Hydrodynamic Modeling of Three-Phase Flow in Production and Gathering Pipelines

2008 ◽  
Vol 130 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose Zaghloul ◽  
Michael Adewumi ◽  
M. Thaddeus Ityokumbul
Keyword(s):  
Fluid Model ◽  
Hydrate Formation ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Gas Oil ◽  
Wax Deposition ◽  
Liquid Loading ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Flow Reduction ◽  
Three Phase ◽  
Three Phase Flow

The transport of unprocessed gas streams in production and gathering pipelines is becoming more attractive for new developments, particularly those in less friendly environments such as deep offshore locations. Transporting gas, oil, and water together from wells in satellite fields to existing processing facilities reduces the investments required for expanding production. However, engineers often face several problems when designing these systems. These problems include reduced flow capacity, corrosion, emulsion, asphaltene or wax deposition, and hydrate formation. Engineers need a tool to understand how the fluids travel together, to quantify the flow reduction in the pipe, and to determine where, how much, and what type of liquid that would form in a pipe. The present work provides a fundamental understanding of the thermodynamics and hydrodynamic mechanisms of this type of flow. We present a model that couples complex hydrodynamic and thermodynamic models for describing the behavior of fluids traveling in near-horizontal pipes. The model presented herein focuses on gas transmission exhibiting low-liquid loading conditions. The model incorporates a hydrodynamic formulation for three-phase flow in pipes, a thermodynamic model capable of performing two-phase and three-phase flash calculations in an accurate, fast, and reliable manner, and a theoretical approach for determining flow pattern transitions in three-phase (gas-oil-water) flow and closure models that effectively handle different three-phase flow patterns and their transitions. The unified two-fluid model developed herein is demonstrated to be capable of handling three-phase systems exhibiting low-liquid loading. Model predictions were compared against field data with good agreement. The hydrodynamic model allows (1) the determination of flow reduction due to the condensation of liquid(s) in the pipe, (2) the assessment of the potential for forming substances that might affect the integrity of the pipe, and (3) the evaluation of the possible measures for improving the deliverability of the pipeline.

Hydrodynamic Modeling of Three-Phase Flow in Production and Gathering Pipelines

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose Zaghloul ◽  
Michael Adewumi ◽  
M. Thaddeus Ityokumbul
Keyword(s):  
Water Flow ◽  
Fluid Model ◽  
Hydrate Formation ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Gas Oil ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Flow Reduction ◽  
Three Phase ◽  
Three Phase Flow ◽  
Oil Water

The transport of unprocessed gas streams in production and gathering pipelines is becoming more attractive for new developments, particularly those is less friendly enviroments such as deep offshore locations. Transporting gas, oil, and water together from wells in satellite fields to existing processing facilities reduces the investments required for expanding production. However, engineers often face several problems when designing these systems. These problems include reduced flow capacity, corrosion, emulsion, asphaltene or wax deposition, and hydrate formation. Engineers need a tool to understand how the fluids travel together, quantify the flow reduction in the pipe, and determine where, how much, and the type of liquid that would from in a pipe. The present work provides a fundamental understanding of the thermodynamics and hydrodynamic mechanisms of this type of flow. We present a model that couples complex hydrodynamic and thermodynamic models for describing the behavior of fluids traveling in near-horizontal pipes. The model incorporates: • A hydrodynamic formulation for three-phase flow in pipes. • A thermodynamic model capable of performing two-phase and three-phase flow calculations in an accurate, fast and reliable manner. • A new theoretical approach for determining flow pattern transitions in three-phase (gas-oil-water) flow, and closure models that effectively handle different three-phase flow patterns and their transitions. The unified two-fluid model developed herein is demonstrated to be capable of handling systems exhibiting two-phase (gas-water and gas-oil) and three-phase (gas-oil-water) flow. Model predictions were compared against field and experimental data with excellent matches. The hydrodynamic model allows: 1) the determination of flow reduction due to the condensation of liquid(s) in the pipe, 2) assessment of the potential for forming substances that might affect the integrity of the pipe, and 3) evaluation of the possible measures for improving the deliverability of the pipeline.

scholarly journals Application of Artificial Intelligence and Gamma Attenuation Techniques for Predicting Gas–Oil–Water Volume Fraction in Annular Regime of Three-Phase Flow Independent of Oil Pipeline’s Scale Layer

Mathematics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (13) ◽  
pp. 1460
Author(s):  
Abdulaziz S. Alkabaa ◽  
Ehsan Nazemi ◽  
Osman Taylan ◽  
El Mostafa Kalmoun
Keyword(s):  
Gamma Radiation ◽  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Gas Oil ◽  
Oil Pipeline ◽  
Intelligent Technique ◽  
Scale Layer ◽  
Three Phase ◽  
Three Phase Flow ◽  
Annular Regime

