GUIDELINES FOR OLGA SLUGTRACKING

Slug tracking module

General

Tracking front and tail of each individual slug

Numerical diffusion
Real liquid front

Standard numerical solution

Slug-Tracking module

When slug flow is indicated, the module sets up a slug

and a slug bubble
Slug growth
Slug front an tail tracked
Slug material balance determines whether slugs grow or
decay

Terrain slugging
Standard OLGA predicts terrain slugging very well
Liquid fronts are sharper with slug tracking than in
standard OLGA
Slug tracking may give terrain slugging in cases
where standard OLGA does not

Slug tracking module

Correlations

Classification of type of tail and front

(bubble nose or level/breaking front)

Bubble nose velocity

Gas entrainment into slug according to standard OLGA

correlation for gas fraction in slugs.

Standard OLGA

Hydrodynamic slugs

Standard OLGA gives average pressure drop, holdup and

flow rates for slug flow

Standard OLGA does not show individual slugs or impact of

slugging on downstream facilities

Slug tracking module

Hydrodynamic slugs

Flow regime must be slug flow according to the standard

OLGA slug model

Minimum initial slug length: 1 DPipe (default)

(Initial) gas fraction in the slugs are calculated from the same
correlation for gas fraction in slugs that is used in the
standard OLGA slug model.

Slug tracking input

Hydrodynamic slugs

Available input parameters with slug tracking

Initial slug length
Initial frequency
Delay constant
Illegal sections

Slug tracking input

Hydrodynamic slugs cont.

Be aware of intrinsic ILLEGAL SECTIONS:

(a section where the slug front stops and the slugs that reach this point
will eventually vanish )
first and last section in any Branch
consequently at MERGE and SPLIT nodes
process equipment except valves

Turn on more ILLEGALSECTIONS only if you have problems

Tuning

Hydrodynamic slugs cont.

Available field data are limited (Prudhoe Bay, Alaska)

One could calculate slug frequency in pipelines by a method like

the Shea correlation

One could tune slug tracking to match frequency from

measurements or estimated by other methods by adjusting the
DELAYCONSTANT

Use DELAYCONSTANT to tune model rather than initial

frequency

Shea correlation

0.68 USL
FsL = 1.2 0.6
D L
FsL = slug frequency at pipe outlet

(1/s)

(= no of slugs/observation time period)

D = pipeline diameter (m)

L

= pipeline length

(m)

UsL = superficial liquid velocity (m/s)

You may tune DELAYCONST (which affects the initial slug frequency) so
that the resulting outlet slug frequncy is of same order as FsL for
hydrodynamic slugging with moderate terrain effects.

Tracking hydrodynamic slugs (1)

Start with running OLGA without slug tracking until steady state
is established

If ID = 3 you should run slugtracking

Tracking of hydrodynamic slugs (2)

Turn on slug tracking in a RESTART simulation

(slug tracking can not be turned off in a RESTART)

HYDRODYNAMIC = ON
Use the default value of 150 for the Delay Constant

Tracking of hydrodynamic slugs (3)

Model the first slug tracking case with a moderate plotting

frequency
Plot time trends of QLT1) and ACCLIQ2) at pipe outlet and LIQC3) and
NSLUG4) of each branch.
Specific slug tracking variables apart from NSLUG
are seldom needed

1) total

liquid volume flow,

2) accumulated total liquid volume flow,
3) total liquid inventory in a branch,
4) total # of slugs in a branch

Tracking of hydrodynamic slugs (4)

Run the case

At least one run-through-time
Until NSLUG is quasi stable
Until LIQC (total liquid content in a branch) is quasi stable

Tracking of hydrodynamic slugs (5)

Make a second restart - from the first slugtracking case

Reduce the plotting interval sufficiently 1 - 5 (s)
Run the case several run-through-times
Use the 2nd case to analyze liquid surges out of the pipe

use ACCLIQ