Investigation of slug flow characteristics in the valley of a hilly-terrain pipeline

Statistical analyses of mean slug length, maximum slug length, slug frequency, and slug length variation across the hilly-terrain pipeline revealed that slug length distribution characteristics change across a symmetrical hilly-terrain pipeline. Physical modeling of the slug initiation mechanism and the characteristics of initiated slugs at the lower dip indicated two main mechanisms, namely, wave growth and wave coalescence initiation mechanisms. The initiated “pseudo slugs” or slug characteristics of each mechanism differ significantly with respect to frequency, length, liquid holdup and velocity. It was observed that pseudo slugs initiated by the wave coalescence mechanism have velocities less than the mixture velocity due to gas blowing through the slug body.