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Removal of the accumulated liquid from jumpers of subsea gas production
systems is essential to avoid possible hydrate creation and further damage to
the pipeline. However, the displacement of high amounts of accumulated liquid
during the production start-up leads to a gas pressure rise. Liquid plugs
formed during the liquid displacement impact the structure's elbows. This in
addition to cyclic pressure/forces fluctuations, may lead to harmful
flow-induced vibrations (FIV). These flow phenomena that may endanger the
jumper structure were explored in air-water experiments performed in a
lab-scale jumper. The critical (minimal) gas velocity needed to purge the
accumulated liquid was determined and the pressure and forces variations during
the liquid removal were measured. In addition, the effects of the gas velocity,
initial liquid amount, and gas flow ramp-up on the air-water flow phenomena
were documented. Results of 3D and 2D numerical simulations (using OpenFOAM)
were verified against the experimental data. The effects of employing different
RANS turbulence models on the predictions were tested and demonstrated. A
simple mechanistic model was established to predict the pressure and force
variation during liquid displacement. The model enables inspecting the
variation with the operational conditions of each pressure component (i.e.,
hydrostatic, friction, and acceleration) and examining their significance and
contribution to the pressure rise.
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