Performance Analysis, Pressure Drop and Phases-Distribution for Oil-Water-Air Three-Phase Flow Through Vertical Pipe

Summary Water-alternating-gas (WAG) injection in waterflooded reservoirs can increase oil recovery and extend the life of these reservoirs. Reliable reservoir simulations are needed to predict the performance of WAG injection before field implementation. This requires accurate sets of relative permeability (kr) and capillary pressure (Pc) functions for each fluid phase, in a three-phase-flow regime. The WAG process also involves another major complication, hysteresis, which is caused by flow reversal happening during WAG injection. Hysteresis is one of the most important phenomena manipulating the performance of WAG injection, and hence, it has to be carefully accounted for. In this study, we have benefited from the results of a series of coreflood experiments that we have been performing since 1997 as a part of the Characterization of Three-Phase Flow and WAG Injection JIP (joint industry project) at Heriot-Watt University. In particular, we focus on a WAG experiment carried out on a water-wet core to obtain three-phase relative permeability values for oil, water, and gas. The relative permeabilities exhibit significant and irreversible hysteresis for oil, water, and gas. The observed hysteresis, which is a result of the cyclic injection of water and gas during WAG injection, is not predicted by the existing hysteresis models. We present a new three-phase relative permeability model coupled with hysteresis effects for the modeling of the observed cycle-dependent relative permeabilities taking place during WAG injection. The approach has been successfully tested and verified with measured three-phase relative permeability values obtained from a WAG experiment. In line with our laboratory observations, the new model predicts the reduction of the gas relative permeability during consecutive water-and-gas-injection cycles as well as the increase in oil relative permeability happening in consecutive water-injection cycles.

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Analysis of Oil-Water-Gas Three-Phase Flow in a Curved Leaking Pipe

Defect and Diffusion Forum ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/ddf.366.144 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 366 ◽

pp. 144-150

Author(s):

Boniek Evangelista Leite ◽

Severino Rodrigues de Farias Neto ◽

Antonio Gilson Barbosa de Lima ◽

Lígia Rafaely Barbosa Sarmento

Keyword(s):

Continuous Phase ◽

Environmental Damage ◽

Particle Model ◽

Phase Flow ◽

Curved Pipe ◽

Three Phase ◽

Three Phase Flow ◽

Oil Water ◽

Object Of Study ◽

Water Gas

The onshore and offshore production of oil and natural gas is characterized by the multiphase flow in ducts and pipes, which are interconnected by various equipments such as wellhead, pumps, compressors, processing platforms, among others. The transport of oil and oil products is essential to the viability of the sector, but is susceptible to failures, that can cause great environmental damage. Considering this necessity of the transportation sector of oil and derivatives, leakage in pipelines with curved connections, are the object of study for various researchers. In this sense, this work contributes to the study of three-phase flow (oil-water-gas) in a curved pipe (90°) using Computational Fluid Dynamics. The physical domain is constituted by two tubes of 4 meters trenched by a 90° curve, with the poring whole in the curvated accessory. The mathematical model is based on a particle model, where the oil is considered as a continuous phase and the water and gas as a particulate phase. The SST (Shear Stress Transport) turbulence model was adopted. All simulations were carried out using the Ansys CFX® 12.1 commercial code. Results of the pressure, velocity and volumetric fraction of the phases are presented and discussed.

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

Volume 2: Structures, Safety and Reliability; Petroleum Technology Symposium ◽

10.1115/omae2007-29466 ◽

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.

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