Emulsification of Production Fluids in the Choke Valve

Abstract

Is paper WS selected for presentation by an SPE Program committee following review of information cnntained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper, as presented, have not been revtewed by the S@ety of Petroleum Englneera and are subject to mrretion by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not neceaearlly reflect anỹ ition of the society of Petroleum Engineers, ita ofricera, w members. Papers presented at SPE meetings are subject to pubK@tion retiew by Editorial Committees of the Scdety of Petroleum Englneara. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper for mmmerdal pu~ee tithwt the written mnsent of the Sdety of Petroleum Engineers Is prohibited. Permission to raproduce In print is restricted to an absbad of not more than 300 wurds; illustrations may not be mpied.The abstrad must mntsln wnsplcuous atiowledgment of Mere and by whom the paper was preeented. Write Librartan, SPE, P.O. Mx 833636, Ritiardson, TX 7S0S3-3836, U.SA., fax 01 -972-952-%3S. AbstractFor oil production under high water cut conditions the efforts needed for de-oiling of the production water are mainly determined by the oil-droplet-size distribution of this water. This distribution is predominantly the result of droplet breakup in the choke valve. To determine the effect of the choke valve on the droplet-size distribution, we have conducted laboratory experiments in which we used a circular orifice in a circular pipe. With the help of theory on droplet break-up in turbulent flow and with knowledge of the flow field inside an orifice, a prediction of the distribution after break-up can be made. It is shown that the droplets increase in size with increasing oil viscosity and Mermore it appears that, for the description of the break-up process, the distribution of the turbulence over the orifice zone is an important factor.

Experimental study on droplet breakup in an orifice jet mixer

“…If the region is represented by V ε , then can be calculated as: in which several methods for the determination of V ε were reported in the literature. A very simple method was proposed by Zande et al 41 based on the experimental results of Morrison et al, 47 where V ε is equal to the product of cross‐sectional area and 2.5 times the pipe diameter.…”

“…It means that the action time of turbulence eddies is dominant; (c) the turbulent breakup theory is widely used in empirical correlation of droplet size in orifice flows, the correlation results agree well with experiment results. 25,26,41,42 It can be seen that the turbulent shear plays a dominant role in the breakup of droplets.…”

Experimental study of water droplet break up in water in oil dispersions using an apparatus that produces localized pressure drops

“…A droplet in a dispersion is subjected to forces applied by the continuous phase that is surrounding the droplet (Hinze, 1955;Taylor, 1934).Thus, normal and tangential tensions deform the droplet surface (Lemenand et al, 2003). The force per area that opposes deformation, known as Laplace pressure (P L ), is proportional to the interfacial tension (r) and inversely proportional to the curvature radii of the interface (R 1 and R 2 ), as shown in equation 1.…”

“…2.1 Break up in a laminar flow Lemenand et al (2003) have done a review of Taylor's (1932Taylor's ( , 1934) study, which demonstrates that the droplets break up, in a laminar flow, is governed by viscous shear stress. Following Walstra and Smulders (1998), when the external forces have origins in viscous stress, the Weber number assumes equation 5form and can be named Capillary number, where G is the droplet surrounding velocity gradient and l c is the continuous phase viscosity:…”

Produced-Water-Treating Systems: Comparison of North Sea and Deepwater Gulf of Mexico

“…The turbulence intensity (turbulence-energy-dissipation rate) is well-defined (Hinze 1955;Zhou and Krest 1998;van der Zande et al 1998van der Zande et al , 1999. It is expressed in units of W/kg of fluid.…”