Slug frequencies revisited

R Schulkes
Statoil, Research Centre Porsgrunn, Norway

INTRODUCTION

Slug frequencies or slug lengths are typically required as one of the closure relations in
slug tracking models. Due to the difficulties of modelling the highly nonlinear interface
motion prior to the formation of slugs, details of slug formation are still poorly
understood. As a consequence, predictions of slug frequencies based on mechanistic
models have had a limited success so far. For this reason, many thousands of
measurements have been performed in which slug frequencies have been determined
experimentally.
Gregory & Scott (1969) were one of the first to perform systematic measurements of
slug frequencies. Based on their measurements in horizontal pipes they proposed the
following relation
1.2

U 19.75

+ U mix
f s = 0.0226 SL
gD U mix

(1.1)

in which f s denotes the slug frequency (measured in number of slugs passing a fixed
observer per unit time), U SL denotes the superficial liquid velocity, U mix = U SL + U SG
and D denotes the pipe diameter. The above relation is found to give a good description
of slug frequencies in systems similar to that in which the experiments of Gregory &
Scott (1969) were performed. However, due to the fact that experimental data is
obtained from experiments performed in 19 and 35mm pipes with CO2 and water as the
working fluids, the accuracy of relation (1.1) when applied to other systems is limited.
This relates in particular to the effects of viscosity and pipe inclination on the slug
frequency. The limited extrapolation properties of (1.1) may also, to some extent, be
related to the fact that the relation is dimensionally inconsistent.
Since Gregory & Scott (1969) many others have proposed slug frequency correlations
which are summarised in the appendix to this paper. These correlations can be divided
into three, more or less, separate categories. The first category of correlations is based on
(or similar to) relation (1.1). Examples of such correlations are those proposed by
Greskovich & Shrier (1972), Heywood & Richardson (1979) and Zabaras (2000). The

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second category of correlations is in some way based on the steady state liquid height
(obtained by solving the holdup equation). Examples of these correlations are those
proposed by Tronconi (1990) and Hill & Wood (1990). The final category of correlations
is based on a correlating slug frequency data without taking as a starting point relation
(1.1) or the steady state holdup. The correlation by Shea et al (2004) and Gokcal et al
(2009) are examples.
Zabaras (2000) has analysed the performance of seven different slug frequency relations
against a slug frequency data set obtained from experiments with low-viscosity fluids.
His conclusion was that none of the relations (mostly relations that fall in the first
category) performed satisfactorily. Based on this observation Zabaras (2000) proposed a
new relation that is an extension of (1.1) by including the effects of pipe inclinations. A
similar analysis was performed by Gokcal et al (2009) in relation to slug frequencies for
viscous oils. Slug frequency relations from the second and third category were tested
against high-viscosity experimental data, showing that none of the correlations predicts
the measured slug frequency with any degree of accuracy. Based on their experiments,
Gokcal et al (2009) proposed a new slug frequency correlation but they state explicitly
that this relation does not correlate well with slug frequency measurements obtained for
low-viscosity fluids. However, exactly where the border lies between high-viscosity
and low-viscosity systems is unclear, so that the range of validity of the correlation by
Gokcal et al (2009) is uncertain.
In this paper we take a new look at slug frequency data for hydro-dynamic slugging in
gas-liquid systems. Published data comprising a wide range of experimental conditions
has been collected. Subsequently, the data was analysed in a systematic manner with the
aim to provide a slug frequency relation that is dimensionally correct and valid for all
available (published) data. We will show that it is possible to correlate all the available
data with a limited number of relevant dimensionless groups.
2

EXPERIMENTAL DATA

No new experiments have been performed as part of the work published in this paper.
The analysis is performed on the basis of available data in the open literature in addition
to a limited number of proprietary Statoil in-house data sets. In the table below we
summarise the main characteristics of the data that has been used.
The data presented in the table given spans the following range of physical and fluid
properties:
Pipe diameter: 19 - 100mm
Fluid viscosity: 1 - 589cP
System pressure: 1 - 50bar (giving a gas density in the range 1.2-53kgm-3)
Inclination: -1 - 80 degrees
The range of physical and fluid parameters is large so that a unified correlation based on
this comprehensive data set (comprising some 1200 points) should have reasonable
extrapolation properties.

