Investigation of the Effects of Completion Geometry on Single-Phase Liquid Flow Behavior in Horizontal Wells

The fluids in horizontal wells can exhibit complicated flow behaviors, in part due to interaction between the main flow and the influxes along the wellbore, and due to completion geometries. An existing small-scale test facility at Tulsa University Fluid Flow Projects (TUFFP) was used to simulate the flow in a horizontal well completed with either circular perforations or slotted liners. Single phase liquid flow experiments were conducted with Reynolds numbers ranging approximately from 5000 to 65,000 and influx to main flow rate ratios ranging from 1/50 to 1/1000. For both the perforation and slot cases, three different completion densities and three different completion phasings are considered. Based on the experimental data, new friction factor correlations for horizontal well with multiple perforation completion or multiple slots completion were developed using the principles of conservation of mass and momentum.