Numerical study for oil-gas-water three-phase flow pattern identification in gathering transportation pipeline

With the rapid development of the oil industry, oil-gas-water multiphase mixed transmission has become one of the most important transportation methods in the future. Based on the three-phase medium has different physical and chemical properties, making the mixture exists a mixed interface whose form and distribution are not sure in time and space. The oil-gas-water three-phase mixed transmission process in gathering transportation pipeline is studied by using the multiphase flow VOF model. And its flow pattern is identified. The bubbly flow and plug-like flow which often occurs in the engineering was simulated by studying the influence of initial gas rate on the flow pattern, and the influence of velocity on the bubble distribution in the bubbly flow is analyzed. The simulation results agree well with the theory, and could provide some theoretical guides for engineering applications.