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Table 1: Summary of experimental data used in the analysis presented in this

paper.
# data
points

Pipe
diameter

Inclination

Fluids

(degrees)

Pressure
(bar)

(cP)

(mm)

Liquid
viscosity

Gregory &
Scott (1969)

99

19, 35

CO2/water

Heywood &
Richardson
(1979)

78

42

Air/water

Nydal
(1991)

56

53

Air/water

Manolis
(1995)

230

78

Air/water
and air/oil

1-50

1-14

Woods
(1999)

56

76.3

Air/water

Van Hout
(2003)

36

54

10-80

Air/water

Langsholt
(2002)

68

100

1-45

SF6 /
Exxsol

1.7

Statoil
(2009)

64

77.9

Gas/oil

33-165

10-50

Kristiansen
(2004)

253

69

-1 & +1

SF6 + air /
Exxsol

1-8

Woods et al
(2006)

48

95

Air/water

Gokcal et al
(2009)

97

50.8

Air/oil

181-589

METHODOLOGY

The starting point of our analysis is a dimensional argument where we (based on

physical intuition) pose that the slug frequency f s is a function of 8 parameters via
f s = F (U SL , U SG , g , D, L , L , G , )

(3.1)

The gas viscosity is not included in the parameter list since this parameter is relatively
constant for different gases under different pressure conditions. Equation (3.1) shows
that we have 8 parameters and 3 independent dimensions (length, time and mass).
Standard arguments in dimensional analysis tell us that the dimensionless frequency
defined via F = f s D / U mix is a function of 8-3=5 dimensionless groups. Note that we
have used the mixture velocity to define the dimensionless frequency. This is motivated
by the fact that the slug front propagation velocity is known to be proportional to the
mixture velocity (Bendiksen, 1984). Dimensional analysis leads to the conclusion that
we are searching for a function of the form

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F = (G1 , G2 , G3 , G4 , G5 )

(3.2)

There is, of course, no unique way in which to choose the 5 dimensionless groups G1 , ..,
G5 . However, structures noted by previous workers do offer some guidelines. Namely,
both Greskovich & Shrier (1972) and Heywood & Richardson (1979) note that the input
liquid fraction and the Froude number correlate well the measured slug frequencies. The
influence of viscous effects is included through a balance of gravitational and viscous
forces by Gokcal et al (2009) but we find the liquid Reynolds number yields better
correlating properties. Manolis et al (1995) did not find a significant influence of the
system pressure on the measured slug frequencies. However, for completeness we will
investigate how the gas-liquid density ratio (which we believe to be the relevant
parameter) influences slug frequencies. Hence, we are led to consider the following five
groups:

The input liquid fraction: = U SL / U mix ;

The Froude number: Fr = U SL / Dg cos ;
The Reynolds number: Re L = LU SL D / L
The pipe inclination:
The density ratio: = G / L
In what follows, the function = ( , Fr , Re L , , ) will be constructed step-by-step in
the following manner. We start with an analysis of slug frequency data from experiments
in horizontal pipes with low-viscosity liquid (typically air-water systems). Since the
liquid Reynolds number is typically large in this case while the density ratio is small, we
may postulate

F = ( , Fr )

(3.3)

In the following section it will be shown that the influence of the Froude number on lowpressure horizontal slug frequency data is rather limited. Namely, including the Froude
number does not lead to a correlation with a larger R 2 -value so we are justified in
working with the simplified function = ( ) . Once the function ( ) is determined
we focus on the influence of viscosity by postulating that viscous effects can be included
in the frequency function via
F = ( ) (Re L )

(3.4)

The benefit of this approach is that input liquid fraction effects and viscous effects are
separated. This allows a straightforward construction of the function once the
function is known. Proceeding to study the influence of the pipe inclination on the
slug frequency, we again assume that the influence of the inclination on the slug
frequency can be separated from the liquid fraction and the viscosity effects, enabling us
to write
F = ( ) (Re L ) ( , Fr )

