Ocean Engineering 286 (2023) 115603

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Ocean Engineering
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/oceaneng

An improved model for predicting hydrate formation and deposition in

horizontal annular flow
Jianbo Zhang a, f, Zhenggang Gong a, b, Shaowei Pan c, Yuting Wang d, Xiaohui Sun e,
Xuerui Wang e, Zhiyuan Wang a, f, *, Yonghai Gao a, f, Baojiang Sun a, f
a
School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao, Shandong, PR China
b
Qingdao Zhongshida Technology Venture Co., Ltd., Qingdao, Shandong, PR China
c
Sinopec Research Institute of Petroleum Engineering (SRIPE), Beijing, PR China
d
Shandong Pengbo Safety & Environment Protection Services Limited, Qingdao, Shandong, PR China
e
College of Computer Science and Technology, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao, Shandong, PR China
f
National Engineering Research Center of Oil & Gas Drilling and Completion Technology, Qingdao, Shandong, PR China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Handling Editor: Prof. A.I. Incecik The formation and deposition of hydrates in pipelines form flow barriers, which affect the safety of offshore oil
and gas transportation. In this study, an improved model of hydrate formation and deposition is established by
Keywords: considering the non-uniform distribution of liquid film and droplets resulting from gravity, which is a non-
Horizontal annular flow negligible factor in the accurate prediction of hydrate deposition in horizontal annular flow. The uneven dis­
Liquid film thickness
tributions of the hydrate deposit thickness along the radial and axial directions in a horizontal annular flow were
Droplet concentration
calculated using the proposed model. Three different deposition characteristics of hydrates along the radial
Non-uniform distribution
Hydrate deposit thickness direction were found: concave W-type, convex W-type, and Ω-type. Meanwhile, the radial hydrate deposit
thickness gradually increased as the gas flow rate increased. With an increase in the liquid flow rate, a greater
axial distance between the pipe section and inlet results in a clearer increase in the radial hydrate deposit
thickness. In addition, a peak value of the hydrate deposit thickness occurs at a certain position in the axial
direction. This study provides a theoretical basis for the prediction and prevention of hydrate blockages during
offshore gas transportation.

1. Introduction crucial to conduct in-depth research on hydrate formation and deposi­

Natural gas hydrate is a crystalline compound formed by the com­
bination of water and natural gas (e.g., methane, ethane, and propane)
under low-temperature and high-pressure conditions (Sloan and Koh,
2007; Li et al., 2023; Qin et al., 2022). In the petroleum industry, gas
hydrates are widely seen in oil and gas exploitation and transportation
processes (Chen et al., 2020; Li and Huang, 2016; Sloan et al., 2010;
Zeng et al., 2021; Zhang et al., 2023). During the process of subsea
natural gas transportation, horizontal annular flow usually appears in
the transportation pipeline, where hydrate formation, deposition, and
even blockage occur easily under conditions of low temperature and
high pressure (Liu et al., 2019; Lv et al., 2023; Zhao et al., 2022). Once
hydrate blockage occurs in the subsea transportation pipeline, natural
gas transportation operations will be stopped accordingly, which will
cause serious economic losses (Herath et al., 2016). Therefore, it is
tion in horizontal annular flows.
Numerous studies have been conducted on the formation and
deposition characteristics of hydrates in vertical wellbores. Barker and
Gomez (1989) studied the formation of hydrates in wellbores during
deepwater drilling and analyzed their effect on the well control process.
Sa et al. (2017) studied the characteristics of hydrate deposition in dead
legs and analyzed the variations in different parameters (e.g., hydrate
thickness, morphology, and porosity). Fu et al. (2020) experimentally
studied the effect of flow velocity and concentration on methane hydrate
formation in a vertical flow loop and proposed a mass-transfer hydrate
formation model to calculate the hydrate formation rate in
water-dominated flows. Wang et al. (2016), Liu et al. (2018), Song et al.
(2019), and Zhang et al. (2020) established prediction models of hydrate
plugging formation in deep-water gas wells by combining the dynamic
variations in temperature, pressure, and hydrate behaviors.