To the best knowledge of the authors, in former studies in the field of measuring volume fraction of gas, oil, and water components in a three-phase flow using gamma radiation technique, the existence of a scale layer has not been considered. The formed scale layer usually has a higher density in comparison to the fluid flow inside the oil pipeline, which can lead to high photon attenuation and, consequently, reduce the measuring precision of three-phase flow meter. The purpose of this study is to present an intelligent gamma radiation-based, nondestructive technique with the ability to measure volume fraction of gas, oil, and water components in the annular regime of a three-phase flow independent of the scale layer. Since, in this problem, there are several unknown parameters, such as gas, oil, and water components with different amounts and densities and scale layers with different thicknesses, it is not possible to measure the volume fraction using a conventional gamma radiation system. In this study, a system including a 241Am-133Ba dual energy source and two transmission detectors was used. The first detector was located diametrically in front of the source. For the second detector, at first, a sensitivity investigation was conducted in order to find the optimum position. The four extracted signals in both detectors (counts under photo peaks of both detectors) were used as inputs of neural network, and volume fractions of gas and oil components were utilized as the outputs. Using the proposed intelligent technique, volume fraction of each component was predicted independent of the barium sulfate scale layer, with a maximum MAE error of 3.66%.

A Robust Methodology To Simulate Water-Alternating-Gas Experiments at Different Scenarios Under Near-Miscible Conditions

SPE Journal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (05) ◽  
pp. 1506-1518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedram Mahzari ◽  
Mehran Sohrabi
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
History Matching ◽  
Flow In Porous Media ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Matching Process ◽  
Water Alternating Gas ◽  
Three Phase ◽  
Three Phase Flow ◽  
Cycle Dependent

Summary Three-phase flow in porous media during water-alternating-gas (WAG) injections and the associated cycle-dependent hysteresis have been subject of studies experimentally and theoretically. In spite of attempts to develop models and simulation methods for WAG injections and three-phase flow, current lack of a solid approach to handle hysteresis effects in simulating WAG-injection scenarios has resulted in misinterpretations of simulation outcomes in laboratory and field scales. In this work, by use of our improved methodology, the first cycle of the WAG experiments (first waterflood and the subsequent gasflood) was history matched to estimate the two-phase krs (oil/water and gas/oil). For subsequent cycles, pertinent parameters of the WAG hysteresis model are included in the automatic-history-matching process to reproduce all WAG cycles together. The results indicate that history matching the whole WAG experiment would lead to a significantly improved simulation outcome, which highlights the importance of two elements in evaluating WAG experiments: inclusion of the full WAG experiments in history matching and use of a more-representative set of two-phase krs, which was originated from our new methodology to estimate two-phase krs from the first cycle of a WAG experiment. Because WAG-related parameters should be able to model any three-phase flow irrespective of WAG scenarios, in another exercise, the tuned parameters obtained from a WAG experiment (starting with water) were used in a similar coreflood test (WAG starting with gas) to assess predictive capability for simulating three-phase flow in porous media. After identifying shortcomings of existing models, an improved methodology was used to history match multiple coreflood experiments simultaneously to estimate parameters that can reasonably capture processes taking place in WAG at different scenarios—that is, starting with water or gas. The comprehensive simulation study performed here would shed some light on a consolidated methodology to estimate saturation functions that can simulate WAG injections at different scenarios.

scholarly journals Experimental study of horizontal two- and three-phase flow characteristics at low to medium liquid loading conditions

2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (10) ◽  
pp. 2809-2830 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Xavier Francisco Ribeiro ◽  
Ruiquan Liao ◽  
Aliyu Musa Aliyu ◽  
Wei Luo ◽  
Zilong Liu
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Flow Characteristics ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Loading Conditions ◽  
Liquid Loading ◽  
Three Phase ◽  
Three Phase Flow

Eulerian Three-Phase Flow Model Applied to Trickle-Bed Reactors

2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrzej Burghardt
Keyword(s):  
Fixed Bed ◽  
Solid Particles ◽  
Weighted Averaging ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Conservation Equations ◽  
Three Phase ◽  
Three Phase Flow ◽  
Reynolds Decomposition ◽  
Trickle Bed

Abstract The majority of publications and monographs present investigations which concern exclusively twophase flows and particulary dispersed flows. However, in the chemical and petrochemical industries as well as in refineries or bioengineering, besides the apparatuses of two-phase flows there is an extremely broad region of three-phase systems, where the third phase constitutes the catalyst in form of solid particles (Duduković et al., 2002; Martinez et al., 1999) in either fixed bed or slurry reactors. Therefore, the goal of this study is to develop macroscopic, averaged balances of mass, momentum and energy for systems with three-phase flow. Local instantaneous conservation equations are derived, which constitute the basis of the method applied, and are averaged by means of Euler’s volumetric averaging procedure. In order to obtain the final balance equations which define the averaged variables of the system, the weighted averaging connected with Reynolds decomposition is used. The derived conservation equations of the trickle-bed reactor (mass, momentum and energy balance) and especially the interphase effects appearing in these equations are discussed in detail.

