Education

Thesis: "Numerical simulation of turbulent viscoelastic fluid flows : flow classification and preservation of positive-definiteness of the conformation tensor" 

Supervisors: Dr. Laurent Thais and Prof. Gilmar Mompean

Abstract: The purpose of this work is to provide an enhancement of the knowledge about the polymer-induced drag reduction phenomenon by considering some aspects of its numerical simulation and the changes that occur in the flow kinematics. In the first part, the square root and kernel root-k formulations for the conformation tensor in the FENE-P model were implemented and showed to preserve the positiveness of the conformation tensor. However, they led to numerical divergence due to the loss of boundedness of the conformation tensor. This constraint was violated even with the inclusion of artificial diffusion. The damping effect of artificial diffusion helped to ensure numerical stability, but led to relative drag reduction from 22% to 42% lower than expected from traditional methods. In the second part, the hyperbolic, parabolic and elliptic modes of turbulent viscoelastic flows were evaluated by means of different flow classification criteria. Some advantages of considering objective criteria were discussed. It was shown that the hyperbolic domains significantly contribute to the flow kinematics. Finally, a tendency of both elliptic and hyperbolic domains to become parabolic was observed and found to increase with the elasticity.


Dissertation: "Numerical simulations of installation effects caused by upstream elbows on single-path transit-time ultrasonic flare flow meters"

Supervisor: Dr. Rogério Ramos

Abstract: Oil and gas industry requires accurate flow measurements since they are stated by law. Nevertheless, curves and other obstacles are commonly found in such industry field, which may affect the quality of flow measurement due to flow disturbances, such as swirl and velocity profile asymmetries. Single-path ultrasonic flow meters are often used in flare gas installations, despite being sensitive to such disturbances. The present work use commercial CFD codes to obtain disturbed flow fields downstream from single and double elbow pipe installations, aiming to investigate both magnitude and behaviour of such effects on ultrasonic flow measurement. Numerical integration is applied for several acoustic path arrangements, simulating single-path ultrasonic flow meters in different situations in order to evaluate its correction factor deviation under disturbed conditions. Reynolds numbers from 1X10 4 to 2 X10 6 are considered. Transducers mounting angles from 0° to 180° are tested and axial positions up to 80D downstream from the curve are evaluated. Results indicate that single-path ultrasonic flow meters are sensitive to installation effects. Correction factor deviations usually showed to be significantly higher than 2% for axial positions shorter than 20D, as recommended by several manufacturers or regulations. Nevertheless, deviations may reach 0.01% in some specific configurations, which suggests that ultrasonic flow measurement might be improved by rearranging flow meter device in favourable angular position and mainly by implementation of specific functions for correction factors under disturbed conditions.