* Corresponding author. School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao, Shandong, PR China.
E-mail address: wangzy1209@126.com (Z. Wang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceaneng.2023.115603
Received 26 April 2023; Received in revised form 27 July 2023; Accepted 10 August 2023
Available online 15 August 2023
0029-8018/© 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
J. Zhang et al.
Fig. 1. Distribution of liquid film on pipe cross section.
For a horizontal pipeline, annular flow is a common gas-liquid two-
phase flow pattern characterized by a liquid film along the inner wall of
the pipe and some liquid droplets carried by the gas flows in the center of
the pipe (Williams et al., 1996). The distribution of the liquid film and
droplets in horizontal annular flow is a crucial factor affecting hydrate
formation and deposition behavior. Laurinat et al. (1985) studied the
distribution of liquid film thickness based on the gas-liquid distribution
in a horizontal pipe. Hurlburt and Newell (2000) proposed a new model
for predicting the liquid film distribution in a horizontal annular flow.
Cioncolini and Thome (2013) proposed a model that considers the
disturbance wave as the main mechanism for transporting the liquid film
in an annular flow and obtained a new prediction method for the
asymmetry degree of the liquid film. Mauro et al. (2014) proposed a new
calculation process for the void fraction, liquid carrying capacity,
pressure drop, and liquid film distribution using a simple method.
Previous researchers have carried out many studies on hydrate for­
mation and deposition in horizontal pipelines. Jassim et al. (2010)
proposed a method to study hydrate deposition in a gas-dominated
system and studied the migration and adhesion mechanisms of hy­
drate particles on the pipe wall. Di Lorenzo et al. (2014) and Aman et al.
(2016) conducted laboratory experimental studies on hydrate formation
and transportation under annular flow conditions and found that
droplets entrained in the gas phase play an important role in hydrate
formation and deposition. Di Lorenzo et al. (2018) and Liu et al. (2019)
established a hydrate deposition prediction model that considered the
shedding effect of the hydrate layer in horizontal gas-dominated flows.
Wang et al. (2017) and Zhang et al. (2019) established a coupling model
to predict the hydrate deposition rate in horizontal gas-dominated flows,
which can be used to estimate the risk of hydrate plugging. However,
current research regards the distribution of hydrate formation and
deposition on the cross-section of horizontal pipelines as uniform, which
may cause the calculated thickness distribution of hydrate deposits to be
different from that in the actual pipeline, thus affecting the accurate
assessment of hydrate plugging risk.
In summary, few studies have focused on hydrate formation and
deposition in horizontal annular flow with non-uniform distributions of
liquid film and droplets. In this work, an improved prediction model of
hydrate formation and deposition in horizontal annular flow was
established by considering the uneven distributions of liquid film and
droplets resulting from gravity, and the laws of hydrate deposition along
the cross section and axial direction were analyzed, which lays a foun­
dation for the efficient prevention of hydrate plugging risk in offshore
gas transportation.
2. Model development
Under the condition of horizontal annular flow, the distributions of
the liquid film and droplets are non-uniform under the influence of
2
Ocean Engineering 286 (2023) 115603
gravity, which results in an uneven distribution of hydrate deposits on
the pipe wall. The proposed model mainly comprises three parts: gas-
liquid distribution, hydrate formation, and hydrate deposition.
2.1. Prediction model of gas-liquid distribution in horizontal annular flow
Horizontal annular flow has unique flow and heat-transfer charac­
teristics. The gas phase forms a high-speed gas core at the center of the
pipe, some liquid forms an annular liquid film along the inner wall of the
pipe, and the remaining liquid is dispersed in the gas core in the form of
droplets (Zaidi et al., 1998). In the proposed model, the non-uniform
distribution of the liquid film and droplets was considered to calculate
the hydrate formation and deposition rates in a horizontal annular flow.
2.1.1. Non-uniform distribution of liquid film on pipe wall
In horizontal annular flow, the liquid film easily drains along the
pipe wall under the action of gravity, forming an asymmetric liquid film
distribution on the pipe cross-section. The liquid film was thin at the top
of the channel and thicker at the bottom of the channel, as shown in
Fig. 1 (a). Typically, the liquid film thickness at the bottom of the tube is
1–2 orders of magnitude greater than that at the top of the tube (Mauro
et al., 2014). The film thickness distribution is generally symmetrical on
the central axis; hence, only half of the tube wall needs to be measured.
The degree of asymmetry of the liquid film is a key factor in estab­
lishing the model. It is usually characterized by the ratio of the liquid
film thickness at the top of the tube tt to the liquid film thickness at the
bottom of the tube tb, that is, ttt−b 1, or the ratio of the circumferential
average liquid film thickness ta to the liquid film thickness at the bottom
of the tube tb, that is, tat−b 1. The parameters ttt−b 1 and tat−b 1 are bounded
between 0 and 1.
Mauro et al. (2014) assumed that the gas-liquid interface of an
asymmetric annular flow can be described by two semi-ellipses, one of
which is in the upper half of the pipe, where the lengths of the two half
axes are A (minor axis) and B (major axis); the other is in the lower half
of the pipe, where the lengths of the two half axes are A (major axis) and
C (minor axis), respectively, as shown in Fig. 1 (a). This practical method
provides a simple and smooth analytical expression for the local film
thickness, and the calculated results are in good agreement with the
existing experimental data. The calculation formula is as follows:
AB
t(θ) = R − √̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅, 0 ≤ θ ≤
π
(1)
A2 cos2 θ + B2 sin2 θ 2
AC π
t(θ) = R − √̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅, < θ ≤ π (2)
A2 cos2 θ + C2 sin2 θ 2
where θ is the angle measured clockwise from the top of the pipe, rad; R
is the inner radius of the pipe, m; t(θ) is the liquid film thickness at
different angles, m.
J. Zhang et al. Ocean Engineering 286 (2023) 115603

