Transient Multiphase Flow Modelling

State of the Art

Chris Lawrence, IFE
OLGA for Wells Roundtable
Amsterdam
2009-06-02

07.06.2009
 Introduction
• Institute for Energy Technology
• OLGA history and timeline
• Multiphase flow – a moving target
• Where are we going now?
• Mechanistic models – HORIZON I & II
• OVIP
• OPUS Rocx & wellbore JIP
• Advanced experiments and simulations
• Complex fluids and heavy crude oils
• The challenges for the future

07.06.2009
 Institute for Energy Technology
• Independent research
foundation established in
1948
• Applied research in oil &
gas, renewable energy
and nuclear technology
• 600 employees (Kjeller
and Halden)
• Turnover 600
MNOK/year
• Internationally oriented
(40% of income from 30-
IFE Tracer field injections at Snorre 40 countries)

07.06.2009
 Three major petroleum activities at IFE

Tracer technology Process and fluid flow Corrosion

technology technology

• Developed from competence built up in the nuclear field 25 years ago

• Advanced laboratories combined with modelling and simulation
• Close cooperation with the market. 40% funding from international
companies
• In international forefront within all three areas

07.06.2009
 OLGA History
1980 IFE first develop OLGA for Statoil

1983 IFE team up with SINTEF Flow Lab

1990 OLGA first commercialised through

Scandpower (now “SPT Group”)

1993 IFE begin developing PeTra for Statoil

1998 IFE develop new OLGA versions for

Statoil & Hydro, resulting in OLGA 2000
Early multiphase scientist
2008 PeTra + OLGA 2000 became OLGA-6

07.06.2009
 OLGA Timeline
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19 19 19 19 19 19 19 1 1 1 2 2 20 20
80 83 84 86 90 93 94 99 99 99 00 004 08 09
5 6 8 0

07.06.2009
 Multiphase flow experiments and modelling
– a moving target!
IN THE BEGINNING …. (1980’s)
• pressure drop
• and liquid holdup in two-phase gas-liquid flow

THEN ….. (1990’s)

• oil/water slip

AND NOW …. (2000’s)

• dispersion details
• tomographic imaging IFE designed gamma instrument
IFE-designed
for
• velocity profiles γ-densitometer
measuring oil and water fractions
• turbulence measures local oil and
water fractions

07.06.2009
 Today’s multiphase research

Gas condensate Slug flow

Liquid
Heavy oil Hydrates and wax
accumulation

Illustration: HYDRO
Develop and verify prediction models

Less uncertainty in new Better accuracy in production

designs management tools

07.06.2009
 Where Are We Going?
• Use of new mechanistic models in OLGA (HORIZON)
• OLGA Verification and Improvement Project (OVIP)
• Advanced lab instrumentation
• Multiphase Computational Fluid Dynamics
• Complex fluids and heavy crude oil

07.06.2009
 Why mechanistic models
o n
e lati
Challenges: c orr
b
La
Lab Field
Pressure 1 – 90 bar < 1000 bar Mechanistic model
Temperature 0 – 60°C < 200°C
Diameter 0.02 – 0.3 m <1m Lab Field

Demands:
Mechanistic models in 3-phase systems with better extrapolation properties
• Transition between friction and gravity dominated flows
• Oil/water accumulation
• Dynamic slugging

07.06.2009
 HORIZON – A paradigm shift
Challenges:
• Long distance transport
• Deep water risers
• Tail end production
• Associated flow assurance problems
Main objective:
• To develop models that are
• More fundamentally based on physics
• Scalable to field conditions
n
l at io
orre
bc
La

HORIZON model

Lab Field

07.06.2009
 HORIZON 3D
multiphase
flow model
1D multiphase flow
simulator OLGA

+
Pre-integrated
2D cross-sectional
HORIZON model

3D model with 1D
computation time

07.06.2009
 HORIZON 2
Focus: To accurately predict
• Liquid (oil/water) accumulation at low production rates
• Dynamic slugging in wells
• Slug evolution in long undulating pipelines

Duration: 2008 – 2011 Budget: 30 MNOK

07.06.2009
 HORIZON 2
Focus: To accurately predict
• Liquid (oil/water) accumulation at low production rates
• Dynamic slugging in wells
• Slug evolution in long undulating pipelines
Important for determining And sizing of
• Minimum stable production • Slug catchers and separators
• Start-up procedures • Pipeline diameters

More detailed mechanistic models give more reliable predictions

07.06.2009
 OLGA Verification and Improvement Project
• OVIP launched by Scandpower and IFE in 1996
• JIP with 7-14 sponsors, currently in 6th phase
• Test OLGA against data
• Get new data when needed
• Improve the code in critical areas
• Highlights:
• World’s largest multiphase database
• Greatly improved predictions of holdup in gas condensate
pipelines
• Improvements in slug flow – pressure drop, riser slugging
• Great improvements in pressure drop for downward flow

07.06.2009
 Ongoing Rocx JIP
• 2-year project
• StatoilHydro and Total are sponsors
• Main focus on different fluid scenarios in well and
near well zone
• Component tracking
• Extended black oil
• Drilling fluids
• Mud and MEG
• Equation of state, compositional modelling
• Good functionality on initialization of coupled runs
• Focus on correct inflow/outflow in vertical and
horizontal wells (sand face area)

07.06.2009
 Wellbore flow R&D
Important future topics
• Near well and multiphase flow coupling
• SAGD, heavy oil
• Emphasis on near wellbore region interaction,
sand screen, flow of emulsions
• Important to include details of tubing and annulus
characteristics in flow models
• Near well modelling
• Placement of chemicals
• Simulation of squeeze process
• Prediction of scaling
• Placement of scale inhibitor in the formation
• Well stimulation

07.06.2009
 Advanced instrumentation
supports detailed models for complex fluids

Rheometer with reactor and X-ray system (in line)

particle sizer (off-line)
to
to
Image fluid distribution in the
Characterise suspensions pipe cross-section
and other complex fluids

07.06.2009
 Computational Fluid Dynamics
Bubble pinch-off in water
• Capture physics in detail
• Verify against experiments
• Provides detailed data,
good scaling ability

Data for engineering models

07.06.2009
 Complex fluids and heavy oil

Oil/water In the future:

dispersion Better predictions of fluid behaviour
with during transport/processing based
surfactant on characterization and analysis of
well fluids

This requires:
• New knowledge
• New methods
Oil/water • Interdisciplinary cooperation
dispersion
without
surfactant
(Lattice-Boltzmann simulation by Roar Skartlien, IFE/FACE)

07.06.2009
 Challenges in Heavy Oil Transport
Conventional oil Heavy oil
Heavy oil constitutes a
large part of remaining
reserves

Requires research into:

• Core annular flow

• Water continuous transport

• Thermal issues

07.06.2009
 Challenges for the future
• More difficult fluids

• Heavy oil transport

• Long distance transport

Tools for design
• More accurate predictions required
• Cold flow transport solutions Tools for operation

• Integrated transport/
processing solutions
• Well technology
• Sub sea processing

07.06.2009
 The Multiphase Team
Winners of StatoilHydro Research Prize 2008

07.06.2009