Hydrodynamics

The enormous cost of handling the challenges of flow assurance in subsea wells, flowlines, and risers, especially in deepwater applications, has necessitated a proactive approach to prevent their risk of occurrence. To ensure that transportation of the hydrocarbon is economical and efficient from the subsea wellhead to the processing units, a flow assurance heat management system is relevant in the design and planning of a fluid transport system. Consequently, the advancement of new technologies to serve the increasing need by exploring the technologically challenging and hostile subsea fields is of great importance. A comparative study on heat management systems in flowlines was conducted from the top five publishers (Elsevier, Springer, Taylor & Francis, Wiley, and Sage) based on the number of publications to determine the level of work done by researchers in the last decade, the figures from the study showed the need for scientific research in the field of active heating. Additionally, a review was implemented to ascertain the likely advantages and drawbacks of each technique, its limitations concerning field applications and then recommend suitable cost-effective technique(s). The active heating system gives the most cost-effective solution for subsea deepwater fields.

The objective of this study is to find a correlation between the abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) geometric parameters, wall stress shear (WSS), abdominal flow patterns, intraluminal thrombus (ILT), and AAA arterial wall rupture using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Real AAA 3D models were created by three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of in vivo acquired computed tomography (CT) images from 5 patients. Based on 3D AAA models, high quality volume meshes were created using an optimal tetrahedral aspect ratio for the whole domain. In order to quantify the WSS and the recirculation inside the AAA, a 3D CFD using finite elements analysis was used. The CFD computation was performed assuming that the arterial wall is rigid and the blood is considered a homogeneous Newtonian fluid with a density of 1050 kg/m3and a kinematic viscosity of4×10-3Pa·s. Parallelization procedures were used in order to increase the performance of the CFD calculations. A relation between AAA geometric paramet...

A new nonlinear integral-equation model is derived in terms of hodograph variables for free-surface flow past an arbitrary bottom obstruction. A numerical method, carefully chosen to solve the resulting nonlinear algebraic equations and a simple, yet effective radiation condition have led to some very encouraging results. In this paper, results are presented for a semi-circular obstruction and are compared with

The dynamics of the air cavity created by vertical water entry of a three-dimensional body is investigated theoretically, computationally and experimentally. The study is focused in the range of relatively low Froude numbers, Fr ≡ V(gD)−1/2 ≤ O(10) (where V is the dropping velocity of the body, D its characteristic dimension and g the gravitational acceleration), when the inertia and gravity effects are comparable. To understand the physical processes involved in the evolution of cavity, we conduct laboratory experiments of water entry of freely dropping spheres. A matched asymptotic theory for the description of the cavity dynamics is developed based on the slender-body theory in the context of potential flow. Direct comparisons with experimental data show that the asymptotic theory properly captures the key physical effects involved in the development of the cavity, and in particular gives a reasonable prediction of the maximum size of the cavity and the time of cavity closure. Du...

Two-photon photoluminescence (TPPL) emission spectra of DNA-gold nanoparticle (AuNP) monoconjugates and the corresponding DNA-linked AuNP dimers are obtained by photon time-of-flight spectroscopy. This technique is combined with two-photon photoluminescence fluctuation correlation spectroscopy (TPPL-FCS) to simultaneously monitor the optical and hydrodynamic behaviour of these nano-assemblies in solution, with single-particle sensitivity and microsecond temporal resolution. In this study, the AuNPs have an average core diameter of 12 nm, which renders their dark-field plasmonic light scattering too weak for single-particle imaging. Moreover, as a result of the lack of plasmonic coupling in the dimers, the optical extinction, scattering and photoluminescence spectra of the DNA-AuNP complexes are not sufficiently different to distinguish between monomers and dimers. The use of TPPL-FCS successfully addresses these bottlenecks and enables the distinction between AuNP monomers and AuNP ...

In this paper, a combined use of dimensional analysis (DA) and modern statistical design of experiment (DOE) methodologies is proposed for a hydrodynamics experiment where there are a large number of variables. While DA is well-known, DOE is still unfamiliar to most ocean engineers although it has been shown to be useful in many engineering and non-engineering applications. To introduce

Human lung undergoes breathing-induced deformation in the form of inhalation and exhalation. Modeling the dynamics is numerically complicated by the lack of information on lung elastic behavior and fluid–structure interactions between air and the tissue. A mathematical method is developed to integrate deformation results from a deformable image registration (DIR) and physics-based modeling approaches in order to represent consistent volumetric lung dynamics. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation assumes the lung is a poro-elastic medium with spatially distributed elastic property. Simulation is performed on a 3D lung geometry reconstructed from four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) dataset of a human subject. The heterogeneous Young’s modulus (YM) is estimated from a linear elastic deformation model with the same lung geometry and 4D lung DIR. The deformation obtained from the CFD is then coupled with the displacement obtained from the 4D lung DIR by means of the T...

