Comparison Between Laminar and Turbulent Flow in a Single Phase Horizontal Pipe Gas Flow

Abstract

With the increase in consumption of natural gas in the world, it is important to understand how dry natural gas will flow in a horizontal pipe especially during production and transportation, and also during laminar and turbulent flow. Many attempts have been made to compare and distinguish both flows but only little is still known about these flows. A novel approach reported in literature suggests the use of Weymouth and modified Panhandle equations as models for single phase horizontal flow. This paper presents the use of models to compare both laminar and turbulent flow in a single phase horizontal flow . the results obtained are then compared to existing Weymouth flow model. Results show that laminar flow depends on viscous forces and is independent of gravity whereas turbulent flow does not depend on viscous forces but pipe roughness, gas gravity, pressure drop and gas flow rate.

Journal of the Nigerian Association of Mathematical Physics, Volume 19 (November, 2011), pp 343 – 350