Physical model tests are often conducted during the design process of coastal structures. The wave climate in such tests often includes short-crested nonlinear waves. The structural response is related to the incident waves measured in front of the structure. Existing methods for separation of incident and reflected short-crested waves are based on linear wave theory. For analysis of nonlinear waves, the existing methods are limited to separation of nonlinear long-crested waves. For short-crested waves, the only options so far have been to use estimates without the structure in place. The present paper thus presents a novel method for directional analysis of nonlinear short-crested waves: Non-Linear Single-summation Oblique Reflection Separation (NL-SORS). The method is validated on numerical model data, as for such data, the target is well defined as simulations may be performed with fully absorbing boundaries. Second- and third-order wave theory is used to demonstrate that small errors on the celerity of nonlinear components in the mathematical model of the surface elevation can be obtained if a double narrow-banded directional spectrum is assumed, ie the primary frequency and the directional spreading function must be narrow banded. As the increasing nonlinearity of the waves often arise from waves shoaling on a sloping foreshore, the directional spreading of the waves will decrease due to refraction, and a broad directional spreading function will thus not be experienced in highly nonlinear conditions. The new NL-SORS method is shown to successfully decompose nonlinear short-crested wave fields and estimate the directional spectrum thereof.
For design validation of offshore structures and conceptualisation of wave energy converters, physical model testing performed in wave basin laboratories is often applied. In such cases, knowledge about the wave conditions is of great significance. For validation of the wave condition in such tests, different methods for estimation of the directional wave spectra may be applied. However, different assumptions are imposed in the methods and deviations here from providing uncertainties in the results. The following paper quantifies the influence of nonlinear effects on the accuracy of the estimated directional wave spectra. This is done by analysis of idealised, synthetically generated waves based on second order wave theory and secondly with simplified amplitude dispersion included. The present analyzes show that the uncertainties of the directional wave spectra are proportional to the level of nonlinearity present in the wave field.
The influence of directional spreading of waves is significant for wave-induced loads, wave breaking and nonlinearity of the waves. For physical model testing performed at test facilities such as the Ocean and Coastal Engineering Laboratory at Aalborg University, it is crucial to validate if the test conditions match the target sea states by measurement and analysis of the generated directional wave field. Most of the existing methods assume a double summation sea state to be present which is valid in the prototype. However, waves in the laboratory are usually generated by single summation. The current paper presents a method to analyze short-crested waves generated by the single summation method. Compared to similar methods oblique reflections are considered instead of only in-line reflections. The results show that the method successfully decomposes the incident and reflected wave fields in the time domain. Thus, for example the incident wave height distribution may be obtained. The sensitivity of the new method to additional reflective directions, noise, calibration errors and positional errors of the wave gauges was found small.
A new power-to-X desulfurization technology has been examined. The technology uses only electricity to oxidize the hydrogen sulfide (H2S) found in biogas to elemental sulfur. The process works by using a scrubber where the biogas comes into contact with a chlorine containing liquid. This process is capable of removing close to 100% of H2S in biogas. In this paper a parameter analysis of process parameters has been carried out. In addition a long term test of the process has been performed. It has been found that the liquid flow rate has a small but notable influence on the process’ performance on removing H2S. The efficiency of the process largely depends on total amount of H2S flowing through the scrubber. As the H2S concentration increases, the amount of chlorine required for the removal process is also increased. A high amount of chlorine in the solvent may lead to unwanted side reactions.
Slugging flow in offshore oil & gas multi-phase transportation pipelines cause big challenges as the flow regime induces flow and pressure oscillations in the multi-phase pipelines. The negative impacts of the most severe slugs are significant and thus the elimination of slugging flow in the pipelines is a highly investigated topic. To eliminate the slug in an online manner real-time slug detection methods are often required. Traditionally topside pressure transmitters upstream of a 3-phase separator have been used as the controlled variable. In this paper Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) has been examined as an alternative to the traditional pressure transmitters. A lab-scaled testing facility has been constructed in order to obtain test data from an ERT transmitter with 12 probes. Different flow regimes have been generated by a pump and a compressor where 2-phase flow can be tested. Based on the results, the study concludes that the ERT is able to detect the slug very well when the oil and water are well mixed. Furthermore, the traditional pressure transmitters have the limitation that pressure variations can be caused by other operating conditions than slug, such as change in the back pressure from control valves. The biggest limitation using ERT is the lack of ability to distinguish between gas and oil, and thus the ERT can only be used as an effective slug detect measurement when the oil-to-water ratio is low.
The severe slugging flow is always challenging in oil & gas production, especially for the current offshore based production. The slugging flow can cause a lot of potential problems, such as those relevant to production safety, fatigue as well as capability. As one typical phenomenon in multi-phase flow dynamics, the slug can be avoided or eliminated by proper facility design and control of operational conditions. Based on a testing facility which can emulate a pipeline-riser or a gas-lifted production well in a scaled-down manner, this paper experimentally studies the correlations of key operational parameters with severe slugging flows. These correlations are reflected through an obtained stable surface in the parameter space, which is a natural extension of the bifurcation plot. The maximal production opportunity without compromising the stability is also studied. Relevant studies have already showed that the capability, performance and efficiency of anti-slug control can be dramatically improved if these stable surfaces can be experimentally determined beforehand.