(3.5)

As before, the central simplifying assumption is that the effects of inclination can be
separated such that the function can be determined readily once the functions and

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 are known. The final step involves determining the influence of pressure on the
measured slug frequencies. Here we proceed as before by writing
F = ( ) (Re L ) ( , Fr ) ( )

(3.6)

Several bold steps have been taken in reaching the final functional form as specified in
equation (3.6). The data analysis presented in the following section will determine to
what extend these steps are justified.
4

DATA ANALYSIS

In what follows, the available experimental data will be analysed by following the steps
outlined in the previous section. Hence, we start with low pressure air-water data
obtained from experiments in horizontal pipes and subsequently we study the influence
of viscosity. In the final steps we include the effects of inclination and pressure on the
measured slug frequencies.
4.1
Data comprising horizontal, low-pressure, low-viscosity systems
The aim of this section is to determine the function ( ) and this is achieved by
considering those experimental points that have been obtained from experiments where
the pressure was (near) atmospheric and the working fluids were air and water. From
Table 1 we find that there are approximately 330 data points in this data set comprising 6
different pipe diameters. Plotting the measured frequencies made dimensionless as a
function of the input liquid fraction we obtain the result as shown in figure 1.
0.0700
0.0600
0.0500

0.0400
0.0300
0.0200
0.0100
0.0000
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

Figure 1: A plot of the dimensionless frequency F versus

the input liquid fraction .

We observe in figure 1 that the input liquid fraction correlates well with the
dimensionless frequency. It is reasonable to expect that other physical effects are
important and we have in particular investigated the influence of the Froude number.
Figure 2 shows one of the results of this investigation. There we have plotted the
dimensionless frequency as a function of the input liquid fraction for separate Froude
numbers. The particular data shown is the data set of Nydal (1991). The results in figure

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2 indicate that the frequency increases as a function of the Froude number suggesting
that we have to take F = ( , Fr ) . However, a similar analysis of the other data sets
does not display the same structure. This then motivates us to opt for the simpler
function F = ( ) . A least-squares fit of the data in figure 1 yields

( ) = 0.016 (2 + 3 )

(4.1)

Before we proceed with the identification of the additional physical effects needed in the
complete function for the dimensionless frequency, it is instructive to compare equation
(4.1) with the original correlation of Gregory & Scott (1969) as given by equation (1.1).
In dimensional from, equation (4.1) reads
f s = 0.016

U SL
U
2 + 3 SL
D
U mix

(4.2)

While there are differences between the above relation and equation (1.1) it is worth
noting the similarities. In the limit of large superficial liquid and gas velocities, we find
that (4.2) predicts a slug frequency which is proportional to the superficial liquid
velocity. This limiting behaviour is different from (1.1) but in line with experimental
observations of Nydal (1991).
0.0500
Fr 0,832
Fr1,66

0.0400

Fr 3,32
Fr 4,85

0.0300

0.0200

0.0100

0.0000
0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

Figure 2: A plot of the dimensionless frequency F versus the input

liquid fraction for the Froude numbers as indicated in the plot.
The data set used is that published by Nydal (1991).
4.2
The influence of viscous effects
The next step in our analysis is to include effects of viscosity in the slug frequency
correlation function F = ( , Re L , , Fr , ) . The data used in this part of the analysis,

are all those used to obtain ( ) as well as the high-viscosity data of Manolis (1995),
Statoil (2009) and Gokcal et al (2009) (in total approximately 500 points). We start by
showing that the influence of viscosity is evident when we plot the high-viscosity data in
a plot of the dimensionless frequency F versus the input liquid fraction . We recall
that the low-viscosity data correlated well with (figure 1) but when the high-viscosity
data is included it is evident the input liquid fraction is not the only relevant parameter,
see figure 3. At this stage it is already interesting to note that the Manolis and Statoil

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data (viscosity from 33-165cP) correlates rather well with the low-viscosity data while
significant differences become apparent when the liquid viscosity exceeds 180cP. It is
evident that an increase in the viscosity leads to an increase in the slug frequency, but
clearly, the viscosity has to be above a certain threshold.
Water

0.1800

Gokcal 181cp
0.1600

Gokcal 589cp
Statoil data

0.1400

Manolis 50cP
0.1200

0.1000
0.0800
0.0600
0.0400
0.0200
0.0000
0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

Figure 3: A plot F as a function of the liquid fraction

for the liquid viscosities as indicated in the plot.