Table 1
Basic data of gas liquid distribution.
Gas density Liquid density Gas flow Liquid flow pipe diameter Surface tension Liquid viscosity Gas viscosity
− 3 − 3 3 − 1 3 − 1 − 1
/kg⋅m /kg⋅m /m ⋅s /m ⋅s /m /mN⋅m /Pa⋅s /Pa⋅s

0.68 1000 0.0106 0.00039 0.026 72.2 0.00169 0.00001087

Fig. 2. Droplets distribution on the pipe cross section.

The three semi-axes A, B, and C can be calculated as follows:
2(R − ta )2 2R(R − 2ta )
A= ≅ (3)
B+C B+C
B = R − tt
C = R − tb
where ta is the circumferential average liquid film thickness, m; tt and tb
are the liquid film thicknesses at the top and bottom of the tube,
respectively, m.
The formulae for predicting tat−b 1 and ttt−b 1 proposed by Cioncolini
and Thome (2013) are as follows:
0.366Fr1.45
ta tb− 1 = ; Fr > 1
1 + 0.366Fr1.45
0.0789Fr1.9
tt tb− 1 = ; Fr > 1
1 + 0.0789Fr1.9
0.5
where Fr is the Froude number, Fr = (ρg Jg2 /(ρl − ρg )gd) .
Based on the basic data in Table 1, the liquid film thickness distri­
bution along the pipe wall is shown in Fig. 1 (b). As shown in the figure,
most of the liquid flows along the bottom of the pipe owing to the effect
of gravity; hence, there must be a mechanism to transport the liquid in
the film from the bottom to the top of the pipe to form an annular flow.
Currently, the disturbance wave driven by the shear stress of the gas core
on the liquid film is considered to play the most important role in
counteracting the influence of gravity drainage. When a disturbance
wave passes through a pipe, it periodically fills the entire pipe perimeter
(Cioncolini and Thome, 2013). The shear effect of the gas on the liquid
film was more obvious at the top of the pipe, resulting in a gradual in­
crease in the liquid film thickness from the top to the bottom of the pipe.
2.1.2. Non-uniform of droplets in gas phase
The concentration distribution of droplets in the gas phase is also
uneven, which is thin at the top and dense at the bottom owing to the
effect of gravity in the horizontal annular flow, as shown in Fig. 2 (a).
Paras et al. (Paras and Karabelas, 1991) used local concentration to set a
model, and the droplet concentration C (kg/m3) at a point can be
calculated using the formula C = Q/U, where Q is the local flux
(kg/m2/s) and U is the local gas velocity (m/s). The following basic
assumptions were made in this model: (1) the droplet contained in the
gas phase has a uniform particle size; (2) the droplet is small enough that
the diffusion rate of the gas and the droplet is equal; and (3) the vertical
distribution of the droplet flux is two-dimensional.
(4)
Based on the above assumptions, a simplified equation for the local
(5) droplet concentration C is obtained as follows:
dC
ε + wC = a (8)
dy
where a is a constant flux, kg/(m2.s); w is the settling rate of the droplet,
m/s; ε is the eddy current diffusion coefficient, dimensionless.
The droplet concentration distribution in the pipe can be expressed
using the following formula (Paras and Karabelas, 1991):
(6) ( y)
C 1− A
=A + exp − k (9)
C E(k) R
(7)
where‾C is the average droplet concentration along the vertical pipe
diameter, kg/m3, A is the dimensionless flow rate, and E(k) is a function
of k. The average droplet concentration along the vertical pipe diame­
ter‾C can be calculated as follows:
C = 0.85〈C〉 (10)
where 〈C〉 is the global average droplet concentration throughout the
cross section, which can be obtained from the mean flux of the entrained
liquid‾Q and the mean gas velocity UG, 〈C〉 = ‾Q/UG.
The droplet concentration distribution along the pipe wall based on
the basic data presented in Table 1 is shown in Fig. 2 (b). This indicates
that the action of gravity results in a gradual increase in the droplet
concentration from the top to the bottom of the pipe. The increase in
droplet concentration in the top area is relatively gentle, while the in­
crease in the bottom area is faster. This is mainly because the secondary
flow of gas is more obvious at the top of the pipe, counteracting the
influence of gravity (Williams et al., 1996). In addition, as the liquid
movement in the pipeline is less impeded near the lower part of the pipe,
the liquid is easily moved to the lower part of the pipe. It is difficult for
the gas to carry droplets to the top, so the droplet concentration in the
bottom area is greater.

