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The flow loop consists of a 3” schedule 80 stainless steel long pipe connected at both ends to the suction and discharge sides of a multiphase pump. The pipe forms a closed flow path in which fluids are introduced and is jacketed with a 5” schedule 10 stainless steel pipe over most of its length except around the multiphase pump. The entire flow loop is mounted on an 80-ft long deck that can be rocked back and forth with a maximum amplitude of +/- 8 degrees and a minimum period of 30 seconds to set the fluid in motion in a rocking mode. The fluids can be also pumped with the Leistritz twin-screw multiphase pump from horizontal up to 8 degrees uphill (the pump does not operate with a downhill discharge to prevent it from running dry). The maximum flow rate displaced by the pump is about 250 gpm, which corresponds to a 12 ft/s maximum fluid velocity. The pump suction and discharge pressures are measured as well as the pressure drops across each leg and the overall pressure drop. Several temperature probes are mounted on the outside pipe wall of the inner pipe and measure the outside wall temperature of the process pipe. Glycol is used as a coolant in the annulus and can be set to flow co-current or counter-current with respect to the process fluids. Inlet and outlet temperatures of the coolant are measured and the average glycol temperature is used to control cooling ramps to impose to the facility. A 20-ton chiller is used to cool the glycol. The glycol flow rate is also measured and is maintained constant during each test. Four view ports at the beginning and end of each leg are used to observe the hydrates formation. These view ports are made up of three sapphire windows at 120 degrees angle of each other around the pipe. Video systems allow us to record videos of the hydrate formations and dissociations. Three gamma densitometers are also used to collect density data of the process fluids.
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Flow Loop
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Flow Loop Deck
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Flow Loop Tilted
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LEISTRITZ Multiphase Pump
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Nucleonic Density Detector
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Viewport
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Scanning Densitometer
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