Three-Phase Relative Permeability Measurements by Unsteady-State Method

1966 ◽  
Vol 6 (03) ◽  
pp. 199-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.M. Sarem
Keyword(s):  
Relative Permeability ◽  
Two Phase Flow ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Unsteady State ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Three Phase ◽  
Three Phase Flow ◽  
State Method ◽  
Permeability Data ◽  
Saturation History

Abstract For the performance prediction of multiphase oil recovery processes such as steam stimulation, there is an acute need for three-phase relative permeability data. No fast and simple experimental technique, such as the unsteady-state method proposed by Welge for two-phase flow, is available for the three-phase flow. In this paper, an unsteady-state method is presented for obtaining three-phase relative permeability data; this method is as fast and easy as Welge's method for two-phase flow. Analytical expressions are derived by extension of the Buckley-Leverett theory to three-phase flow to express the saturation at the outflow face for all three phases in terms of the known parameters. It is assumed that the fractional flow and relative permeability of each phase are a function of the saturation of that phase. Other simplifying assumptions made include the neglect of capillary and gravity effects. The effect of saturation history upon relative permeability is acknowledged and attainment of similar saturation history in laboratory and field is recommended. The required experimental work and computations are simple to perform. The test core is presaturated with oil and water, then subjected to gas drive. During the test, required data are the rates of oil, water, and gas production, together with pressure drop and temperature. The ordinary gas-oil unsteady-state relative permeability apparatus can be readily modified to measure the required data. The proposed technique was applied to samples of a Berea and a reservoir core. The effect of saturation history upon relative permeability was studied on one Berea core. It was found that increase in initial water saturation has a similar effect upon three-phase relative permeability as it does in two-phase flow. Introduction In the light of increasing demand for three-phase, relative permeability data for predicting the performance of thermal and other multiphase-flow recovery processes, a simple and accurate method of experimental determination of such data is extremely desirable. Leverett and Lewis1 described the simultaneous flow method of obtaining three-phase relative permeability data. However, Caudle et al.2 reported that this method is very time consuming and cumbersome. Corey3 proposed calculating the three-phase relative permeability from measured krg data. Corey's theory is based on simplified capillary pressure curves,4 assuming a straight line relationship between 1/Pc2 and saturation. Also, Corey's method assumes a preferentially water-wet system. The simplest and quickest method of obtaining three-phase relative permeability data is the unsteady-state method where, for instance, oil and water are displaced by gas. However, in such a test the correlation of average saturation with relative permeability does not give a valid relationship because the rates of oil, water and gas flow in the sample change continuously from the upstream to downstream end. This difficulty in calculating valid relationships was solved by Welge for two-phase flow by deriving an expression from Buckley and Leverett frontal advance equations.5,6 In this paper, relations are established to determine the outflow face saturation and relative permeability to all phases in a three-phase flow displacement experiment. Proposed Method The fundamentals established by Buckley and Leverett5 for two-phase flow were extended to three-phase flow and used as a basis for the derivation of saturation equations. This approach is comparable to Welge's6 use of Buckley and Leverett theory in arriving at expressions to determine the outflow face saturation of the displacing fluid in a two-phase flow system.

Numerical Solutions of the Equations for One-Dimensional Multi-Phase Flow in Porous Media

1966 ◽  
Vol 6 (01) ◽  
pp. 62-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Byron S. Gottfried ◽  
W.H. Guilinger ◽  
R.W. Snyder
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Numerical Methods ◽  
Numerical Solutions ◽  
Flow In Porous Media ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
One Dimensional ◽  
Three Phase ◽  
Three Phase Flow ◽  
The One

