Professional Documents
Culture Documents
&
OPTIMIZATION
By: Titus N. Ofei
Petroleum Engineering Department
Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Malaysia
2016
Explain the various flow regimes and the criteria in identifying them in
drilling operations.
Perform calculations on predicting flow regimes for various fluid models.
for:
a) Drill bit selection
blowout.
If the liquid does not fill the conduit, the flow is called
channel flow.
Channel flow
Fig. 1: Pipe Flow Types
FLOW REGIMES
The flow regime can be defined as a stream of flows that have similar bed forms,
flow resistance, and means of transporting sediments. During drilling operations,
flow regimes may occur depending on the fluid properties, length and size of the
wellbore, and flow rate.
The flow regimes commonly encountered in drilling operations are laminar,
transitional and turbulent.
Laminar flow regime: the fluid behaves like a series of parallel layers moving at
uniform or near-uniform velocity. There is no large-scale movement of fluid
particles between layers. Fluid layers closer to the pipe/annulus center generally
moves faster than those nearer to the pipe wall or wellbore.
APPLICATIONS
Laminar flow is usually preferred especially in vertical
wellbores to move cuttings up and prevent erosion
(washout).
APPLICATIONS CONTD.
It should be noted that flow regimes may be
difficult to identify practically, since more than
one flow regime may exist at the same point in a
system.
For example, while the main flow stream in the
annulus may exhibit laminar behavior, the
adjacent fluid at the pipe boundary may be in
turbulent flow.
Fig. 3: Flow Profiles
which is smallest.
The transitional flow has a mostly
This layer also causes the fluid particles in the adjacent layer to
slow down gradually as a result of friction.
To make up for the this velocity reduction, the fluid velocity at the
mid-section of the pipe has to increase to keep the mass flow rate
TERMINOLOGIES
Inviscid or Irrotational Region: the region in which frictional effects
are negligible (zero viscosity) and the velocity remains constant in
the point at which the boundary layer merges with the center line.
TERMINOLOGIES CONTD.
Hydrodynamic Entry Length: the length of the hydrodynamic
entrance region.
ENTRY LENGTHS
In laminar flow, the hydrodynamic entry length for water flowing in a
circular pipe is given approximately as (Shook & Roco, 1991):
, = .
For turbulent flow,
, = .
The entry length is much shorter in turbulent flow and its dependence
on the Reynolds number is weaker.
TYPES OF FLUIDS
There are different types of fluids. Almost all the fluids
follow the following categories:
a) Newtonian fluid: these are fluids where low molecular
weight substances exist. Examples include water, light
crude oil, organic and inorganic liquids, gases, molten
metal and salts.
A Newtonian fluid can be defined as the shear stress
directly proportional to shear rate at a constant
temperature and pressure. The proportionality constant
is called dynamic viscosity.
Reynolds Number
REYNOLDS NUMBER
Reynolds number, , is a dimensionless quantity that is used to help predict
similar flow patterns in different fluid flow situations.
The concept was introduced by George Gabriel Stokes in 1851 and Osborne
Reynolds popularized its use in 1883.
Reynolds number is defined as the ratio of inertial forces to viscous forces.
turbulent flow.
Laminar flow occurs at low Reynolds numbers where viscous forces are
dominant, and is characterized by smooth, constant fluid motion.
Turbulent flow occurs at high Reynolds numbers where inertial forces
are dominant. This tend to produce chaotic eddies, vortices and other
flow instabilities.
= 928
=
2.4482
FLOW CRITERIA
Laminar flow: < 2100
Turbulent flow: > 4000
(2 1 )
= 757
=
2.448(22 12 )
Where in ppg;
in ft/s;
in gpm;
, 1 , 2 in inches;
in cP
= 928
(2 1 )
= 757
6.66
= +
5 (2 1 )
= +
=
2.4482
=
2.448(22 12 )
FLOW CRITERIA
Laminar flow: < 2100
Turbulent flow: > 4000
Transitional flow: < <
Where in ppg;
in ft/s;
in gpm;
, 1 , 2 in inches;
in cP
= 928
(1)
=
96 (1)
1
3+
0.0416
FLOW CRITERIA
= 89,100
(2) 0.0416
1
3+
=
2.4482
Where in ppg;
in ft/s;
in gpm;
, in inches;
in cP
in eq. cP
(2 1 )
= 757
)(1)
(2 1
=
144 (1)
1
2+
0.0208
FLOW CRITERIA
(2) 0.0208(2 1 )
= 109,000
1
2+
=
2.448(22 12 )
Where in ppg;
in ft/s;
in gpm;
, in inches;
in cP
in eq. cP
Constant
Flow rate
Pipe
2 3 + 1
=
1
= 1
2 + 1
Annulus
2
2
3 + 1
+
2
4 2 + 1
=
2.448 2
2
1
2
2
2(2 + 1)
2 1
+
2
3 + 1
3
2
=
0.408
1
=1
+1
2.448(22 12 )
2 2 + 1
+
2 1 2 2
1
2 2
2
2
22 12
=
0.408
Pipe
4 3 + 1
=
Annulus
1
1
8 2 + 1
=
Where
+ 3.93
=
;
50
1.75
=
7
1
1
TRANSITIONAL FLOW
A transitional flow is a mixture of laminar and turbulent flow where turbulence occurs in
the centre of the pipe or annulus and laminar flow near the edges.
It is sometimes easy to characterize the transition zone by the critical fluid velocity. It is
used to define the velocity at which the flow regime changes from laminar to turbulent.
Since no single Reynolds number defines the transitional zone, a range of critical
if
>
, flow is laminar
if
<
, flow is turbulent
if
= 2.448 2
flow is transitional
number of 3470 1370n. The transitional flow regime extends over a Reynolds number
range of 800, its upper limit being 4270 1370n.
For non-Power law fluids, it is assumed that turbulence begins at a Reynolds number of
2000 with the criterion of the laminar friction factor of 0.008.
Hanks and Pratt recommended a method for locating the critical Reynolds number for
2
2
4 4
=
1
+
8
3
3
END OF PRESENTATION