3
J. Zhang et al. Ocean Engineering 286 (2023) 115603

2.2. Prediction model of hydrate formation in horizontal annular flow

In this study, the hydrate formation kinetic model proposed by

Turner et al. (2005) was used to calculate the gas consumption rate Rh
(mol/s) during hydrate formation.
( )
1 K2
Rh = ⋅ u ⋅ K1 ⋅ exp ⋅ As ⋅Tsub (11)
Wmol T

where K1 = 2.608 × 1016 kgm− 2K− 1s− 1 and K2 = − 13600 K are two
kinetic constants; Wmol is the average gas molar mass, g/mol; T is the
system temperature, K; As is the total gas-liquid surface area available
for hydrate formation, m2; Tsub is the subcooling, ◦ C; u is the scale factor
considering the heat transfer and mass transfer resistance,
dimensionless.
The total gas-liquid contact surface area As comprises two parts: the
liquid film surface area Af and droplet surface area Ad.
As = Ad + Af (12)
Aman et al. (2016) determined that the contact area of droplets in the
gas phase is approximately 4.75 times that of the liquid film, which
means that droplets play an important role in hydrate formation.
The distance from the center of the tube section to the gas-liquid
interface can be obtained by subtracting the liquid film thickness from
the pipe inner diameter. The liquid film area in the control volume
element dθdl is: Dividing the elliptic curve into many elements; each
element corresponds to a small sector and the curve length is integrated
by using the arc length calculation formula of the circle; then, the liquid
film surface area at different angles can be obtained by combining the
curve circumference S with the tube length element dl.
Af = S × dl (13)
In Eq. (13), S is expressed as follows:
S = (R − t(θ))dθ (14)
The total mass of the droplets in the control volume element dθdl can
be calculated using the volume concentration of the droplets, and the
total droplet volume is then obtained. Ultimately, the droplet surface
area was obtained using a spherical geometric formula. The formula is as
follows:
( )2
3c(j) dki dldθ
Ad = (15)
4000dp
/
dp = d32 0.7 (16)
where c(j) represents the droplet concentration at a certain angle, kg/
m3; dp is the droplet diameter, m; i is the time-step index; k is the space
element index; and dik is the pipe diameter at this location, m.
The hydrate formation rate can be obtained by the preceding for­
mula, and the water consumption rate of hydrate formation can be
expressed as follows:
nRh (j)Ml
wik (j) = (17)
1000000
Fig. 3. Local enlarged view of fan column section.
2.3. Prediction model of hydrate deposition in horizontal annular flow
In horizontal annular flow, the gas velocity is high, and the hydrate
particles produced by droplets have a high transmission probability in
the gas core, which is similar to the case of gas-carrying droplets. Jassim
et al. (2010) studied the deposition characteristics of a single hydrate
particle via CFD, and the influence of fluid velocity (especially gas ve­
locity) on hydrate deposition was analyzed. It was found that hydrate
particles are more likely to be carried by the gas. Previous results also
show that the maximum thickness of the hydrate layer appears at a
certain position (Bondarev et al., 1982; Wang et al., 2017), which in­
dicates that the hydrate deposit thickness presents a non-uniform dis­
tribution on the pipe cross-section. It is suggested that the hydrates
formed in the liquid film are more likely to adhere to the pipe wall
(Aspenes et al., 2010; Nicholas et al., 2009), while part of the hydrate
particles formed by the droplets would deposit on the pipe wall, and the
other part would be carried by the gas and deposit to the next location
(Wang et al., 2017). The mass of hydrates formed by droplets deposited
on the pipe wall can be calculated using the following formula:
mhe
mhd = mld Sd (19)
mle
where mle is the droplet content in the gas phase, kg; mhe is the hydrate
content in the gas phase, kg; mld is the mass of the deposited liquid
droplets, kg; Sd is the effective deposition ratio of hydrate particles,
dimensionless.
The mass of the hydrate deposited on the liquid film mhf can be
calculated as follows:
mhf = Mh Rgf dt (20)

