Experimental and Theoretical Characterization of Sand-Carrying by Heavy Oil-Flow in a Horizontal Wellbore

Hong Gao; Zhiming Wang; Xiaoqiu Wang; Dongying Wang

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ogce.20180606.22

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Experimental and Theoretical Characterization of Sand-Carrying by Heavy Oil-Flow in a Horizontal Wellbore

Hong Gao, Zhiming Wang, Xiaoqiu Wang, Dongying Wang

Received: 13 November 2018 Accepted: 4 December 2018 Published: 18 January 2019

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Abstract

The world's heavy oil reserves are very large. With the wide application of heavy oil cold recovery technology, the problem of blockage in oil well caused by the deposition of sand in the wellbore is becoming more and more serious. Therefore, it is very important to study the deposition and migration of sand in the wellbore. Based on indoor full-sized experimental apparatus simulating multiphase complex flows, the sand-carrying capacity of heavy oil in pipes is determined using a high-viscosity white oil and water mixture as the fluid medium, and by varying parameters such as the saturation, sand volume concentration, viscosity of heavy oil, and flow. A complete investigation is performed to obtain the basis of the sand flow in pipes and sand-bed development and migration. It is shown that the viscosity of heavy oil, main flow rate, and water content have a significant effect on the sand-carrying capacity of heavy oil, while the effect of the wall inflow on the pressure drop of the wellbore is relatively less. Based on the examination of the experimental flow pattern, an oil–water–sand-bed three-layer pressure drop model with a variable-mass flow is established for the first time. The minimum energy method is used to calculate the model. The model considers the diffusion of solid-phase particles and pressure drop by the fluid of the sand bed in heavy oil and is verified against the pressure drop data obtained from the experiments. The results show that the model is within an average relative error of 12.69%, which is satisfactory for practical engineering. Furthermore, the model provides a theoretical support for reasonable sand production in heavy oil reservoirs.

DOI	10.11648/j.ogce.20180606.22
Published in	International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Engineering (Volume 6, Issue 6, November 2018)
Page(s)	201-213
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Solid/Liquid Two-Phase Flow, Reasonable Sand Production, Sand-Carrying, Variable-Mass Flow, Flow Pattern

References

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APA Style

Hong Gao, Zhiming Wang, Xiaoqiu Wang, Dongying Wang. (2019). Experimental and Theoretical Characterization of Sand-Carrying by Heavy Oil-Flow in a Horizontal Wellbore. International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Engineering, 6(6), 201-213. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ogce.20180606.22

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ACS Style

Hong Gao; Zhiming Wang; Xiaoqiu Wang; Dongying Wang. Experimental and Theoretical Characterization of Sand-Carrying by Heavy Oil-Flow in a Horizontal Wellbore. Int. J. Oil Gas Coal Eng. 2019, 6(6), 201-213. doi: 10.11648/j.ogce.20180606.22

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AMA Style

Hong Gao, Zhiming Wang, Xiaoqiu Wang, Dongying Wang. Experimental and Theoretical Characterization of Sand-Carrying by Heavy Oil-Flow in a Horizontal Wellbore. Int J Oil Gas Coal Eng. 2019;6(6):201-213. doi: 10.11648/j.ogce.20180606.22

