(140c) Thermodynamics Coupled CFD Simulation of Multiphase Flows

CFD modeling of multiphase flows with phase change has long been a big challenge in the oil and gas industry. Understanding both hydrodynamic and thermodynamic behaviors of the oil-water-gas system is critical for many processes from upstream to downstream such as oil and gas recovery from shale, transport along pipelines and distillation or cracking in a refinery. The hydrodynamics determines the multiphase flow or the local flow conditions such as pressure and temperature and hence affects the thermodynamic behavior of the mixture components. On the other side, the thermodynamic behavior such as phase change will greatly modify the mixture properties and thus changes the flow dynamics. Unlike the pure component multiphase flows where phase change is described by a simple pressure-temperature diagram, multi-component multiphase systems have different dew and bubble points at which phase change takes place in different directions. The additional complexity is that the state where phase change occurs strongly depends on the mole/mass fraction of each component in the mixture.  This talk will discuss the development of a thermodynamic coupled CFD model addressing the above complexity under the Eulerian-Eulerian multiphase flow modeling framework. The potential application of this modeling approach in process simulations will be highlighted.