where n is the composite number of water, Ml is the molar mass of the where Mh is the molar mass of the hydrate, g/mol; Rgf is the consump­
liquid, g/mol, Rh(j) is the hydrate formation rate at a certain angle. tion rate of gas on the liquid film, mol/s.
The liquid flow rate in each element can be expressed by the After obtaining the mass of hydrates formed by droplets deposited on
following equation: the pipe wall mhd and the mass of hydrates formed from liquid film mhf,
2π
∑ the hydrate deposit thickness can be obtained by a series of trans­
i+1
Vk+1 = Vki − wik (j) (18) formations. First, the pipeline is divided into several equal-length ele­
0
ments. Second, sufficient angle elements are divided from the top to the
bottom of the pipe cross-section. Finally, the pipe was divided into
where V is the liquid flow rate, m3/s.
several control volume elements with a fan column shape. A local
magnification of the fan column section is shown in Fig. 3.
The volume of hydrate deposit can be expressed by the following

4
J. Zhang et al.
Fig. 4. Stress diagram of hydrate particles (Nicholas et al., 2009).
equations:
Vh = VLarge fan column-VSmall fan column
mhd + mhf
Vh =
ρh
where ρh is the density of the hydrate, kg/m3; Vh is the hydrate volume,
m3.
Although the thickness of the hydrate deposit is non-uniform along
the pipe cross-section, it is assumed that the hydrate deposit thickness is
equal in the angle element. When calculating the change in pipe inner
diameter, the hydrate deposit thickness from the top to bottom of the
pipe is accumulated and then treated evenly. The effective pipe diameter
at the next moment was equal to the difference between the effective
pipe diameter at the previous time and the average hydrate deposit
thickness. Therefore, the radius of the small fan column can be obtained
from the geometric relationship:
√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
( / ( )2 )/
r(j) = 2 1 8 dk i dldθ − Vh (dldθ) (23)
where dl is the pipe element length, m; dθ is the element angle, rad; and r
(j) is the radius of the small fan column at different angles, m.
Finally, the hydrate deposit thickness at different angles can be
calculated as:
/
th (j) = dk i 2 − r(j) (24)
Compared with previous prediction models used in vertical condi­
tions (Wang et al., 2016; Liu et al., 2018; Zhang et al., 2020), the uneven
distributions of the hydrate deposit thickness along the radial and axial
directions in a horizontal annular flow can be calculated using the
proposed model, which can reflect the real distribution of hydrate de­
posit thickness in horizontal annular flow conditions.
2.4. Numerical simulation of deposition coefficient
Wang et al. (2017) proposed the concept of the effective deposition
ratio of hydrate particles under annular mist flow conditions, and a se­
ries of values of the deposition ratio were regressed by previous exper­
imental results (Di Lorenzo et al., 2014). However, there is no exact
theoretical value for the effective hydrate-deposition ratio. Under the
condition of horizontal annular flow, the hydrate particles were sub­
jected to gravity (FG), buoyancy (FB), Saffman lift (FL), adhesion force
(FA) perpendicular to the wall, drag force (FD) of the gas flow parallel to
the wall, and external torque (MD), as shown in Fig. 4. When the
non-adhesion force of the hydrate particles is greater than the adhesion
force between the particles and the wall, the particles are resuspended
and return to the gas flow. Mortazavi (2005) demonstrated that particles
achieve secondary suspension in three ways: lifting, sliding, or rolling.
If Eq. (25) is satisfied, the particles break away from the adhesive
Ocean Engineering 286 (2023) 115603
Fig. 5. Pipeline grid division diagram.
wall and return to the gas flow.
FL + FB ≥ FA + FG (25)
(21) where FL is the Saffman lifting force, N; FB is the buoyancy force of
particles, N; FG is the gravity of the particles, N; and FA is the adhesion
(22) force between the particles and the wall, N.
If Eq. (26) is satisfied, the external force is not sufficient to overcome
the adhesion force, and the particles slide on the adhesive surface and
return to the gas flow.
FD ≥ f (|FA + FG | − FL − FB ) (26)
where FD is the interphase drag force, N; f is the friction coefficient
between the particles and the pipe wall, dimensionless.
If Eq. (27) is satisfied, the external force is insufficient to overcome
the adhesion force, but instead causes the particles to roll on the adhe­
sive surface and return to the gas flow.
( )
MD + FD ⋅ l1 + (FL + FB ) ⋅ l2 ≥ FA + Fg ⋅l2 (27)
where MD is the external moment, N⋅m; l1 and l2 are the longitudinal and
transverse arms of the particle rotation force, respectively, m.
Hydrate particles adhere to the wall and cannot result in a secondary
suspension only when the above criteria are not satisfied. In this study, a
