A New Mechanistic Model to Predict Boosting Pressure of Electrical Submersible Pumps ESPs Under High-Viscosity Fluid Flow with Validations by Experimental Data

Summary As the second most widely used artificial-lift method in petroleum production (and first in accumulative production), electrical submersible pumps (ESPs) increase flow rates by converting kinetic energy to hydraulic pressure. ESPs are routinely characterized with water flow, and water performance curves are provided by the manufacturers (catalog curves) for designing ESP-based artificial-lift systems. However, the properties of hydrocarbon fluids are very different from those of water, especially the dynamic viscosities, which can significantly alter the ESP performance. Most of the existing methods to estimate ESP boosting pressure under high-viscosity fluid flow involve a strong empirical nature, and are derived by correlating experimental/field data with correction factors (e.g., Hydraulic Institute Standards 1955). A universally valid mechanistic model to calculate the ESP boosting pressure under viscous fluid flow is not yet available. In this paper, a new mechanistic model accounting for the viscosity effect of working fluids on ESP hydraulic performance is proposed, and it is validated with a large database collected from different types of ESPs. The new model starts from the Euler equations for characterizing centrifugal pumps, and introduces a conceptual best-match flow rate QBM, at which the outlet flow direction of the impeller matches the designed flow direction. The mismatch of velocity triangles, resulting from the varying liquid-flow rates, is used to derive the recirculation losses. Other head losses caused by flow-direction change, friction, leakage flow, and other factors. are incorporated into the new model as well. QBM is obtained by matching the predicted H-Q performance curve of an ESP with the catalog curves. Once QBM is determined, the ESP hydraulic head under viscous-fluid-flow conditions can be calculated. The specific speed (NS) of the studied ESPs in this paper ranges from 1,600 to 3,448, including one radial-type ESP and two mixed-type designs. The model-predicted ESP boosting pressure with water flow is found to match the catalog curves well if QBM is properly tuned. With high-viscosity fluid presence, the model predictions of ESP boosting pressure also agree well with the corresponding experimental data. For most calculation results within medium to high flow rates, the model prediction error is less than 15%. Unlike the empirical correlations that take experimental data points as inputs, the mechanistic model in this study does not require entering any experimental data, but can predict ESP boosting pressure under viscous fluid flow with a reasonable accuracy.

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Development of Particle Method for the Simulation of High Viscosity Fluid Flow in Partially Filled Mixer

Seikei-Kakou ◽

10.4325/seikeikakou.27.380 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 27 (9) ◽

pp. 380-387

Author(s):

Tomokazu Nakagawa ◽

Sayaka Yamada ◽

Kazuhide Sekiyama

Keyword(s):

Fluid Flow ◽

Particle Method ◽

High Viscosity ◽

Viscosity Fluid

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Partially Filled Flow Simulation Using Meshfree Method for High Viscosity Fluid in Plastic Mixer

International Polymer Processing ◽

10.3139/217.3727 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 34 (2) ◽

pp. 279-289

Author(s):

K. Sekiyama ◽

S. Yamada ◽

T. Nakagawa ◽

Y. Nakayama ◽

T. Kajiwara

Keyword(s):

Flow Simulation ◽

Meshfree Method ◽

High Viscosity ◽

Viscosity Fluid

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of Model-free forecasting outperforms the correct mechanistic model for simulated and experimental data.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.718014403.793477671 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Chih-hao Hsieh

Keyword(s):

Experimental Data ◽

Mechanistic Model ◽

Model Free

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Application of a dynamic mechanistic model of small intestinal starch digestion in the dairy cow

Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science ◽

10.1017/s1752756200007602 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 2002 ◽

pp. 104-104

Author(s):

J. A. N. Mills ◽

E. Kebreab ◽

L. A. Crompton ◽

J. Dijkstra ◽

J. France

Keyword(s):

Experimental Data ◽

Small Intestine ◽

Dairy Cow ◽

Energy Recovery ◽

Mechanistic Model ◽

Biological Knowledge ◽

Dietary Energy ◽

Starch Digestion ◽

High Contribution ◽

Small Intestinal

The high contribution of postruminal starch digestion (>50%) to total tract starch digestion on certain energy dense diets (Mills et al. 1999) demands that limitations to small intestinal starch digestion are identified. Therefore, a dynamic mechanistic model of the small intestine was constructed and evaluated against published experimental data for abomasal carbohydrate infusions in the dairy cow. The mechanistic structure of the model allowed the current biological knowledge to be integrated into a system capable of identifying restrictions to dietary energy recovery from postruminal starch delivery.

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A New Dynamic Wettability-Alteration Model for Oil-Wet Cores During Surfactant-Solution Imbibition

SPE Journal ◽

10.2118/153329-pa ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 18 (05) ◽

pp. 818-828 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

M. Hosein Kalaei ◽

Don W. Green ◽

G. Paul Willhite

Keyword(s):

Experimental Data ◽

Oil Recovery ◽

History Matching ◽

Mechanistic Model ◽

Surfactant Solution ◽

Experimental Tests ◽

Quantitative Agreement ◽

Wettability Alteration ◽

Porous Rock ◽

Surfactant Solutions

Summary Wettability modification of solid rocks with surfactants is an important process and has the potential to recover oil from reservoirs. When wettability is altered by use of surfactant solutions, capillary pressure, relative permeabilities, and residual oil saturations change wherever the porous rock is contacted by the surfactant. In this study, a mechanistic model is described in which wettability alteration is simulated by a new empirical correlation of the contact angle with surfactant concentration developed from experimental data. This model was tested against results from experimental tests in which oil was displaced from oil-wet cores by imbibition of surfactant solutions. Quantitative agreement between the simulation results of oil displacement and experimental data from the literature was obtained. Simulation of the imbibition of surfactant solution in laboratory-scale cores with the new model demonstrated that wettability alteration is a dynamic process, which plays a significant role in history matching and prediction of oil recovery from oil-wet porous media. In these simulations, the gravity force was the primary cause of the surfactant-solution invasion of the core that changed the rock wettability toward a less oil-wet state.

