The Evaluation Method of Flow and Temperature Field for a Subsea Cage-Type Choke Valve

Abstract

As a critical regulating component in subsea Christmas tree systems, the cage-type choke valve governs the overall production efficiency and operational reliability of offshore oil and gas exploitation owing to its unique internal flow field characteristics. In accordance with the in situ operating conditions of the target oilfield, this paper performs a numerical simulation and systematic analysis on the flow field behaviors of a cage-type choke valve. Based on the fundamental theories of computational fluid dynamics (CFD), a three-dimensional coupled flow and heat transfer numerical model for the target choke valve is constructed via the FLUENT solver. Flow parameters under diverse pressure difference conditions are measured, validating the accuracy and feasibility of the established numerical model. Corresponding model hypothesis criteria and boundary condition configuration schemes are explicitly defined. Spatial distribution characteristics of the internal temperature, velocity, and pressure fields of the choke valve under different operating conditions are obtained through numerical simulation. Ten monitoring nodes uniformly arranged along the fluid domain from the inlet to the outlet are selected for quantitative analysis. The research results clarify that lower seawater temperature intensifies heat dissipation, leading to the observed temperature decrement, and confirm that the cage orifice structure dominates the flow acceleration, with the pressure drop magnitude linearly correlating with the inlet–outlet differential pressure. The research methodology and numerical findings of this study can provide a reliable basis for structural optimization and operating condition matching of cage-type choke valves applied in subsea oil and gas production systems.