In section 3 we postulated that viscous effects could be included via the viscosity
function (Re L ) , giving F = ( ) (Re L ) . This bold assumption is easily tested by
analysing all the available low- and high-viscosity data in horizontal pipes. Namely, if
our assumption turns out to be justified, we should see a clear trend by plotting F / ( )
versus Re L . The result of our analysis is shown in figure 4. First of all we note that the
trend is very clear, despite a degree of scatter. It appears that we are justified in our
assumption that liquid fraction effects and viscous effects can be separated.

10

Water
Gokcal 181cP
Gokcal 589cP
Statoil 33-165cP
Manolis 50cP
0.1
1

10

100

1000

10000

100000

1000000

Re L

Figure 4: A plot = F / ( ) as a function of the liquid Reynolds number Re L .

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It is very interesting to observe that the function has a shape not unlike that of a
typical friction factor. Namely, for Reynolds numbers below 4000, the function
displays a type of power-law behaviour (straight line in a log-log plot) while for larger
Reynolds numbers the function is approximately unity.
A least-squares fit of the data for Reynolds numbers below 4000 yields
(Re L ) = 12.1 Re L

0.37

(4.3)

Hence, if the function (Re L ) is defined according (4.3) for Re L < 4000 while we take
(Re L ) = 1 for Re L 4000 we have a unified slug frequency correlation for low- and
high-viscosity data limited to horizontal pipes.

The advantage of the present approach as compared with that of Gokcal et al (2009) is
that it is immediately clear for which parameter range the low-viscosity correlation can
be applied and when high-viscosity effects need to be included.
4.3
The influence of inclination
In the next step of the development of the unified slug frequency correlation, we focus
our attention on the effect of inclination. In order to determine the influence of pipe
inclination on the slug frequency we start with the series of experiments performed by
Van Hout et al (2003) with air and water.
1000.00

Fr=0.28
Fr=0.12
Fr=0.137
Fr=0.124
Fr=0.014

F/

100.00

10.00

1.00
0.00

0.25

0.50

0.75

1.00

1.25

1.50

(rad)

Figure 5: A plot of = F / ( ) as a function of the inclination angle. The different

symbols indicate different values of the Froude number Fr0 = U SL / gD .

Since we have assumed that the influence of inclination can be separated from liquid
fraction and viscosity effects, the function = F /( ( ) (Re L )) is expected to show
the influence of pipe inclination. In figure 5 we have plotted the function = F / ( ) as
a function of the inclination angle (note that since we only have access to low-viscosity
data, we have (Re L ) 1 ). We have used different symbols for the data points in order

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to visualise the influence of the Froude number. We note first of all that the measured
slug frequencies increase with decreasing Froude number. A detailed analysis of the data
shows that the dependence of the dimensionless frequency on the mixture velocity is
marginal. This is exemplified by the closeness of the data points where Fr0 0.12 but
the mixture velocity lies in the range 0.22 U mix 0.73 m/s. The data thus suggests that
the dimensionless slug frequency is a function of the Froude number and the inclination
angle of the pipe. The data in figure 5 can be correlated well by the following equation
( , Fr ) =

1.8
0.6 + 2 2
Fr

(4.3)

Since the data set of Van Hout et al (2003) is obtained for inclination angles in the
range 10 o ,80 o , the above correlation can not be used for angles below = 10o . For
these smaller angles we used a data set obtained in the flow loop of IFE by Langsholt et
al (2002). From this data set we obtain that for small inclinations < 10o

( , Fr ) = 1 +

2
sgn( )
Fr

(4.4)

