Experimental study and phenomenological modeling of the inversion point of continuous phase in water - oil flow in eletrical centrifugal pumps

• Grant number: 19/17879-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: October 01, 2019
• End date: February 06, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Mechanical Engineering - Transport Phenomena
• Agreement: Equinor (former Statoil)
• Principal Investigator: Antonio Carlos Bannwart
• Grantee: Roberto Fernando Leuchtenberger
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia Mecânica (FEM). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Company: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Faculdade de Engenharia Mecânica (FEM)
• Associated research grant: 17/15736-3 - Engineering Research Centre in Reservoir and Production Management, AP.PCPE

Abstract

Electrical Submersible Pump (ESP) is a method of artificial lifting often used in oil production. It is estimated between 150 and 200 thousand the number of centrifugal pumps in operation in the world, making the ESP the second method of elevation most used, then, only, after mechanical pump.This research project aims to study the inversion point of the continuous phase of the liquid-liquid flow in centrifugal pumps submerged through a set of experimental data. The mathematical interpretation of these effects will be carried out through a phenomenological modeling of the flow of dispersions and emulsions which intends to develop and predict the flow pattern transition of the type water in oil for oil in water and vice versa.The effects of process parameters, such as pump rotation, viscosity of the continuous phases, phase flow, inertial and viscous dissipation intensities as physical-chemical parameters such as HLD (hydrophilic / lipophilic difference) will be used in order to build an experimental database regarding the inversion point of oil/water emulsions. This approach leads to the application of new concepts in the area of oil about the inversion of emulsions and a possibility of applying this concept in the field.