
Montmorillo-Knights
Senior Design - LSU - Team #1
Projects
Slug flow Analysis and Control
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Our senior project wa aimed towards analyzing the flow regime known as slug flow. This flow regime most often contains bullet shaped pockets of air and "slugs" of liquid traveling at high velocities. This high velocity can create high impacts and cause vibrations in pipe lines. We are trying to analyze this flow regime through experimental analysis in the form of "Bench" scale and Pilot scale models, as well as simulations. With experimental data we can provide the dual purpose of providing simulation validation while also having a platform for installing a control mechanism. The control mechanism will be PID based and will attempt to mitigate the formation of slug flow by adjusting the back pressure at the production valve.
CFD Simulations
All CFD simulations were done with ANSYS FLUENT. ANSYS provided a user friendly platform capable of accomplishing our lofty goals. This section will contain information on CFD and the contribution to the project. We used a supercomputer for the simulations so this section is fun. Please click the image above for details .
PID Control for Models
We constructed three different gate valve and actuator prototypes. We successfully ran PID on both the pilot and bench scale models with the intention of mitigating slug effects. Without spoiling the surprise I can say that it did work reasonably well. Please click the image above for additional details.