Modelling of Churn-Annular foam flows
conference paper
Foam assisted lift is a deliquification method in the oil and gas industry, which aims to prevent or postpone countercurrent gas-liquid flow in maturing gas wells or to assist in removing downhole accumulated liquids. According to Nimwegen, who performed experiments with foam flows, foam accomplishes this, since the creation of foam postpones the transition from annular to churn flow to lower gas velocities, which improves the upward transport of liquid carried by foam. This paper presents a model predicting the foam flow behaviour in annular flow conditions down to the transition from annular to churn flow. The model treats the foam flow as a film flow, similar to that described by, e.g., Hewitt. Closure relations for the foam density and interfacial friction factor are derived from the measurements performed by Nimwegen. The model and the newly found closure relations are used to reconstruct the pressure gradient and liquid holdup as a function of the gas velocity for different foamer concentration and compared with experimental data.
TNO Identifier
756697
Source title
ICMF-2016, 9th International Conference on Multiphase Flow, 22–27 May 2016, Firenze, Italy
Collation
7 p.
Place of publication
Delft
Files
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