摘要:Flow assurance issue in subsea pipelines arises mainly due to hydrate plugs. We present a new line-heater for prevention of hydrate plug formation in subsea pipelines. The line heater has modular compact design where an electrical heater and a swirl generator are embedded inside the housing pipe so that the stream can be heated efficiently and homogeneously. In this paper, flow and heat transfer characteristics of the line heater are investigated numerically, with a particular emphasis on the mixing effect due to the swirl generator.