Study of the two-phase liquid loading phenomenon by applying CFD techniques

Vieiro, J.; Asuaje, Miguel; Polanco, Geanette

doi:10.1260/1750-9548.7.4.301

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…The film thickness in a given cross section is measured horizontally from the wall to the point where L = 0.5 . This approach is shown by Vieiro et al (2013) to provide a good approximation of the film thickness and adopted by Chen et al (2015), Yan et al (2017).…”

Section: Time Step Independencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Introducing the third phase to the model results in an additional computational effort, especially with the existence of turbulence, compared to the twofluid modeling and may lead to further conversion issues. Vieiro et al (2013) conducted a CFD study using ANSYS CFX 13.0 to investigate the two-phase behavior of the annular flow near the transition to churn flow. They adopted the homogeneous model in a two-dimensional (2D) axisymmetric computational domain.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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CFD modeling of liquid film reversal of two-phase flow in vertical pipes

Hussein

Al–Sarkhi

Badr

et al. 2019

J Petrol Explor Prod Technol

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The phenomenon of two-phase flows is characterized by its wide range of presence in nature and industrial applications. In gas and oil production, the simultaneous two-phase flow of gases and liquids often occurs in gas wells. The produced gases flow rate decreases over the years until reaching a critical flow rate when they lose their ability to lift the associated liquids upward and the liquid film reverses direction, which triggers liquid loading. Liquid loading causes the produced liquids to accumulate in the bottom of the wellbore, which causes a high back pressure that reduces the well production rate till production is ceased eventually. The critical gas velocity exists in the churn flow regime which is mainly characterized by the oscillatory behavior of the liquids flow field. This study employs CFD techniques to model the churn flow in a 3-inchdiameter vertical pipe near the critical gas flow rate for different liquid flow rates. This work utilizes the two-fluid Eulerian model along with the RNG (Re-Normalization Group) k-ε turbulence model to investigate the behavior of the flow field in a two-dimensional axisymmetric computational domain. Simulations were carried out using the commercial software ANSYS Fluent 18.2 with air and water as the two working fluids. The model results showed a good agreement with the experimental data and proved the mesh and time independence of the model. Oscillatory behaviors of the liquid film flow rate, shear stress, and pressure were observed along with the formation of interfacial waves. Detailed information about the velocity, shear stress, and pressure behaviors is presented. Accordingly, recommendations are suggested for future considerations.

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Section: Time Step Independencementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

CFD modeling of liquid film reversal of two-phase flow in vertical pipes

Hussein

Al–Sarkhi

Badr

et al. 2019

J Petrol Explor Prod Technol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The model did describe the flow physics in the liquid film so no information on that was provided. Vieiro et al (2016) applied CFD techniques to study twophase liquid loading phenomenon. They used a 2D (axisymmetric) approach to execute the numerical simulation in ANSYS CFX version 13.0 by adopting the homogeneous model.…”

Section: Numerical Studies On Two-phase Flowsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although many investigations on liquid loading have been carried out (Turner et al 1969;Coleman et al 1991;Nosseir et al 2000;Li et al 2016;Dousi et al 2006;Yuan 2011;Guner 2012;Makinde et al 2013;Tan et al 2013;Li et al 2014;Vieiro et al 2016), a detailed understanding of the fluid flow behavior during liquid loading is not yet fully available and prediction methods of this phenomenon are still rather incipient. A better comprehension of liquid loading fundamentals can lead to the development of reliable models and correlations that can provide more accurate production forecasts, effective design of flow lines and completions, and remediation of wells under liquid loading conditions (Waltrich et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current status of CFD modeling of liquid loading phenomena in gas wells: a literature review

Adaze

Al–Sarkhi

Badr

et al. 2018

J Petrol Explor Prod Technol

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Two-phase (gas-liquid) flow in vertical pipes has been one of the interests of industrial applications such as power plants, nuclear reactors, boilers, gas well exploration and so on. One of the problems usually encountered in the gas well exploration industries is liquid loading: a condition where the gas velocity is not high enough to carry all the liquid generated in the gas wells. During normal operation, flow in the gas wells shows characteristics of annular flow regime. However, as the gas wells mature, the gas velocities reduce (below a critical value) and gradually lead to the onset of liquid loading (film reversal). At this point, flow in the gas well presents features of churn flow. Thus, during the film reversal point, the liquid film tends to increase in thickness and part of it starts to flow downwards. This paper first summarizes the available mechanistic and numerical models related to liquid loading and then reviews the application of CFD techniques to liquid loading modeling in vertical pipes. Most of the methodologies discussed here focus on annular and churn flow due to the limited information on the application of CFD techniques to liquid loading modeling and the onset of film reversal occurs during the transition from annular flow to churn flow which can lead to liquid loading as observed experimentally by many researchers. It was concluded from the available literature related to liquid loading that a detailed understanding of the fluid flow behavior during liquid loading is not yet fully available and prediction methods of this phenomenon are still rather incipient. Directions for good CFD modeling of these important phenomena are presented in the present paper.

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