Investigation of the Behavior of Hydrate Slurry Flow in the Bend Based on the CFD-PBM Approach

Abstract The hydrate is a severe threat to the flow assurance of oil and gas transportation pipelines. For this reason, the behavior of hydrate slurry flow in the bend is investigated based on the Computational Fluid Dynamics-Population Balance Model (CFD-PBM) considering the aggregation and breakage of hydrate. Meanwhile, the effects of the bend angle, the velocity, the hydrate volume fraction, and the initial hydrate particle size on the hydrate concentration and the particle size are discussed in detail. The results show that hydrate is prone to aggregate on the outside of the elbow in the L-pipe. As the bend angle decreases, the hydrate concentration increases slightly, while the high-concentration region, the large particle size region, and the particle size decrease in the elbow. The high velocity can reduce hydrate aggregation in the elbow. However, the high hydrate concentration and the large particle size are not conducive to safe transportation. When the particle size is greater than 84 μm, there exists a blockage risk in the elbow.