Modeling of Heavy-Oil Flow with Regard to Their Rheological Properties

Abstract

With the depletion of traditional energy resources, the share of heavy-oil production has been increasing recently. According to some estimates, their reserves account for 80% of the world’s oil resources. Costs for extraction of heavy oil and natural bitumen are 3–4 times higher than the costs of extracting light oil, which is due not only to higher density and viscosity indicators but also to insufficient development of equipment and technologies for the extraction, transportation, and processing of such oils. Currently, a single pipeline system is used to pump both light and heavy oil. Therefore, it is necessary to take into account the features of the heavy-oil pumping mode. This paper presents mathematical models of heavy-oil flow in oil-field pipelines. The rheological properties of several heavy-oil samples were determined by experiments. The dependencies obtained were used as input data for a simulation model using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods. The modeling condition investigates the range of shear rates up to 300 s−1. At the same time, results up to 30 s−1 are considered in the developed computational models. The methodology of the research is, thus, based on a CFD approach with experimental confirmation of the results obtained. The proposed rheological flow model for heavy oil reflects the dynamics of the internal structural transformation during petroleum transportation. The validity of the model is confirmed by a comparison between the theoretical and the obtained experimental results. The results of the conducted research can be considered during the selection of heavy-oil treatment techniques for its efficient transportation.

Technology for Improving the Efficiency of Fractured Reservoir Development Using Gel-Forming Compositions

“…Further research will focus on the development of a technology for the joint use of the developed water shut-off composition and emulsion liquid packer, including the determination of the optimal composition and rheological properties [39][40][41][42][43] of the liquid packer.…”

“…Further research will focus on the development of a technology for the joint use of the developed water shut-off composition and emulsion liquid packer, including the determination of the optimal composition and rheological properties [39][40][41][42][43] of the liquid packer. During the third stage, a breaker fluid is injected to destroy the gel in the wellbore (to prevent the formation of "hydraulic gates") and gel formed in oil-saturated intervals [38].…”

Modeling Results for the Real Horizontal Heavy-Oil-Production Well of Mechanical Solids

“…Therefore, the main part of the well stock is horizontal wells, where multi-stage hydraulic fracturing is carried out at the stage of completion. Taken together, these factors lead to the fact that mechanical impurities cannot be avoided even with utilization of integrated measures, such as strengthening of the near-wellbore formation zone with binding compositions with various types of completion, as well as application of sand screens [11,12].…”

Technology for Preventing the Wax Deposit Formation in Gas-Lift Wells at Offshore Oil and Gas Fields in Vietnam

“…In addition to that, another disadvantage of the method is that the closure, due to its design, has a diameter close to the inner diameter of the tubing. Therefore, when the heating element is lowered into the well's tubing, it will hinder the flow of well fluid during production since the cross-section of the tubing is significantly reduced and, consequently, there is an inability to operate the heating systems for long-term operation in the well [46][47][48][49].…”