Although equations (4.3) and (4.4) correlate well low-viscosity data there is no highviscosity data available for inclined flow. This means that the accuracy of the inclination
function ( , Fr ) is not verified for viscous fluids (that is, fluids in which Re L < 4000 ).
The same holds for slug frequencies in pipes with negative inclinations.
4.4
The influence of pressure
The final physical effect we believe may influence the slug frequency is the system
pressure. This effect enters the slug frequency correlation through the density ratio
= G / L . The data available provides a range of density ratios

1.2 10 3 ,6.6 10 2 .
In order to establish the influence of the system pressure we use the data by Manolis
(1995). Our step-by-step approach so far has been successful in establishing the
influence of viscosity and inclination and hence we anticipate that the influence of
pressure may be made visible in the same way. The Manolis (1995) data is established in
horizontal pipes so we do not need the inclination function ( , Fr ) . Hence, the
influence of pressure (or density) effects should become visible by plotting
= F /( ( ) (Re L )) as a function of the input liquid fraction .
This plot is shown in figure 6. The plot does not show a clear trend the data for
different pressure levels does not show the clear structure we have seen in the previous
analyses. This then suggests that the influence of pressure on the slug frequencies is
small. Performing a similar analysis with the high-pressure data from Statoil and the
high-pressure air-water data from Manolis (1995) yields the same conclusion: pressure
effects on the slug frequency do not show clearly in the data, supporting a similar
conclusion by Manolis et al (1995).

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1.3
1.2
1.1
1
1bar

0.9

6.5bar
10.5bar

0.8

14.5bar

0.7
0.6
0.5
0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

0.45

0.5

Figure 6: A plot of = F /( ( ) (Re L )) as a function of the input

liquid fraction based on the Manolis (1995) oil-air data.

It may be that the influence of pressure is more convoluted than the influence of
viscosity and/or inclination implying that the present type of analysis is not suitable to
determine the pressure effect. Here the data set by Kristiansen (2004) has particular
value. Kristiansen has performed experiments with SF6 at up to 8 bars yielding gas
densities as high as 52kgm-3. Neither of these experiments show a significant influence
of the system pressure on the slug frequencies. In line with findings of others,
Kristiansen (2004) shows very clearly that the slug flow region is significantly reduced
when the system pressure increases. In addition Kristiansen (2004) shows, that it
becomes increasingly difficult to get good slug frequency data for high-pressure
experiments due to the decreasing slug frequency: for increasing system pressures it
becomes increasingly difficult to keep the standard deviation of the slug frequency
measurements within reasonable bounds. The quality of some points in the Manolis
(1995) data set appear to be influenced by this effect (for many frequency measurements
there was on average less than one slug in the pipe line). In these cases the slug
frequency becomes entirely dependent on the inflow conditions and data like this should
not be included in the type of analysis as presented in this paper.
5

DISCUSSION, SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

In this paper we have shown how a step-by-step analysis of available slug frequency data
enables us to establish a unified slug frequency correlation. Based on the analysis of
some 1200 data points covering a wide range of physical parameters, we have arrived at
the following slug frequency correlation
F = ( ) (Re L ) ( , Fr )

In which

( ) = 0.016 (2 + 3 )
12.1 Re L
(Re L ) =
1

320

0.37

for Re L < 4000

for Re L 4000

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(5.1)

1+
sgn( ) | |
for | | 0.17
Fr
( , Fr ) =
1.8

0.6 + 2 2 for > 0.17

Fr

In

the

above

equations,

Fr = U SL / Dg cos

= U SL / U mix

denotes

the

input

liquid

fraction,

denotes the Froude number, Re L = LU SL D / L denotes the

liquid Reynolds number and denotes the pipe inclination in radians. The influence of
the system pressure on the slug frequency was found to be too small to give a significant
contribution.
Plotting all the data points against our unified slug frequency correlation yields the result
as shown in figure 7. We observe that slug frequencies varying over almost three orders
of magnitude obtained in systems that cover a wide range of physical parameters
(diameter effects, fluid effects and pipe inclinations) correlate well with equation (5.1).
1.0000

Van Hout
Woods 2006
Heyw oods
Gregory

0.1000

Gokcal
Statoil
Nydal
Woods 1999
Manolis A/W

Manolis A/O

0.0100

0.0010

0.0001
0.0001

0.001

0.01

0.1

() (Re )(Fr ,)

Figure 7: All the slug frequency data plotted against correlation (5.1).
Different data set are denoted by different symbols.

