Experimental research on the transformation of gas-oil two-phase flow pattern in large vertical annulus

Abstract

Criteria for gas-oil two-phase flow transformation are essential guidelines that are used as auxiliary equations for the calculation of two-phase flows in gas-oil based drilling fluids within wellbores. The currently used flow pattern transformation criteria, which are based on gas-water two-phase flow experiments in circular pipes or small annuli, have limited applicability when calculating the gas-liquid two-phase flows in oil-based drilling fluids. In this study, experiments were carried out on the transformation of gas-oil two-phase flow patterns in a large annulus (φ100 mm × φ60 mm × 12 m) under different viscosities (16–39 mPa s). The flow characteristics of gas-liquid two-phase flows were measured using electrical capacitance volume tomography (ECVT) at different superficial gas-liquid velocities. It was found that as the liquid phase viscosity increased, the slug flow area gradually expanded, and the superficial gas velocity at which the annular mist flow appeared decreased. When the superficial Reynolds number of the liquid phase exceeded the critical value (approximately 135), the slug flow no longer appeared in the wellbore, and the bubble flow was directly transformed into the churn flow. Based on the results of the dimensionless analysis in the experiments, the criteria for flow-type transitions among different flow patterns were established by considering the influence of the liquid-phase viscosity. Both the average relative errors between the predicted and experimental values of the superficial gas velocity during the bubble-slug, bubble-churn, slug-churn, and churn-annular transitions, at the same superficial liquid velocities, were less than 3.5, 4.5, 3, and 7%, respectively.