Transient Phenomena in Liquid/Gas Flow in Pipelines

Abstract

Mass continuity and the equation of motion govern the flow of a fluid in a pipeline. Such flows are also affected by the elasticity of the pipe however. The effect of elasticity of the pipe can be taken into consideration by assuming it to be linear with constant mechanical properties. However, often the elasticity of the pipe is neglected in the case of gas flow. To study transitions in liquids, furthermore, this property is integrated and added to the geometrical characteristics of the pipe wall in the expression of the velocity of sound. In this study we apply the method of characteristics to investigate the transient phenomena in a two-phase homogeneous flow. The analysis is based on models that take into account both the geometry and properties of the pipe, such as the elasticity of the walls, as well as the physical parameters such as the flow quality, namely the mass fraction of the gas in the two-phase mixture flow.