Improving Oil Recovery in the Mature La Cira Infantas Oilfield Using Multiphase Flow Simulation

Summary Compositional simulation is necessary for modeling complex enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes. For accurate simulation of compositional processes, we need to resolve the coupling of the nonlinear conservation laws, which describe multiphase flow and transport, with the equilibrium phase behavior constraints. The complexity of the problem requires extensive computations and consumes significant time. This paper presents a new framework for the general compositional problem associated with multicomponent multiphase flow in porous media. Here, adaptive construction and interpolation using the supporting tie lines are used to obtain the phase state and the phase compositions. For the parameterization of the full solution of a complex compositional problem, we need only a limited number of supporting tie lines in the compositional space. The parameterized tie lines are triangulated using Delaunay tessellation, and natural-neighbor interpolation is used inside the simplexes. Then, the computation of the phase behavior in the course of a simulation becomes an iteration-free, table look-up procedure. The treatment of nonlinearities associated with complex thermodynamic behavior of the fluid is based on the new set of unknowns—tie-line parameters that allow for efficient representation of the subcritical region. For the supercritical region, we use the standard compositional variable set based on the overall composition. The efficiency and accuracy of the method are demonstrated for several multidimensional compositional problems of practical interest. In terms of the computational cost of the thermodynamic calculations, the proposed method shows results comparable to those of state-of-the-art techniques. Moreover, the method shows better nonlinear convergence in the case of near-miscible gas-injection simulation.

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Enhanced discrete phase model for multiphase flow simulation of blood flow with high shear stress

Science Progress ◽

10.1177/00368504211008064 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 104 (1) ◽

pp. 003685042110080

Author(s):

Zheqin Yu ◽

Jianping Tan ◽

Shuai Wang

Keyword(s):

Blood Flow ◽

Shear Stress ◽

Multiphase Flow ◽

Experimental Verification ◽

Flow Simulation ◽

Turbulence Models ◽

Phase Model ◽

Force Model ◽

Discrete Phase Model ◽

Discrete Phase

Shear stress is often present in the blood flow within blood-contacting devices, which is the leading cause of hemolysis. However, the simulation method for blood flow with shear stress is still not perfect, especially the multiphase flow model and experimental verification. In this regard, this study proposes an enhanced discrete phase model for multiphase flow simulation of blood flow with shear stress. This simulation is based on the discrete phase model (DPM). According to the multiphase flow characteristics of blood, a virtual mass force model and a pressure gradient influence model are added to the calculation of cell particle motion. In the experimental verification, nozzle models were designed to simulate the flow with shear stress, varying the degree of shear stress through different nozzle sizes. The microscopic flow was measured by the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) experimental method. The comparison of the turbulence models and the verification of the simulation accuracy were carried out based on the experimental results. The result demonstrates that the simulation effect of the SST k- ω model is better than other standard turbulence models. Accuracy analysis proves that the simulation results are accurate and can capture the movement of cell-level particles in the flow with shear stress. The results of the research are conducive to obtaining accurate and comprehensive analysis results in the equipment development phase.

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Kinetic-based Multiphase Flow Simulation

IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics ◽

10.1109/tvcg.2020.2972357 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-1 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Wei Li ◽

Daoming Liu ◽

Mathieu Desbrun ◽

Jin Huang ◽

Xiaopei Liu

Keyword(s):

Multiphase Flow ◽

Flow Simulation

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Multiphase Flow Loop Testing of Autonomous Inflow Control Valve for Light Oil

10.2523/iptc-21450-ms ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Soheila Taghavi ◽

Ismarullizam Mohd Ismail ◽

Haavard Aakre ◽

Vidar Mathiesen

Keyword(s):

Multiphase Flow ◽

Oil Recovery ◽

Flow Behavior ◽

Control Valve ◽

Flow Loop ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Total Recovery ◽

Light Oil ◽

Control Devices ◽

Model Oil

Abstract To increase the production and recovery of marginal, mature, and challenging oil reservoirs, developing new inflow control technologies is of great importance. In cases where production of surrounding reservoir fluids such as gas and water can cause negative effects on both the total oil recovery and the amounts of energy required to drain the reservoir, the multiphase flow performances of these technologies are of particular significance. In typical cases, a Long Horizontal Well (LHW) will eventually start producing increasing amounts of these fluids. This will cause the Water Cut (WC) and/or Gas Oil Ratio (GOR) to rise, ultimately forcing the well to be shut down even though there still are considerable amounts of oil left in the reservoir. In earlier cases, Inflow Control Devices (ICD) and Autonomous Inflow Control Devices (AICD) have proven to limit these challenges and increase the total recovery by balancing the influx along the well and delaying the breakthrough of gas and/or water. The Autonomous Inflow Control Valve (AICV) builds on these same principles, and in addition has the ability to autonomously close when breakthrough of unwanted gas and/or water occurs. This will even out the total drawdown in the well, allowing it to continue producing without the WC and/or GOR reaching inacceptable limits. As part of the qualification program of the light-oil AICV, extensive flow performance tests have been carried out in a multiphase flow loop test rig. The tests have been performed under realistic reservoir conditions with respect to variables such as pressure and temperature, with model oil, water, and gas at different WC's and GOR's. Conducting these multiphase experiments has been valuable in the process of establishing the AICV's multiphase flow behavior, and the results are presented and discussed in this paper. Single phase performance and a comparison with a conventional ICD are also presented. The results display that the AICV shows significantly better performance than the ICD, both for single and multiphase flow. A static reservoir modelling method have been used to evaluate the AICV performance in a light-oil reservoir. When compared to a screen-only completion and an ICD completion, the simulation shows that a completion with AICV's will outperform the above-mentioned completions with respect to WC and GOR behavior. A discussion on how this novel AICV can be utilized in marginal, mature, and other challenging reservoirs will be provided in the paper.

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