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A New Mechanistic Model for Emulsion Rheology and Boosting Pressure Prediction in Electrical Submersible Pumps (ESPs) under Oil-Water Two-Phase Flow

SPE Journal ◽

10.2118/196155-pa ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-18

Author(s):

Jianjun Zhu ◽

Hanjun Zhao ◽

Guangqiang Cao ◽

Hattan Banjar ◽

Haiwen Zhu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Flow Rate ◽

Mechanistic Model ◽

Hydraulic Pressure ◽

Water Emulsion ◽

Flow Rates ◽

Electrical Submersible Pumps ◽

Pressure Increment ◽

Emulsion Flow ◽

Oil Water ◽

Rheology Model

Summary As the second most widely used artificial lift method in the petroleum industry, electrical submersible pumps (ESPs) maintain or increase flow rates by converting the kinetic energy to hydraulic pressure. As oilfields age, water is invariably produced with crude oil. The increase of water cut generates oil-water emulsions due to the high-shearing effects inside a rotating ESP. Emulsions can be stabilized by natural surfactants or fine solids existing in the reservoir fluids. The formation of emulsions during oil production creates a high viscous mixture, resulting in costly problems and flow assurance issues, such as increasing pressure drop and reducing production rates. This paper, for the first time, proposes a new rheology model to predict the oil-water emulsion effective viscosities and establishes a link of fluid rheology and its effect with the stage pressure increment of ESPs. Based on Brinkman's (1952) correlation, a new rheology model, accounting for ESP rotational speed, stage number, fluid properties, and so on, is developed, which can also predict the phase inversion in oil-water emulsions. For the new mechanistic model to calculate ESP boosting pressure, a conceptual best-match flow rate (QBM) is introduced. QBM corresponds to the flow rate whose direction at the ESP impeller outlet matches the designed flow direction. Induced by the liquid flow rates changing, various pressure losses can be derived from QBM, including recirculation losses, and losses due to friction, leakage, sudden change of flow directions, and so on. Incorporating the new rheology model into the mechanistic model, the ESP boosting pressure under oil-water emulsion flow can be calculated. To validate the proposed model, the experimental data from two different types of ESPs were compared with the model predictions in terms of ESP boosting pressure. Under both high-viscositysingle-phase fluid flow and oil-water emulsion flow, the model predicted ESP pressure increment matches the experimental measurements well. From medium to high flow rates with varying oil viscosities and water cuts, the prediction error is less than 15%.

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Prediction of High Viscosity Liquid/Gas Two-Phase Slug Length in Horizontal and Slightly Inclined Pipelines

10.2118/206280-ms ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Omar Shaaban ◽

Eissa Al-Safran

Keyword(s):

Numerical Optimization ◽

Flow Behavior ◽

Mechanistic Model ◽

High Viscosity ◽

Oil Well ◽

Liquid Slug ◽

Two Phase ◽

Proposed Model ◽

Wide Range ◽

Flow Closure

Abstract The production and transportation of high viscosity liquid/gas two-phase along petroleum production system is a challenging operation due to the lack of understanding the flow behavior and characteristics. In particular, accurate prediction of two-phase slug length in pipes is crucial to efficiently operate and safely design oil well and separation facilities. The objective of this study is to develop a mechanistic model to predict high viscosity liquid slug length in pipelines and to optimize the proper set of closure relationships required to ensure high accuracy prediction. A large high viscosity liquid slug length database is collected and presented in this study, against which the proposed model is validated and compared with other models. A mechanistic slug length model is derived based on the first principles of mass and momentum balances over a two-phase slug unit, which requires a set of closure relationships of other slug characteristics. To select the proper set of closure relationships, a numerical optimization is carried out using a large slug length dataset to minimize the prediction error. Thousands of combinations of various slug flow closure relationships were evaluated to identify the most appropriate relationships for the proposed slug length model under high viscosity slug length condition. Results show that the proposed slug length mechanistic model is applicable for a wide range of liquid viscosities and is sensitive to the selected closure relationships. Results revealed that the optimum closure relationships combination is Archibong-Eso et al. (2018) for slug frequency, Malnes (1983) for slug liquid holdup, Jeyachandra et al. (2012) for drift velocity, and Nicklin et al. (1962) for the distribution coefficient. Using the above set of closure relationships, model validation yields 37.8% absolute average percent error, outperforming all existing slug length models.

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Semi-analytical solution for the problem of extended Pom-Pom fluid flow in a round pipe

Journal of Physics Conference Series ◽

10.1088/1742-6596/2057/1/012007 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2057 (1) ◽

pp. 012007

Author(s):

A I Kadyirov ◽

E K Vachagina

Keyword(s):

Experimental Data ◽

Fluid Flow ◽

Analytical Solution ◽

Solution Method ◽

Parametric Method ◽

Single Equation ◽

Weissenberg Number ◽

Normal Stresses ◽

Rheological Equation ◽

Rheological Equation Of State

Abstract A semi-analytical solution to the problem of the steady flow of viscoelastic single equation eXended Pom-Pom (XPP) fluid in a round pipe using the four-mode rheological equation of state of XPP is presented. An original parametric method for solving the set problem is used. The resulting method is applicable for solving a similar problem in a flat slit. The developed solution method is tested by comparing it with numerical results and experimental data. Using a polyacrylamide solution as an example, the influence of the Weissenberg number on the axial velocity profiles and the components of normal stresses is studied.

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