Relative viscosity model for oil/water stable emulsion flow within electrical submersible pumps

Author(s)

Vieira Bulgarelli, Natan Augusto ^[1] ; Biazussi, Jorge Luiz ^[2] ; Verde, William Monte ^[2] ; Perles, Carlos Eduardo ^[2] ; de Castro, Marcelo Souza ^[1] ; Bannwart, Antonio Carlos ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Estadual Campinas, Sch Mech Engn, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Univ Estadual Campinas, Ctr Petr Studies, Sao Paulo - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Chemical Engineering Science; v. 245, DEC 14 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 2

Abstract

Electrical Submersible Pumps (ESP) have been used in several scenarios, including water/crude oil emulsion production. The estimation of the emulsion effective viscosity within the ESP is still under discussion due to its complex flow behavior. This work proposes, for the first time, a model to predict the relative viscosity of stable emulsion within an ESP considering the continuous phase properties and ESP operational parameters. The viscosity model was compared to the relative viscosity models for emulsion flow in pipelines and the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) was 14% and 8% for the stable emulsions without and with demulsifier, respectively. For the same emulsion systems, the relative viscosity model was applied to the unidimensional model to predict the ESP performance with the MAPE of 4% and 2% for the stable emulsions without and with demulsifier, respectively. Furthermore, ESP head degradation operating with stable emulsion with and without demulsifier was investigated experimentally. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 17/15736-3 - Engineering Research Centre in Reservoir and Production Management
• Grantee: Denis José Schiozer
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Research Centers in Engineering Program