The data set by Kristiansen (2004) has not been used in the establishment of equation
(5.1). It can thus be regarded as in independent data set which can be used to test the
predictive quality of (5.1). The data set comprises low and high-pressure data with SF6
and oil obtained in a 69mm pipe which had an inclination of 0.1 degrees. In the
experiments of Kristiansen (2004) the influence of different inflow configurations on the
measured slug frequencies was tested. The data set of Kristiansen is special in that
statistical properties of the measured slug frequencies were also established. When we
select those points in the data set in which the standard deviation in the slug frequency
measurements is less than 10% of the frequency measurement we obtain figure 8. We
observe that the agreement with correlation (5.1) satisfactory although a fair degree of
scatter is present. Including points in which the standard deviation was larger, increased

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the scatter significantly. The published slug frequency data in the literature does not
include statistical properties of the slug frequency measurements. It is not unlikely that
the scatter in figure 7 would have been less if only those points were included in which
the standard deviation was below a given bound.
0.1

0.01

0.001

0.0001
0.0001

0.001

0.01

0.1

()( Re L ) (, Fr )

Figure 8: The slug frequency data obtained by Kristiansen (2004) plotted against
correlation (5.1) for the case where the standard deviation of the slug
frequencies is less than 10% of the actual frequency measurement.

We conclude that a unified slug frequency correlation has been established where we
have shown that the correlation performs well against a large set of experimental data.
For horizontal flow with low and high-viscosity fluids it is expected that the correlation
performs well. For upward inclined flows with low viscosity fluids we also expect the
correlation to perform well. Since we have not been able to test the correlation against
data for inclined flow with high-viscosity fluids, the extrapolation property of the
established correlation is uncertain for this case. The available experimental data does
not indicate a significant pressure-dependence of the slug frequency.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Roman Shpak and Julia Marhotka were central during the start of this work. They
digitised an enormous amount of data and performed the initial stages of the analysis.
Without their endurance during the summer of 2010 it would have been difficult to move
ahead with this work as quickly as has been the case. I am indebted to Olav Kristiansen
for supplying me with the data set from his PhD.
REFERENCES

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inclined tubes. Int. J. Multiphase Flow. 10(4), 467-483.
Davies, S.R. 1992 Studies of two-phase intermittent flow in pipe lines. PhD Thesis,
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Gokcal, B., Al-Sarkhi, A.S., Sarica, C. and Al-Safran, E.M. 2009 Prediction of slug
frequency for high viscosity oils in horizontal pipes. SPE 124057.
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horizontal co-current gas-liquid slug flow. AIChE J., 15, 933-935.
Greskovich, E.J. & Shrier, A.L. 1972 Slug frequency in horizontal gas-liquid flow.
AIChE J. 11, 317-318.
Heywood, N.I. & Richardson, J.F. 1979 Slug flow of air-water mixtures in a horizontal
pipe: determination of liquid holdup by gamma-ray absorption. Chem. Engng. Sci.
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Hill, T.J & Wood, D.G. 1990 A new approach to the prediction of slug frequency. SPE
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multiphase pipe flow. PhD NTNU, Trondheim.
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Nydal, O.J. 1991 An experimental investigation of slug flow. PhD Thesis, University of
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115-133.
Woods, B.D. & Hanratty, T.J. 1999 Influence of Froude number on physical processes
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Zabaras, G. 1999 Prediction of slug frequency for gas-liquid flows. SPE 56542.

