Core-annular oil/water flow: the turbulent-lubricating-film model and measurements in a 5 cm pipe loop

Core-flow tests with a 3000 mPas fuel oil in a 5 cm test facility have revealed important information on the amplitudes and lengths of waves at the oil/water interface. The wavelengths vary considerably with water fraction and oil velocity. Moreover, the flow in the water annulus is turbulent. A previously developed theoretical model for steady core-annular flow in pipes has been extended by incorporating the effect of turbulence in the water film surrounding the oil core. The adapted model predicts the pressure-gradient increase with oil velocity correctly, provided that actual wave amplitudes and wavelengths observed during these tests are used as input data. The possible contribution of inertial effects is discussed.     

A comparison between numerical predictions and experimental results for horizontal core-annular flow with a turbulent annulus

An experimental and numerical study has been performed for oil–water core-annular flow in a horizontal pipe, with a special focus on the effect of the presence of the turbulence in the water annulus. An experimental set-up was built and the obtained experimental results were used for the validation of numerical simulations that were carried out as well. The oil density was considerably lower than the water density, which leads to a rather eccentric oil core. The numerical simulations were carried out for different time dependent, fully 3D conditions. Only when a turbulence model is applied (instead of assuming laminar flow) the agreement between the predictions and the experiments is reasonably good.     

油-水两相湍浮力回流双流体模型

在自然界和工程技术的许多领域,常遇到这样一类物理性质相差悬殊的两相复杂湍流,其特点是流场中包含有回流和因两相间的密度差而产生的浮力,在一定条件下,流场的密度分布会发生突变,使数学模拟和数值计算的难度大大增加。本文把研究精细的油污染预报模型作为基本目标,广泛地涉及了两相湍流精细模拟的理论和方法。用Eulerian坐标系中多流体模型统一描述油和水两相各自的运动,并分别对油和水本身的湍流输运规律以及相间相互作用规律进行模拟,建立了油-水两相湍浮力回流双流体模型及相应的数值计算方法。选定了包含有浮力和回流的两相复杂湍流作为模拟对象,对模型进行了数值验证,并与实测资料作了对比。然后,对油-水两相湍流进行了预报。结果表明,模型的模拟效果非常满意。     

水击谐波流场中乳化油液滴粒径的PIV测量

为了掌握乳化油液滴在水击谐波流场中的碰撞、破裂、聚集和变形等微观形态的变化规律,采用粒子图像测速(PIV)技术对水平方管中乳化油液滴的水击谐波流场进行了测量,分析了在水击谐波流场中,不同激振力作用下乳化油液滴的粒径变化。测量结果表明,在水击谐波流场作用下,乳化油液滴平均粒径的增长率随着激振力的减小而减小,随着作用时间的增大呈增加趋势,直至粒径处于一种动态平衡;乳化液滴随着激振力增大到达波节聚集位置的时间减少,可见增大水击谐波激振力有利于乳化液滴的聚集并合并为大尺度的液滴,从而有效地提高了水击谐波流场作用下的油水分离效果。     

水平管内油——水两相流动压降规律的实验研究

设计和建造了内径为26．1mm,长30m的水平不锈钢多相流实验环道,利用白油与水进行了油－水两相流流型和压降实验。本文针对各种流型,分析了油－水两相流动的压降规律和油－水混合液有效粘度,指出有效粘度法只适用于油－水分散流型的压降预测,对于分层流型式其它混合流型使用合适该种流型的压降预测模型来计算压降。研究结论对油田现场的油水混输管路的经济运行具有较大的指导意义。     

水平油水两相流流型对阻抗式含水率计的影响研究

实验研究了水平条件下20mm管径油水两相流的流动特性对阻抗式含水率计测量的影响.首先利用阻抗式含水率计测量不同含水率和流量条件下的混合物电阻率,并使用高速摄像记录对应的流型特征,进而分析流型对测量值的影响.通过对低、高流量分别采用电学和流体动力学模型分析后发现:低流量下混合物电阻率的主要影响因素是油水两相之间的速度滑脱,采用双流体动力学模型能有效地反映其变化规律.而高流量下(水包油分散流时)速度滑脱很小可以忽略,油水两相的空间结构对混合物电阻率的影响是问题的关键.近似绝缘的油滴分散在导电的水中形成的含孔导体电阻率高于实心导体,适用的电学模型是Maxwell电阻率模型.     