The cyclone-type separator with swirling baffle and bottom take off of clean gas is a patented technique for separating solid particles from gases. Main relative dimensions of the separator are the same as given by Stairmand [C.J. Stairmand, The design and performance of cyclone separators, Trans. Inst. Chem. Eng. 29 (1951), 356–383] for the high efficiency cyclone. The principal part of the construction is the cylinder-shape swirling baffle with the flow gaps cut on its surface. The article presents the theoretical model of the new construction of cyclone-type separator with swirling baffle and bottom take off of clean gas. Calculational model to predict the collection efficiency was based on Leith and Licht cyclone calculational method [D. Leith, W. Licht, The collection efficiency of cyclone-type particle collectors — a new theoretical approach, AIChE Symp. Ser. 68 (126) (1972), 196–206]. The main assumption of the developed model is that the tangential velocity distribution is o...

This article reports the energy potential obtained from tidal currents along the Colombian coastline (approximately 3100 km). Landsat images and GIS software were used to digitalize the coastline. These images were correlated with bathymetric charts and geographical locations that presented characteristics suitable for tidal energy generation projects were identified. Tidal levels were obtained from several measurement stations and model predictions and used to estimate tidal levels at specific locations of interest. Tidal current velocity and tide level inside the bay or strait was obtained with the Keulegan model and validated whit previous studies and measurements.

We summarize some of the findings and observations from the field surveys conducted in the aftermath of the horrific tsunami of 26 December 2004 and reported in this issue. All these field surveys represent an unprecedented scientific undertaking and involved both local and international scientists working side by side. The 26 December tsunami was the first with transoceanic impact, since comprehensive postevent hydrodynamic surveys began to be conducted in the early 1990s with modern measurement tools. The tsunami impacted at least 16 nations directly: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, India, Sri Lanka, Oman, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, the Maldives, Rodrigues, Mauritius, Réunion, and the Seychelles. The death toll included citizens from many other countries in Asia, Europe, the South Pacific, and the Americas, giving this tsunami the grim distinction of being the first universal natural disaster of modern times.

The relatively rapid recession of glaciers in the Himalayas and formation of moraine dammed glacial lakes (MDGLs) in the recent past have increased the risk of glacier lake outburst floods (GLOF) in the countries of Nepal and Bhutan and in the mountainous territory of Sikkim in India. As a product of climate change and global warming, such a risk has not only raised the level of threats to the habitation and infrastructure of the region, but has also contributed to the worsening of the balance of the unique ecosystem that exists in this domain that sustains several of the highest mountain peaks of the world. This study attempts to present an up to date mapping of the MDGLs in the central and eastern Himalayan regions using remote sensing data, with an objective to analyse their surface area variations with time from 1990 through 2015, disaggregated over six episodes. The study also includes the evaluation for susceptibility of MDGLs to GLOF with the least criteria decision analysis (LCDA). Forty two major MDGLs, each having a lake surface area greater than 0.2 km 2 , that were identified in the Himalayan ranges of Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim, have been categorized according to their surface area expansion rates in space and time. The lakes have been identified as located within the elevation range of 3800 m and 6800 m above mean sea level (a msl). With a total surface area of 37.9 km 2 , these MDGLs as a whole were observed to have expanded by an astonishing 43.6% in area over the 25 year period of this study. A factor is introduced to numerically sort the lakes in terms of their relative yearly expansion rates, based on their interpretation of their surface area extents from satellite imageries. Verification of predicted GLOF events in the past using this factor with the limited field data as reported in literature indicates that the present analysis may be considered a sufficiently reliable and rapid technique for assessing the potential bursting susceptibility of the MDGLs. The analysis also indicates that, as of now, there are eight MDGLs in the region which appear to be in highly vulnerable states and have high chances in causing potential GLOF events anytime in the recent future.

The Cávado estuary inlet is situated in the coastal zone of Esposende (NW Portugal) where sandy beaches have migrated inland and thinned, and cliffs have retreated rapidly over the last years. The coastal zone of Esposende extends over 15 km from the Neiva River until Apúlia. The coastal segment of Esposende can be considered of mixed energy and wave-dominated type, according to DAVIS and HAYES (1984). The local tide is mesotidal and semidiurnal, with a maximum equinoctial spring tide high-water level of 3.9 m, a minimum low-water level of 0.2 m, and a mean spring tide of 3.49m (data from Instituto Hidrográfico da Marinha). The inlet is a natural feature of the Cávado estuary, subject to silting up, and enclosed between a breakwater on the northern side and the end of a migrant sandy spit on the southern side. Recently, it was suggested that the best option for decreasing silting-up and increasing navigability, would be to build two breakwaters and artificially manage the inlet. Thi...

The vibration control of rotors for gas or steam turbines is usually performed using passive dampers when hydrodynamic bearings are not used. In layouts where the rotating parts are supported by rolling bearings, the damping is usually provided by squeeze film dampers. Their passive nature and the variability of their performances with temperature and frequency represent the main disadvantages. Dampers with magnetorheological and electrorheological fluid allow solving only a part of the abovementioned drawbacks. Active magnetic bearings (AMBs) are promising since they are very effective in controlling the vibration of the rotor and offering the possibility of monitoring the rotor’s behavior using their displacement sensors. However they show serious drawbacks related to their stiffness. Electromagnetic dampers seem to be a valid alternative to visco-elastic, hydraulic dampers due to, among the others, the absence of all fatigue and tribology issues resulting from the absence of cont...

A 3-D two-fluid CFD model in the Eulerian-Eulerian framework was developed to predict the hydrodynamics and heat and mass transfer of sieve trays. Interaction between the two phases occurs via interphase momentum and heat and mass transfer. The tray geometries are ...