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@article{10.11648/j.ogce.20180606.22,
  author = {Hong Gao and Zhiming Wang and Xiaoqiu Wang and Dongying Wang},
  title = {Experimental and Theoretical Characterization of Sand-Carrying by Heavy Oil-Flow in a Horizontal Wellbore},
  journal = {International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Engineering},
  volume = {6},
  number = {6},
  pages = {201-213},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ogce.20180606.22},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ogce.20180606.22},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ogce.20180606.22},
  abstract = {The world's heavy oil reserves are very large. With the wide application of heavy oil cold recovery technology, the problem of blockage in oil well caused by the deposition of sand in the wellbore is becoming more and more serious. Therefore, it is very important to study the deposition and migration of sand in the wellbore. Based on indoor full-sized experimental apparatus simulating multiphase complex flows, the sand-carrying capacity of heavy oil in pipes is determined using a high-viscosity white oil and water mixture as the fluid medium, and by varying parameters such as the saturation, sand volume concentration, viscosity of heavy oil, and flow. A complete investigation is performed to obtain the basis of the sand flow in pipes and sand-bed development and migration. It is shown that the viscosity of heavy oil, main flow rate, and water content have a significant effect on the sand-carrying capacity of heavy oil, while the effect of the wall inflow on the pressure drop of the wellbore is relatively less. Based on the examination of the experimental flow pattern, an oil–water–sand-bed three-layer pressure drop model with a variable-mass flow is established for the first time. The minimum energy method is used to calculate the model. The model considers the diffusion of solid-phase particles and pressure drop by the fluid of the sand bed in heavy oil and is verified against the pressure drop data obtained from the experiments. The results show that the model is within an average relative error of 12.69%, which is satisfactory for practical engineering. Furthermore, the model provides a theoretical support for reasonable sand production in heavy oil reservoirs.},
 year = {2019}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Experimental and Theoretical Characterization of Sand-Carrying by Heavy Oil-Flow in a Horizontal Wellbore
AU  - Hong Gao
AU  - Zhiming Wang
AU  - Xiaoqiu Wang
AU  - Dongying Wang
Y1  - 2019/01/18
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ogce.20180606.22
DO  - 10.11648/j.ogce.20180606.22
T2  - International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Engineering
JF  - International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Engineering
JO  - International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Engineering
SP  - 201
EP  - 213
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2376-7677
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ogce.20180606.22
AB  - The world's heavy oil reserves are very large. With the wide application of heavy oil cold recovery technology, the problem of blockage in oil well caused by the deposition of sand in the wellbore is becoming more and more serious. Therefore, it is very important to study the deposition and migration of sand in the wellbore. Based on indoor full-sized experimental apparatus simulating multiphase complex flows, the sand-carrying capacity of heavy oil in pipes is determined using a high-viscosity white oil and water mixture as the fluid medium, and by varying parameters such as the saturation, sand volume concentration, viscosity of heavy oil, and flow. A complete investigation is performed to obtain the basis of the sand flow in pipes and sand-bed development and migration. It is shown that the viscosity of heavy oil, main flow rate, and water content have a significant effect on the sand-carrying capacity of heavy oil, while the effect of the wall inflow on the pressure drop of the wellbore is relatively less. Based on the examination of the experimental flow pattern, an oil–water–sand-bed three-layer pressure drop model with a variable-mass flow is established for the first time. The minimum energy method is used to calculate the model. The model considers the diffusion of solid-phase particles and pressure drop by the fluid of the sand bed in heavy oil and is verified against the pressure drop data obtained from the experiments. The results show that the model is within an average relative error of 12.69%, which is satisfactory for practical engineering. Furthermore, the model provides a theoretical support for reasonable sand production in heavy oil reservoirs.
VL  - 6
IS  - 6
ER  -

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Author Information

Hong Gao

Wellbore Complex Flow and Well Completion Lab, China University of Petroleum, Beijing, China
Zhiming Wang

Wellbore Complex Flow and Well Completion Lab, China University of Petroleum, Beijing, China
Xiaoqiu Wang

Wellbore Complex Flow and Well Completion Lab, China University of Petroleum, Beijing, China
Dongying Wang

Wellbore Complex Flow and Well Completion Lab, China University of Petroleum, Beijing, China

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APA Style

Hong Gao, Zhiming Wang, Xiaoqiu Wang, Dongying Wang. (2019). Experimental and Theoretical Characterization of Sand-Carrying by Heavy Oil-Flow in a Horizontal Wellbore. International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Engineering, 6(6), 201-213. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ogce.20180606.22

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ACS Style

Hong Gao; Zhiming Wang; Xiaoqiu Wang; Dongying Wang. Experimental and Theoretical Characterization of Sand-Carrying by Heavy Oil-Flow in a Horizontal Wellbore. Int. J. Oil Gas Coal Eng. 2019, 6(6), 201-213. doi: 10.11648/j.ogce.20180606.22