The hydrodynamic stability of core-annular flow of two ideal liquids

The hydrodynamic stability of core-annular flow of two ideal liquids through a pipe is investigated. If the thickness of the annular layer is much smaller than the radius of the pipe, the pipe wall has a strong reducing effect on the growth velocity of possible Rayleigh-Taylor and Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities at the interface between the two liquids.Shell Research N.V.     

The axisymmetric long-wave interfacial stability of core-annular flow of power-law fluid with surfactant

The long wave stability of core-annular flow of power-law fluids with an axial pressure gradient is investigated at low Reynolds number. The interface between the two fluids is populated with an insoluble surfactant. The analytic solution for the growth rate of perturbation is obtained with long wave approximation. We are mainly concerned with the effects of shear-thinning/thickening property and interfacial surfactant on the flow stability. The results show that the influence of shear-thinning/thickening property accounts to the change of the capillary number. For a clean interface, the shear-thinning property enhances the capillary instability when the interface is close to the pipe wall. The converse is true when the interface is close to the pipe centerline. For shear-thickening fluids, the situation is reversed. When the interface is close to the pipe centerline, the capillary instability can be restrained due to the influence of surfactant. A parameter set can be found under which the flow is linearly stable.     

Stability analysis of fluid-fluid interfaces

Two problems in pipe flow are discussed in which the stability of fluid-fluid interfaces plays an important role. A stability analysis for a simplified 2-D geometry is presented. In gas-liquid pipe flow different flow regimes occur. This is known to be related to the stability properties of the flow. We shall present a linear stability analysis of plane two-phase Poiseuille flow. Two different unstable modes can occur, corresponding to experimental findings for pipe flow. The first is a finite wavelength mode related to the transition to wavy flow via a Hopf bifurcation. The second unstable mode is an infinite wavelength mode, which may be related to the transition to slug flow. Core-annular flow can be used to transport very viscous crude oils. The crude oil is surrounded by a thin water film, which prevents the core from touching the wall. In the hydrodynamic force balance, waves on the interface play an important role. A linear stability analysis of plane Poiseuille-Couette flow can predict the wavelength in agreement with experimental results even far beyond the critical point. No non-linear analysis is available as yet.     

油水分离技术

随着油田开采时间的增长, 产出液中含水率逐年增加, 部分井液的含水率高达95% 以上, 给目前已有的处理工艺带来新的挑战. 为了解决这些问题, 急需研发新型的油水分离技术, 以解决传统技术所遇到的瓶颈. 该文结合目前油气开发的新需求, 系统地介绍了油水分离的技术现状, 讨论了含油污水深度处理技术的特点, 分析了未来油水分离技术的发展趋势. 同时, 结合力学研究所研制的新型管道式油水分离技术, 详细介绍了柱型分离、导流片型分离、以及T 型管分离等新技术, 提出了新型管道式分离技术具有的技术优势, 可解决稠油开采、海底作业、以及井下分离等难题, 指明了技术发展方向.      

Experimental study on the transition between stratified and non-stratified horizontal oil-water flow

The effect of oil and water velocities, pipe diameter and oil viscosity on the transition from stratified to non-stratified patterns was studied experimentally in horizontal oil-water flow. The investigations were carried out in a horizontal acrylic test section with 25.4 and 19 mm ID with water and two oil viscosities (6.4 and 12 cP) as test fluids. A high-speed video camera was used to study the flow structures and the transition. At certain oil velocity, stratified flow was found to transform into bubbly and dual continuous flows as superficial water velocity increased for both pipe diameters using the 12 cP oil viscosity. The transition to bubbly flow was found to disappear when the 6.4 cP oil viscosity was used in the 25.4 mm pipe. This was due to the low E?tv?s number. Transition to dual continuous flow occurred at lower water velocity for oil velocity up 0.21 m/s when 6.4 cP oil was used in the 25.4 mm ID pipe, while for U_so > 0.21 m/s, the transition appeared at lower water velocity with the 12 cP oil.The effect of pipe diameter was also found to influence the transition between stratified and non-stratified flows. At certain superficial oil velocity, the water velocity required to form bubbly flow increased as the pipe diameter increased while the water velocity required for drop formation decreased as the pipe diameter increased. The maximum wave amplitude was found to grow exponentially with respect to the mixture velocity. The experimental maximum amplitudes at the transition to non-stratified flow agreed reasonably well with the critical amplitude model. Finally, it was found that none of the available models were able to predict the present experimental data at the transition from stratified to non-stratified flow.     