The current offshore oil & gas multi-phase production and transportation installations have big challenges related to the slugging flow: An unstable multi-phase flow regime where the flow rates, pressures and temperatures oscillate in the considered processes. Slug can be caused by different operating conditions and installation structures. The most severe slugs are often induced in long vertical risers or production wells, where liquid blocks gas at the riser/well base and correspondingly it causes the pressure to accumulate and hence originates the oscillating performance. There are many severe consequences to the production processes because of the slugging flow. This paper reviews some observed latest status and key challenges about slug detection, dynamical modeling and elimination of slugging flows. Mathematical modeling of slug has been used to investigate the slug mechanism and anti-slug control. Most of available models are based on mass-balance formulations, which often require sufficient data for reliable parameter tuning/identification. Slug elimination and control have been investigated for many years and there exist many solutions to eliminate the slug, but some of these methods can simultaneously reduce the oil & gas production, which is a very big concern as the production rate is the key evaluation parameter for offshore production. We conclude that the slugging flow is a well-defined phenomenon, even though this subject has been extensively investigated in the past decades, the cost-effective and optimal slug modeling and control are still open topics with many related challenges.
Slugging flow in the offshore oil & gas production attracts a lot of attention due to its limitation of production rate, periodic overload on processing facilities, and even direct cause of emergency shutdown. This work aims at two correlated objectives: (i) Preventing slugging flow; and meanwhile, (ii) maximizing the production rate at the riser of an offshore production platform, by manipulating a topside choke valve through a learning switching model-free PID controller. The results show good steady-state performance, although a long settling time due to the unknown reference for no slugging flow.
The shipping industry is paramount for global economic growth by enabling the trading of enormous volumes of goods across the world. However, maritime transport is a huge and growing source of greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, the shipping industry is required to speed up its environmental transition towards a zero-carbon emissions fleet. Alternative marine fuels, in combination with ship optimization in realistic operating conditions, could be a solution to reduce the marine ship emissions drastically.
The emissions of harmful gases and particulates from the engine increase when the ship operates in waves. This phenomenon is particularity problematic for lean-burn natural gas engines because of the increased amount of unburnt methane emitted. The solution to this problem requires studying the interaction between the ship hydrodynamics and the engine dynamics. For this purpose, a coupled engine-shaft-propeller model capable of predicting its performance in waves needs to be developed. At the same time, evaluating the ship propulsion system performance in realistic operating conditions is essential to estimate the installed power of the main engine and to optimize the ship voyage.
The purpose of the present work is to investigate the interaction between propeller loads and engine response of a ship sailing in realistic operating conditions. First, an investigation was carried out to determine the propeller model necessary to estimate the propulsive forces in waves. Second, a coupled propeller-engine model was built to evaluate how the environmental effects influence the ship propulsion system performance in terms of propulsive forces and unburnt methane released in theatmosphere. Third, the effect of waves on the propulsive coefficients was studied by conducting numerical simulations and model experiments.
The traditional method applied to compute the propeller performance in waves, knownas the quasi-steady approach, was adequate to estimate the propulsive forces in realistic operating conditions. The simulations performed with the coupled engine-propeller model proved that neglecting time-varying wake field, ship motions,and propeller close-to-or-breaking water effects would lead to a poor prediction of the propulsive forces in waves. The coupled engine-propeller model allowed determining that the amount of unburnt methane released in the atmosphere considerably increases when the ship operates in waves. The investigation conducted on the propulsive coefficients showed that the effective wake fraction depends on both the propeller loading and the motions of the ship. An inverse non-linear correlation between the thrust deduction fraction and the propeller loading was observed. A small influence of the ship motions on the thrust deduction fraction was noticed. The propulsive efficiency was mainly affected by the variation of the open-water efficiency caused by the propeller loading. Therefore, using the propeller open-water curves or performing overload self-propulsion model-scale experiments in calm water would provide a sufficiently accurate estimation of the time-averaged propulsive efficiency in waves for the considered case studies.
The results of the PhD project are useful to investigate the performance of marine propulsion systems in realistic operating conditions. The techniques and tools employed in the current study can be directly applied in the ship propulsion optimization process to include the effect of waves. The work conducted in this research also constitutes a step towards the implementation of the liquefied-natural gas as a marine fuel.
Maritime transport is the most energy-effective mode to move large amounts of goods around the world. Hauling cargo via waterway produces an enormous quantity of greenhouse gas emissions. Vessel fuel efficiency directly influences ship emissions by affecting the amount of burnt fuel. Optimizing ships operating in waves rather than in calm water conditions could decrease the fuel consumption of vessels. In particular, ship propellers are traditionally designed neglecting dynamic conditions such as time-varying wake distribution and propulsion factors, propeller speed fluctuations, ship motions, and speed loss. The effect of waves on the propeller performance can be evaluated using both a quasi-steady and a fully-unsteady approach. The former is a fast computational approximation method based on the assumption that the ratio of propeller angular frequency to wave encounter frequency is sufficiently large. The latter provides a complete representation of the propeller dynamics, but it is computationally expensive. The purpose of this paper is to compare the propeller performance in the presence of waves using the quasi-steady and the fully unsteady approach. This analysis is performed by observing the differences in unsteady propeller forces, cavitation volume, and hull pressure pulses between the two approaches. The full-scale KVLCC2 propeller is utilized for the investigation. Results show a good agreement between the quasi-steady and the fully-unsteady approach in the prediction of the temporal mean and the fluctuation amplitude of KT and KQ, the cavity volume variation, and the hull pressure pulses. Therefore, for the considered operating conditions, the quasi-steady approach can be used to compute the propeller performance in waves.