TY - GEN
T1 - Computational fluid dynamics CFD evaluation of laminar flow of bitumen-in-water emulsion stabilized by poly vinyl alcohol PVA
T2 - SPE Middle East Oil and Gas Show and Conference 2019, MEOS 2019
AU - Alade, Olalekan
AU - Al Shehri, Dhafer
AU - Mahmoud, Mohamed
AU - Sasaki, Kyuro
AU - Sugai, Yuichi
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Applications of oil-in-water emulsion (O/W) emulsification technology in enhanced recovery and pipeline transportation of heavy oil can be limited by several factors including salinity of the reservoir or process water, process temperature, and water cut. In this investigation, laminar flow of O/W was simulated in a pipeline to investigate the effect of salinity of aqueous phase (NaCl) and water cut on flow characteristics of the fluid. The case was simplified by considering the O/W as a stable, pseudo-homogeneous, single-phase fluid within the conditions operated. Pertinent to the objective of the study, at flow reference temperature, Tref = 30oC, the pressure drop at 30% water cut was 931Pa compared to 84.6 Pa at water cut of 50% (reference working fluid without NaCl). In contrast, the pressure drop was 239Pa, 142Pa, 124Pa, and 82.9Pa at 70000ppm, 40000ppm, 20000ppm, and 10000ppm salinity in the aqueous phase, respectively. In addition, the maximum dynamic viscosity imposed by the fluid, was ≈81000cP at 30% water cut compared to ≈14000cP from the reference fluid. The dynamic viscosity obtained from 70000ppm salinity content was ≈34000cP. Moreover, the results confirm facile application of emulsification technology for pipeline transportation of bitumen from large reduction in pressure drop (99%) regardless of the water cut and salinity.
AB - Applications of oil-in-water emulsion (O/W) emulsification technology in enhanced recovery and pipeline transportation of heavy oil can be limited by several factors including salinity of the reservoir or process water, process temperature, and water cut. In this investigation, laminar flow of O/W was simulated in a pipeline to investigate the effect of salinity of aqueous phase (NaCl) and water cut on flow characteristics of the fluid. The case was simplified by considering the O/W as a stable, pseudo-homogeneous, single-phase fluid within the conditions operated. Pertinent to the objective of the study, at flow reference temperature, Tref = 30oC, the pressure drop at 30% water cut was 931Pa compared to 84.6 Pa at water cut of 50% (reference working fluid without NaCl). In contrast, the pressure drop was 239Pa, 142Pa, 124Pa, and 82.9Pa at 70000ppm, 40000ppm, 20000ppm, and 10000ppm salinity in the aqueous phase, respectively. In addition, the maximum dynamic viscosity imposed by the fluid, was ≈81000cP at 30% water cut compared to ≈14000cP from the reference fluid. The dynamic viscosity obtained from 70000ppm salinity content was ≈34000cP. Moreover, the results confirm facile application of emulsification technology for pipeline transportation of bitumen from large reduction in pressure drop (99%) regardless of the water cut and salinity.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85063812969&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85063812969&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2118/194778-ms
DO - 10.2118/194778-ms
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85063812969
T3 - SPE Middle East Oil and Gas Show and Conference, MEOS, Proceedings
BT - Society of Petroleum Engineers - SPE Middle East Oil and Gas Show and Conference 2019, MEOS 2019
PB - Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)
Y2 - 18 March 2019 through 21 March 2019
ER -