Particle and bubble dynamics in a creeping flow

Dynamics of a solid particle and non-deformable gaseous bubble in viscous fluid are studied analytically and numerically within the framework of creeping flow regime (flow at vanishingly small Reynolds numbers). Equations of motion for the particle and bubble include the consideration of the buoyancy force, Stokes drag force and memory-integral drag force. Exact analytical solutions are obtained and categorised in terms of inclusion (particle or bubble) density with respect to the density of a surrounding fluid. Through the analytical and numerical solutions, the dynamics of solid particle and air bubble in water have been found to behave differently especially at the early stages of motion, whereas some qualitative similarities exist in the long-term asymptotic.     

Forms of partial breakdown of an oil body in a compound vortex

Over a wide range of parameters, the pattern of a two-layer (sunflower oil-water) fluid flow in a compound vortex is visualized. The vortex is formed by a disk mounted on the bottom of a cylindrical container and rotating at a constant angular velocity. The shapes of the interface of two media (water-oil, oil-air) are determined for different flow regimes, and the conditions and types of their breakdown are studied. Under supercritical conditions, the individual oil droplets, detached from the oil-water interface, form a direct water-oil emulsion near the lower edge of the body. With increase in the angular velocity of the disk, an invert emulsion is formed, i.e. cells containing water with oil shells. The dimensions of typical structural components of the flow are determined.     

Combined free and forced convection for developed flow in curved pipes with finite curvature ratio

Combined free and forced convection for developed flow in a curved pipe with arbitrary curvature ratio is studied numerically. The curved pipe is heated with axially uniform heat flux, while the wall temperature is maintained peripherally uniform. The buoyancy force is accounted by the Boussinesq approximation. The effects of the Dean, Prandtl, and Rayleigh numbers and especially of a wide range of curvature ratios on the flow resistance and the average heat transfer rate are presented. The significant distortion of the dividing streamline and the appearance of the secondary flow with one dominant cell for pipe flow with higher buoyancy force and curvature ratio are also discussed.     

Roles of interfacial dynamics in the interaction behaviours between deformable oil droplets

Drainage and deformation of the intervening film can arguably represent the dynamic nature of colliding soft matters. The development of an interaction force analysis between soft interfaces helps to probe the drop deformation and the interfacial properties. Based on the SRYL model, the fluid flow inside the droplet and the convection-diffusion of the surfactant at the oil-water interface is coupled to model the distribution of a non-ionic surfactant (Span80) during drop deformation using AFM. This study quantifies the in situ interfacial concentration with a trace amount of surfactant at the interface and indicates its effect on the interaction forces between two immersed oil droplets in an aqueous solution.     

CFD-DEM simulation of the hole cleaning process in a deviated well drilling: The effects of particle shape

We investigate the effect of particle shape on the transportation mechanism in well-drilling using a three-dimensional model that couples computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with the discrete element method (DEM). This numerical method allows us to incorporate the fluid–particle interactions (drag force, contact force, Saffman lift force, Magnus lift force, buoyancy force) using momentum exchange and the non-Newtonian behavior of the fluid. The interactions of particle−particle, particle−wall, and particle−drill pipe are taken into account with the Hertz–Mindlin model. We compare the transport of spheres with non-spherical particles (non-smooth sphere, disc, and cubic) constructed via the multi-sphere method for a range of fluid inlet velocities and drill pipe inclination angles. The simulations are carried out for laboratory-scale drilling configurations. Our results demonstrate good agreement with published experimental data. We evaluate the fluid–particle flow patterns, the particle velocities, and the particle concentration profiles. The results reveal that particle sphericity plays a major role in the fluid–solid interaction. The traditional assumption of an ideal spherical particle may cause inaccurate results.     

