A New Research Infrastructure for Investigating Flow Hydraulics and Process Equipment at Critical Fluid Properties

• Published in: Chemie ingenieur technik 2021-07, Vol.93 (7), p.1119-1125
• Main Authors: Windmeier, Christoph, Flegiel, Felix, Döß, Alexander, Franz, Ronald, Schleicher, Eckhard, Wiezorek, Michael, Schubert, Markus, Hampel, Uwe
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Critical fluid properties; Hydraulics; Phase separation; Two‐phase flow
• ISSN: 0009-286X; 1522-2640
• DOI: 10.1002/cite.202000202

An optimized equipment design for natural gas processing and liquefaction plants becomes increasingly difficult with changing process conditions: Particularly low values of surface tension create rising challenges on the design of phase separators and column internals. The TERESA test rig at HZDR was designed to allow the investigation of multiphase thermohydraulics and phase separator performance under critical fluid properties in industrial dimensions. A versatile pipe test section is available in DN200 and equipment internals may be tested in a sectional DN300/DN500 test separator. The applied test fluid shows a high vapor‐liquid density difference between 1470 and 940 kg m−3, viscosity as low as 0.12 mm2s−1, and surface tension down to 1.3 mN m−1. Volumetric liquid and vapor flow rates may be varied up to 9 and 530 m3h−1 in the test rig, respectively. A new and unique test‐rig was engineered, installed and comissioned at Helmholtz‐Zentrum Dresden‐Rossendorf. Using the commercial refrigerant 3M™ Novec 649™ as model fluid, it allows measurements of piping flow hydraulics as well as separator internals at very low surface tensions.