Eventos Anais de eventos
COBEM 2023
27th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
Investigation on the Impact of Sand Control Screen Diameter on Scaling and Flow Behavior in Oil Production
Submission Author:
Rodrigo Prando Pedroni , PR , Brazil
Co-Authors:
Rodrigo Prando Pedroni, Ayrton Cavallini Zotelle, Renato Siqueira
Presenter: Rodrigo Prando Pedroni
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2023.COB2023-1001
Abstract
The exploration of pre-salt reservoirs has brought new engineering challenges, especially concerning the deposition of calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) on completion devices. This study focuses on investigating the impact of filtering diameter of sand control screens on scaling, flow behavior, and pressure drop in the oil extraction process. The analysis is carried out through numerical simulations using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and user-defined functions (UDF). The simulations involve different stand-alone screens with varying particle capture diameters of the wire mesh. The UDF implementation covers key aspects such as particle passing or adhesion, agglomeration growth, reduction of passing diameter, and flow resistance. In the simulations, calcium carbonate particles are represented as the solid phase, while water is represented as the fluid phase. The Discrete Phase Model (DPM) is utilized to establish a two-way coupling between the particles and the fluid, enabling the investigation of particle behavior and its interaction with the flow. The results of the simulations indicate that finer screens are more effective in capturing particles but also lead to a larger pressure drop due to particle agglomeration. It also indicates the potential use of less fine screens, while taking into account the high volume of particles into the production column that may damage equipment in the initial stages of flow. The developed model offers a simplified approach that allows for the analysis of large domains, particle quantities and can provide valuable insights for the industry in screen selection and decision-making.
Keywords
Computational Fluid Dynamics, Calcium carbonate scaling, Sand control screens, Discrete Phase Model, User-defined functions