Slip ratio in dispersed viscous oil-water pipe flow

In this article, dispersed flow of viscous oil and water is investigated. The experimental work was performed in a 26.2-mm-i.d. 12-m-long horizontal glass pipe using water and oil (viscosity of 100 mPa s and density of 860 kg/m³) as test fluids. High-speed video recording and a new wire-mesh sensor based on capacitance (permittivity) measurements were used to characterize the flow. Furthermore, holdup data were obtained using quick-closing-valves technique (QCV). An interesting finding was the oil-water slip ratio greater than one for dispersed flow at high Reynolds number. Chordal phase fraction distribution diagrams and images of the holdup distribution over the pipe cross-section obtained via wire-mesh sensor indicated a significant amount of water near to the pipe wall for the three different dispersed flow patterns identified in this study: oil-in-water homogeneous dispersion (o/w H), oil-in-water non-homogeneous dispersion (o/w NH) and Dual continuous (Do/w & Dw/o). The phase slip might be explained by the existence of a water film surrounding the homogeneous mixture of oil-in-water in a hidrofilic-oilfobic pipe.     

Gravitational migration of fuel in porous media

Fuel migration in a water flowing through a porous medium generally occurs parallel to porous strata, which may not be horizontal. In this case, gravity tends to cause vertical segregation of fluids, depending on their densities. This phenomenon can exert a strong effect on fuel migration. The gravitational force creates the buoyancy force which acts upon the fuel, and may be either parallel or anti-parallel to the water flow direction.In this study, the above effects are investigated using the one-dimensional model of Pistineret al. We go beyond the latter investigation in describing the influence of the gravitational forces upon the movement of fuel saturation fronts in a vertical porous layer against and along the water flow direction.It is found that when the directions of the buoyancy force and of the water flow are anti-parallel, fuel migrates in the direction of the buoyancy force, provided the latter is strong enough. However, in the case of a weak buoyancy force, the direction of migration of the fuel depends on its mass. Small fuel masses move mainly in the direction of the water flow. However, big fuel slugs possessing large masses will move mainly in the direction of the buoyancy force. Slugs, characterized by intermediate masses, have no preferable moving direction and are almost stagnant.     

Multiphase flow with a simplified model for oil entrapment

A computationally simple procedure is described to model effects of oil entrapment on three-phase permeability-saturation-capillary pressure relations. The model requires knowledge of airwater saturation-capillary pressure relations, which are assumed to be nonhysteretic and are characterized by Van Genuchten's parametric model; scaling factors equal to the ratio of water surface tension to oil surface tension and to oil-water interfacial tension; and the maximum oil (also referred to as nonwetting liquid in a three-phase medium) saturation which would occur following water flooding of oil saturated soil. Trapped nonwetting liquid saturation is predicted as a function of present oil-water and air-oil capillary pressures and minimum historical water saturation since the occurrence of oil at a given location using an empirically-based algorithm. Oil relative permeability is predicted as a simple function of apparent water saturation (sum of actual water saturation and trapped oil saturation) and free oil saturation (difference between total oil and trapped oil saturation), and water relative permeability is treated as a unique function of actual water saturation. The proposed method was implemented in a two-dimensional finite-element simulator for three-phase flow and component transport, MOFAT. The fluid entrapment model requires minimal additional computational effort and computer storage and is numerically robust. The applicability of the model is illustrated by a number of hypothetical one- and two-dimensional simulations involving infiltration and redistribution with changes in water-table elevations. Results of the simulations indicate that the fraction of a hydrocarbon spill that becomes trapped under given boundary conditions increases as a nonlinear function of the maximum trapped nonwetting liquid saturation. Dense organic liquid plumes may exhibit more pronounced effects of entrapment due to the more dynamic nature of flow, even under static water table conditions. Disregarding nonwetting fluid entrapment may lead to significant errors in predictions of immiscible plume migration.     

Oil–water flows through sudden contraction and expansion in a horizontal pipe – Phase distribution and pressure drop

In this paper, change of flow patterns during the simultaneous flow of high viscous oil and water through the sudden contraction and expansion in a horizontal conduit has been studied. It is noted that these sudden changes in cross-section have a significant influence on the downstream phase distribution of lube oil–water flow. The observation suggests a simple technique to establish core flow as well as a way to prevent pipe wall fouling during the transportation of such oil. A number of interesting differences have been noted during low viscous oil–water flow through the same test rigs. While several types of core annular flow are observed for the former case, a wider variety of interfacial distribution characterizes kerosene–water systems. The pressure profiles during the simultaneous flow of lube oil and water through the sudden contraction and expansion are also studied and compared with low viscous oil–water flows. The pressure profiles are found to be independent of liquid viscosity and the loss coefficients are observed to be independent of flow patterns in both the cases.