The Influence of Emulsion Rheology on Centrifugal Pump-Pipeline Systems in Hydrocarbon Fields

Abstract

The characteristics of a centrifugal pump-pipeline system are investigated in relation to the rheological characteristics of field emulsions. In this study, a new processing method is proposed that can be used to calculate these characteristics. During the process, demulsifiers were taken into account to affect emulsion rheology. Furthermore, it was considered to pump highly watered crude to a preliminary water removal unit from the booster pump station.This study found that smaller-diameter pipes are more effective at reducing viscosity rapidly in collection pipelines. Pipelines with large diameters are most effective at pressure pipelines because they have low shear rates and, therefore, low effective viscosities.