Abstract Two numerical methods are presented for solving the equations for one-dimensional, multiphase flow in porous media. The case of variable physical properties is included in the formulation, although gravity and capillarity are ignored. Both methods are analyzed mathematically, resulting in upper and lower bounds for the ratio of time step to mesh spacing. The methods are applied to two- and three-phase waterflooding problems in laboratory-size cores, and resulting saturation and pressure distributions and production histories are presented graphically. Results of the two-phase flow problem are in agreement with the predictions of the Buckley-Leverett theory. Several three-phase flow problems are presented which consider variations in the water injection rate and changes in the initial oil- and water-saturation distributions. The results are different physically from the two-phase case; however, it is shown that the Buckley-Leverett theory can accurately predict fluid interface velocities and displacing-fluid frontal saturations for three-phase flow, providing the correct assumptions are made. The above solutions are used as a basis for evaluating the numerical methods with respect to machine time requirements and allowable time step for a fixed mesh spacing. Introduction Considerable progress has been made in recent years in obtaining numerical solutions of the equations for two-phase flow in porous media. Douglas, Blair and Wagner2 and McEwen11 present different methods for solving the one-dimensional case for incompressible fluids with capillarity (the former using finite differences, the latter with an approach based upon characteristics). Fayers and Sheldon4 and Hovanesian and Fayers8 have extended these studies to include the effects of gravity. West, Garvin and Sheldon,14 in a pioneer paper, treat linear and radial systems with both capillarity and gravity and they also include the effects of compressibility. Douglas, Peaceman and Rachford3 consider two-dimensional, two-phase, incompressible flow with gravity and capillarity and Blair and Peaceman1 have extended this method to allow for compressible fluids. No one, however, has examined the case of three-phase flow, even for the relatively simple case of one-dimensional flow of incompressible fluids in the absence of gravity and capillarity. In obtaining a numerical technique for simulating forward in situ combustion laboratory experiments, Gottfried5 has developed a method for solving the one-dimensional, compressible flow equations with any number of flowing phases. Gravity and capillarity are not included in the formulation. The method has been used successfully, however, for two- and three-phase problems in a variable-temperature field with sources and sinks. This paper examines the algorithm of Gottfried more critically. Two numerical methods are presented for solving the one-dimensional, multi-phase flow equations with variable physical properties. Both methods are analyzed mathematically, and are used to simulate two- and three-phase waterflooding problems. The numerical solutions are then taken as a basis for comparing the utility of the methods. Problem Statement Consider a one-dimensional system in which capillarity, gravity and molecular diffusion are negligible. If n immiscible phases are present, n 2, the equation describing the flow of the ith phase is:12Equation 1 where all terms can vary with x and t.

Development of Transient Mechanistic Three-Phase Flow Model for Wellbores

SPE Journal ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (01) ◽  
pp. 374-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahdy Shirdel ◽  
Kamy Sepehrnoori
Keyword(s):  
Multiphase Flow ◽  
Flow Model ◽  
Fluid Model ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Complex Flow ◽  
Flow Models ◽  
Drift Flux Model ◽  
Three Phase ◽  
Three Phase Flow ◽  
Two Fluid

Summary Multiphase flow models have been widely used for downhole-gauging and production logging analysis in the wellbores. Coexistence of hydrocarbon fluids with water in production wells yields a complex flow system that requires a three-phase flow model for better characterizing the flow and analyzing measured downhole data. In the past few decades, many researchers and commercial developers in the petroleum industry have aggressively expanded development of robust multiphase flow models for the wellbore. However, many of the developed models apply homogeneous-flow models with limited assumptions for slippage between gas and liquid bulks or use purely two-fluid models. In this paper, we propose a new three-phase flow model that consists of a two-fluid model between liquid and gas and a drift-flux model between water and oil in the liquid phase. With our new method, we improve the simplifying assumptions for modeling oil, water, and gas multiphase flow in wells, which can be advantageous for better downhole flow characterization and phase separations in gravity-dominated systems. Furthermore, we developed semi-implicit and nearly implicit numerical algorithms to solve the system of equations. We discuss the stepwise-development procedures for these methods along with the assumptions in our flow model. We verify our model results against analytical solutions for the water faucet problem and phase redistribution, field data, and a commercial simulator. Our model results show very good agreement with benchmarks in the data.

Numerical Simulation of Particle Mixing Feature for a Gas-Liquid-Solid Three Phase Flow in an Impeller-Driven Stirred Vessel

2011 ◽  
Vol 130-134 ◽  
pp. 869-872
Author(s):  
Ru Quan Liang ◽  
Fu Sheng Yan ◽  
Jun Hong Ji ◽  
Ji Cheng He
Keyword(s):  
Particle Distribution ◽  
Fluid Model ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Particle Volume ◽  
Stirred Vessel ◽  
Particle Mixing ◽  
Three Phase ◽  
Three Phase Flow ◽  
Side Walls ◽  
Vessel Bottom

In this work, numerical simulations have been conducted to investigate the particle mixing feature in a stirred vessel driven by an impeller. The Eulerian multi-fluid model has been employed along with the standard k–ε turbulence model to simulate the gas-liquid-solid three-phase flow in the stirred vessel. The effects of impeller speed and immersion depth of impeller on the particle distribution are discussed. The results show that the particle volume fractions nearby the vessel bottom are large on the vicinity of the side walls of the vessel and small in the vessel middle region at different impeller speeds and immersion depths.

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