill Method

References
1. Pressure Loss Calculations at Fekete.com
2. Standard Handbook of Petroleum & Natural Gas Engineering, William C Lyons, Volume 2

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