CFD model was established using the software Fluent, and a user-defined
function UDF was used to compile the adhesion model of hydrate par­
ticles, which was imported into Fluent for the coupling solution. To
better simulate and calculate the movement of hydrate particles near the
wall, the mesh near the wall was encrypted. To ensure the computa­
tional efficiency and accuracy of the simulation results, 250000
computational grids was selected in the simulation and the mesh quality
was 0.930. The grid structure is shown in Fig. 5.
In the simulation, the simulated gas velocity range is 8~20 m/s, the
hydrate particle velocity is same to the gas velocity, the pipe diameter
range is 0.02–0.35 m, and the hydrate particle size is treated as
approximately the droplet size, with a range of 0.1–0. 9 mm. The droplet
size can be calculated by the following formula (Wang et al., 2020):
d32 ( / )0.117
= 0.022We−g 0.545 Re0.079 Re0.439 0.429
sg Oh ρg ρl
(28)
sl
D
/
dp = d32 0.7
where Weg is the gas Weber number, dimensionless; Resl is the liquid
Reynolds number, dimensionless; Resg is the gas Reynolds number,
dimensionless; Oh is the Ohnesorge number, dimensionless.
Through CFD simulation, the number of particles transported to the
pipe wall nw and the number of particles deposited on the pipe wall nd
can be tracked from the DDPM model, which is a CFD model for simu­
lating particle flow. The effective deposition ratio can then be calculated
using the following formula:
Sd =
nd
(29)
nw
5
J. Zhang et al.
Fig. 6. Scatter plot of deposition coefficient.
Fig. 7. Model solution flow chart.
Fig. 6 shows the numerical simulation results for the effective
deposition ratio. The effective deposition ratio ranges from approxi­
mately 0.03–0.06. The effective deposition ratio is affected by the pipe
diameter, gas flow rate, hydrate particle size, and other factors. In this
study, the effective deposition ratio of hydrate particles is taken as 0.05
for the subsequent related calculations, which may result in some errors
in the results of hydrate formation and deposition in horizontal annular
flow, it should be researched deeply in the future work. Once a better
value or formulas are obtained in the future, the used effective deposi­
tion ratio of hydrate particles can be replaced in the proposed model.
6
Ocean Engineering 286 (2023) 115603
Fig. 8. Comparison of the pressure drop between experimental data and the
model results.
3. Model solution and validation
3.1. Model solution procedure
The established model has strong nonlinearity owing to the coupling
of the gas-liquid flow rate, hydrate formation and deposition rate, and
tube inner diameter. Therefore, this study used the finite difference
method to solve the numerical problem, and Visual Basic programming
was used to solve this model. The process of solving the model comprises
the following steps (also shown in Fig. 7).
(1) Setting a sufficiently small time element dt, dividing the pipe into
sufficiently equal length elements dl, and dividing sufficient angle
elements dθ along the pipe cross section.
(2) Based on the initial parameters of control volume k at time step i,
including the gas-liquid flow rate, pipe diameter, and other pa­
rameters, the distribution in the liquid film on the pipe wall and
the droplet concentration in the gas phase can be calculated.
(3) According to the gas-liquid distribution in horizontal annular
flow, the surface area of the liquid film and droplet at different
angles can be calculated to determine the total gas-liquid contact
surface area.
(4) The gas-liquid contact surface area at different angles was used to
determine the rates of hydrate formation and deposition at
different angles of the initial tube section, and the hydrate deposit
thickness was calculated from the geometric relationship.
(5) The spatial step size iteration is conducted to determine the hy­
drate formation and deposition at other locations, and then the
distribution of the hydrate deposit thickness along the pipeline
can be obtained.
(6) Time step iteration is conducted to evaluate the hydrate deposi­
tion degree in the pipeline after a certain time. Taking the pipe­
line state at the previous time step as the initial state of the next
time step, Steps 2–6 are repeated until the required flow time is
obtained or the pipeline is blocked.
3.2. Model validation
The model established in this study was verified by the experimental
data obtained by Di Lorenzo et al. (2014). The experimental device was
a stainless-steel loop with an inner diameter of 0.8 in (20.3 mm) and a
length of 131 ft (40 m). The apparent velocities of the gas and liquid are
8.5 m/s and 0.08 m/s respectively, other specific parameters are pre­
sented in the reference (Di Lorenzo et al., 2014). A comparison between
the pressure drop data measured in the experiment and the results
J. Zhang et al. Ocean Engineering 286 (2023) 115603

