DOI: 10.1615/ICHMT.1997.IntSymLiqTwoPhaseFlowTranspPhen
ISBN Print: 1-56700-162-9
PRESSURE DROP, FLOW PATTERN AND SLIP FOR TWO PHASE CRUDE OIL/WATER FLOW: EXPERIMENTS AND MODEL PREDICTIONS
SINOPSIS
Flow experiments have been conducted in a horizontal 3 inch ID flow loop of steel at a length to diameter ratio of 1100. The fluids were light crude oil from the North Sea (ρ0 = 741 kg/m3 and μ0 = 1 cp.) and synthetic formation water. The fluids were saturated with hydrocarbon gas at 105 bar and 70 °C. The water-cut was varied between 0 % and 100 % at three constant liquid flow rates. Pressure drop, in-situ phase fractions and the flow patterns were measured. For water-cut below 40-45 % dispersed oil continuous flow exist and the dispersed water velocity is significant higher than the oil velocity for the highest flowrates. The model for dispersion viscosity given by Pal&Rhodes, combined with a no-slip model, predicts the pressure drop data quite well. For water-cut higher than 40-45 % stratified oil/water flow exist. There exist an inconsistency between pressure drop and in-situ phase fractions obtained from a two-fluid model. To get those parameters consistent the wall friction for the oil zone should be significantly higher and for the water zone lower compared to a single phase flow analogy.