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AMA Style

Hong Gao, Zhiming Wang, Xiaoqiu Wang, Dongying Wang. Experimental and Theoretical Characterization of Sand-Carrying by Heavy Oil-Flow in a Horizontal Wellbore. Int J Oil Gas Coal Eng. 2019;6(6):201-213. doi: 10.11648/j.ogce.20180606.22

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ogce.20180606.22,
  author = {Hong Gao and Zhiming Wang and Xiaoqiu Wang and Dongying Wang},
  title = {Experimental and Theoretical Characterization of Sand-Carrying by Heavy Oil-Flow in a Horizontal Wellbore},
  journal = {International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Engineering},
  volume = {6},
  number = {6},
  pages = {201-213},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ogce.20180606.22},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ogce.20180606.22},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ogce.20180606.22},
  abstract = {The world's heavy oil reserves are very large. With the wide application of heavy oil cold recovery technology, the problem of blockage in oil well caused by the deposition of sand in the wellbore is becoming more and more serious. Therefore, it is very important to study the deposition and migration of sand in the wellbore. Based on indoor full-sized experimental apparatus simulating multiphase complex flows, the sand-carrying capacity of heavy oil in pipes is determined using a high-viscosity white oil and water mixture as the fluid medium, and by varying parameters such as the saturation, sand volume concentration, viscosity of heavy oil, and flow. A complete investigation is performed to obtain the basis of the sand flow in pipes and sand-bed development and migration. It is shown that the viscosity of heavy oil, main flow rate, and water content have a significant effect on the sand-carrying capacity of heavy oil, while the effect of the wall inflow on the pressure drop of the wellbore is relatively less. Based on the examination of the experimental flow pattern, an oil–water–sand-bed three-layer pressure drop model with a variable-mass flow is established for the first time. The minimum energy method is used to calculate the model. The model considers the diffusion of solid-phase particles and pressure drop by the fluid of the sand bed in heavy oil and is verified against the pressure drop data obtained from the experiments. The results show that the model is within an average relative error of 12.69%, which is satisfactory for practical engineering. Furthermore, the model provides a theoretical support for reasonable sand production in heavy oil reservoirs.},
 year = {2019}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Experimental and Theoretical Characterization of Sand-Carrying by Heavy Oil-Flow in a Horizontal Wellbore
AU  - Hong Gao
AU  - Zhiming Wang
AU  - Xiaoqiu Wang
AU  - Dongying Wang
Y1  - 2019/01/18
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ogce.20180606.22
DO  - 10.11648/j.ogce.20180606.22
T2  - International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Engineering
JF  - International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Engineering
JO  - International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Engineering
SP  - 201
EP  - 213
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2376-7677
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ogce.20180606.22
AB  - The world's heavy oil reserves are very large. With the wide application of heavy oil cold recovery technology, the problem of blockage in oil well caused by the deposition of sand in the wellbore is becoming more and more serious. Therefore, it is very important to study the deposition and migration of sand in the wellbore. Based on indoor full-sized experimental apparatus simulating multiphase complex flows, the sand-carrying capacity of heavy oil in pipes is determined using a high-viscosity white oil and water mixture as the fluid medium, and by varying parameters such as the saturation, sand volume concentration, viscosity of heavy oil, and flow. A complete investigation is performed to obtain the basis of the sand flow in pipes and sand-bed development and migration. It is shown that the viscosity of heavy oil, main flow rate, and water content have a significant effect on the sand-carrying capacity of heavy oil, while the effect of the wall inflow on the pressure drop of the wellbore is relatively less. Based on the examination of the experimental flow pattern, an oil–water–sand-bed three-layer pressure drop model with a variable-mass flow is established for the first time. The minimum energy method is used to calculate the model. The model considers the diffusion of solid-phase particles and pressure drop by the fluid of the sand bed in heavy oil and is verified against the pressure drop data obtained from the experiments. The results show that the model is within an average relative error of 12.69%, which is satisfactory for practical engineering. Furthermore, the model provides a theoretical support for reasonable sand production in heavy oil reservoirs.
VL  - 6
IS  - 6
ER  -

Copy | Download