APPENDIX

In this appendix we give a summary of slug frequency correlations that have been
proposed. We choose to group the slug frequency correlations into three, more or less
separate, categories.
The first set of correlations, essentially derived from data obtained with low-viscosity
fluids, is based on (or similar to) the well-known relation by Gregory & Scott (1969),
namely

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1.2

U 19.75

+ U mix
f s = 0.0226 SL
gD
U
mix

(A.1)

in which f s denotes the slug frequency (measured in number of slugs passing a fixed
observed per unit time), U SL denotes the superficial liquid velocity and the mixture
velocity is denoted by U mix = U SL + U SG . Greskovich & Shrier (1972) suggested a
modified form of (A.1), namely
2.02 U 2
f s = 0.0226
+ mix
gD
D

1.2

(A.2)

in which = U SL / U mix denotes the no-slip liquid holdup while Heywood & Richardson
(1979) suggested a slight modification of (A.2), namely
2.02 U 2
f s = 0.0434
+ mix
gD
D

1.06

(A.3)

Based on the data of Manolis (1995), Manolis et al (1995) proposed the relation
U
f s = 0.0037 SL
gD

2
25 + U mix

U
mix

1.8

(A.4)

It is worth noting that the above correlation predicts a slug frequency which is almost an
order of magnitude lower than any of the other correlations. There are indications (see
main text) that this may be related to the experimental setup. Zabaras (2000) modified
(A.1) by including pipe inclination effects
U
f s = 0.0226 SL
gD

19.75

+ U mix
U

mix

1.2

0.836 + 2.75 sin1 / 4 ( )

(A.5)

in which denotes the inclination angle of the pipe. Based on air-water experiments in
pipes with diameters in the range 31-90mm, Nydal (1991) proposed the relation
f s = 0.088

(1.5 + U SL ) 2
gD

(A.6)

The second set of correlations is in some way related to solutions of the holdup equation.
Tronconi (1990) proposed a relation in this category which was based on the assumption
that the slug frequency is related to the frequency of the most unstable waves, giving
f s = 0.61

G vG

L ( D hL )

(A.6)

in which vG denotes the in-situ gas velocity and hL denotes the thickness of the layer of
liquid as obtained from the holdup equation. A relation of a similar form was proposed
by Hill & Wood (1990), namely

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BHR Group 2011 Multiphase 15

fs =

v vL
2.74
HL

G
3600 (1 H L )
D

(A.7)

in which H L denotes the equilibrium liquid holdup and vL denotes the in-situ liquid
velocity. A second relation proposed by Hill & Wood had the form
fs =

0.275 U mix

e 6.17 H L
3600
D

(A.8)

Taitel & Dukler (1976) approached the slug frequency problem by solving a
dimensionless form of the combined (integral) momentum and continuity equations.
These equations constitute essentially the dynamic extension of the well-known
Lockhart-Martinelli equation. Taitel & Dukler show that the solution of this system of
equations is dependent on five dimensionless groups: the usual Martinelli parameters X
and Y (denoting the ratio of pressure gradients in the liquid and gas phase and the
gravitational force scaled by the pressure gradient in the gas phase respectively), a new
parameter Z (denoting the liquid inertia term scale by pressure gradient in the gas phase)
as

well

as

the

dimensionless

velocities

VL U SL / gD cos

and

VG VSL / gD cos G /( L G ) . The slug frequency is found by solving the

momentum and continuity equations until a critical liquid height is exceeded. The time to
reach this critical height is taken to be the inverse of the slug frequency, expressed in the
form
fs =

U SL
F ( X , Y , Z ,VL ,VG )
D

(A.9)

The third category of slug frequency correlations is that obtained attempting to correlate
slug frequency data without reference to the Gregory & Scott relation (A.1). Correlations
in this category are, for example, the expression proposed by Shea et al (2004) based on
field data

f s = 0.47

0.75
U SL
1.2 0.55
D Lp

(A.10)

and the Shell slug frequency correlation (quoted by Zabaras, 1999)

fs =

g
0.81
0.1
0.064 2
0.048 FrL + A (FrL + FrG ) 1.17 FrL

(A.11)

in which FrL,G = U SL, SG / gD and A = 0.73FrL 2.34 . This last correlation is based on the
low-viscosity data of Heywood & Richardson (1979). The final correlation in this
category is that derived by Gokcal et al (2009) on the basis of experiments with highviscosity fluids, giving
f s = 2.816

U SL 0.612
N
D

(A.12)

In which N = L /( D 3 / 2 L ( L G ) g ) denotes the ratio viscous and gravitational

forces.

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