Table 2 4.1.2. Effect of gas flow rate on film thickness and droplet concentration
Basic data of simulation. distribution
Initial Gas flow rate/ Pipe Surface tension/ Keeping the other parameters unchanged, the effects of increasing
temperature/◦ C m3⋅s− 1 diameter/m mN⋅m− 1 the gas flow rate on the distributions of the liquid film thickness and
10 0.05 0.05 72.2 droplet concentration are shown in Fig. 10 (a) and (b), respectively. As
shown in the figure, the increase in gas flow rate makes the distribution
Initial pressure/ Liquid flow rate/ Pipe length/m Liquid viscosity/
MPa m3⋅s− 1 Pa⋅s
of the liquid film thickness more uniform. This is because the increase in
the total mass flux leads to an increase in the kinetic energy of the gas
10.3 0.0001 200 0.00169
core, promoting a more symmetrical distribution of the liquid film in the
channel section, and the disturbance of high-speed gas carries more
calculated using the proposed model is shown in Fig. 8. It can be seen droplets into the gas core.
from the figure that the calculated results of the model are in good
agreement with the experimental data to a certain extent, which proves
the accuracy of the established theoretical model. 4.2. Variation law of hydrate deposit thickness

4. Results and discussion 4.2.1. Distribution of hydrate deposit along the cross section
The distribution characteristics of the hydrate deposition in the
4.1. Effect of gas-liquid flow rate on film thickness and droplet initial section of the pipe are shown in Fig. 11. It can be seen from the
concentration

Based on the basic data presented in Table 2, by changing the gas and
liquid flow rates, the distribution of the liquid film thickness on the pipe
wall and the droplet concentration in the gas phase in the pipe were
calculated and analyzed.

4.1.1. Effect of liquid flow rate on film thickness and droplet concentration
distribution
When the other parameters remain unchanged, the influence of
increasing the liquid flow rate on the distribution of the film thickness
and droplet concentration is shown in Fig. 9 (a) and (b), respectively. As
shown in the figure, under the conditions of horizontal annular flow, the
liquid film thickness was small. With an increase in the liquid flow rate,
the content of free water in the pipeline increases, and more droplets are
carried into the pipeline, resulting in an increase in droplet concentra­
tion. The amount of free water that can be used to form the liquid film
increases, and the liquid film thickness also increases accordingly.
Fig. 11. Distribution characteristics of hydrate deposit along the initial section.

Fig. 9. Effect of liquid flow rate on film thickness and droplet concentration.

Fig. 10. Effect of gas flow rate on liquid film thickness and droplet concentration.

7
J. Zhang et al.
Fig. 12. Effect of gas and liquid flow rates on hydrate deposit thickness at different pipe sections.
figure that there are three different areas of A, B, and C from the top to
the bottom of the pipe section, which is different from previous research
(Di Lorenzo et al., 2014; Wang et al., 2017). Overall, the hydrate deposit
thickness at the top of the pipe was larger than that at the bottom of the
pipe. Hydrate deposition is the result of the comprehensive action of the
droplets and liquid film. The thicker the liquid film, the smaller the
surface area of the liquid film. The larger the droplet concentration, the
larger the surface area of the droplet. According to the results in Section
4.1, it is found that the liquid film thickness and droplet concentration
increase gradually in area A, which causes the surface area of the liquid
film to decrease slightly and the surface area of the droplet to increase.
The influence of the droplets is slightly greater than that of the liquid
film; hence, the hydrate deposit thickness in area A increases slightly.
There is an inflection point in the liquid film thickness change in area
B, which leads to a rapid increase in the liquid film thickness, whereas
the increase in the droplet concentration is relatively small. This sug­
gests that the influence of the liquid film on the hydrate deposit is
greater than that of the droplet concentration. Therefore, the hydrate
deposit thickness in area B rapidly decreased. Conversely, the droplet
concentration increases rapidly, while the increasing rate of the liquid
film thickness slows down in area C. The influence of the droplets on the
hydrate deposit is greater than that of the liquid film, hence the hydrate
deposit thickness increased to a certain extent.
The influences of the liquid and gas flow rates on the hydrate deposit
thickness at different locations are shown in Fig. 12. It can be seen from
the figures that the hydrate deposition across the pipe cross-section is
more complex, and there are three different deposition characteristics:
concave W-type, convex W-type, and Ω-type. As the axial distance be­
tween the pipe section and inlet increases, the distribution of hydrate
8
Ocean Engineering 286 (2023) 115603
deposit thickness along the radial direction of the pipe gradually tran­
sitions from a thick – thin to a thin – thick distribution between the
upper and lower sections. This is mainly because the contribution of the
liquid film begins to dominate and gradually changes to the droplet
contribution, which plays a leading role in the hydrate-deposit thickness
along the radial direction of the pipe. With the increase in gas and liquid
flow rates, the gas-liquid exchange in the pipeline becomes more
frequent, which is conducive to hydrate formation and deposition.
Meanwhile, the hydrate deposit undergoes secondary migration, which
always moves from the upper position to the next position; hence, the
hydrate deposit thickness gradually increases along the pipe length.
4.2.2. Distribution of hydrate deposit along the axial direction
The distribution of the hydrate deposit thickness along the pipe axis
at 10 min, 20 min, 30 min, 40 min, 45 min, and 50 min, as shown in
Fig. 13. This suggests that the distribution of the hydrate deposit
thickness in the pipeline is uneven. The hydrate deposit thickness
increased with time at all angles and increased most obviously at the
bottom of the pipe along the axial direction of the pipe. This is mainly
because the droplet concentration at the bottom of the tube is the
highest, the hydrates formed from the droplets are the largest, and
because of the secondary migration of hydrate particles, some hydrate
particles formed at the previous position will be deposited at the next
position through gas-liquid transport. At some angles, the hydrate de­
posit thickness first increased and then decreased. Hydrate deposition in
the pipeline is the result of the comprehensive action of newly formed
hydrate and undeposited hydrate in previous positions, which leads to a
gradual increase in the amount of hydrate deposited along the axial
direction of the pipeline. However, as the amount of free water
J. Zhang et al.
Fig. 13. Axial distribution of hydrate deposit thickness at different times.
remaining in the latter part of the pipeline decreases, the newly gener­
ated hydrate continuously decreases, resulting in a decrease in the hy­
drate deposit thickness.
5. Conclusions
Horizontal annular flow usually appears in subsea natural gas
transportation pipeline. Considering the distribution characteristics of
the liquid film thickness and droplet concentration, an improved
calculation model of hydrate formation and deposition was established
in horizontal annular flow. The calculated results of the proposed model
were in good agreement with the experimental data in the literature, and
the rules of hydrate formation and deposition under horizontal annular
flow were analyzed. The main conclusions are as follows:
(1) In horizontal annular flow, the distributions of liquid film
thickness and droplet concentration along the pipe wall increase
gradually from the top to the bottom of the pipe unevenly owing
to the effect of gravity. With an increase in the gas flow rate, the
kinetic energy of the gas core increased, which promoted a more
symmetrical distribution of the liquid film and droplets on the
channel section. With the increase in liquid flow rate, the liquid
film thickness and droplet concentration increase gradually.
(2) The hydrate deposition on the cross-section of the pipe is com­
plex, and there are three different deposition characteristics:
concave W-type, convex W-type, and Ω-type. The thickness dis­
tribution of the hydrate deposit along the pipe axis was uneven at
different angles. Specifically, the hydrate deposit thickness at
9
Ocean Engineering 286 (2023) 115603
0–90◦ first increased and then decreased along the pipe length,
indicating the most dangerous locations for hydrate plugging
along the pipeline; and the hydrate deposit thickness at 180◦
increased gradually along the pipe axis.
(3) Hydrate deposition results from the combined action of the liquid
film and droplets. With an increase in the gas flow rate, the hy­
drate deposit thickness on the cross-section of the pipe increases
accordingly. With an increase in the liquid flow rate, a greater
axial distance between the pipe section and inlet corresponds to a
more obvious trend of increasing hydrate deposit thickness for all
radial angles. This study provides a theoretical basis for the
prediction and prevention of hydrate blockages during offshore
gas transportation.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Jianbo Zhang: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – review &
editing. Zhenggang Gong: Investigation, Visualization. Shaowei Pan:
Investigation, Formal analysis. Yuting Wang: Investigation, Visualiza­
tion. Xiaohui Sun: Methodology, Data curation, Visualization. Xuerui
Wang: Visualization. Zhiyuan Wang: Conceptualization, Supervision,
Writing – review & editing. Yonghai Gao: Writing - review & editing.
Baojiang Sun: Supervision.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
J. Zhang et al.
the work reported in this paper.
Data availability
Data will be made available on request.
Acknowledge
The work was supported by the Key Research and Development
Program of Shandong Province (2022CXGC020407), the National Key
Research and Development Program (2022YFC2806502), the National
Natural Science Foundation of China (52104056, 52004315,
U21B2065), the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province
(ZR2023QE025), and the Natural Science Foundation of Qingdao (23-2-
1-95-zyyd-jch).
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