Numerical Investigation of Flow Characteristics for Gas–Liquid Two–Phase Flow in Coiled Tubing

Abstract

Coiled tubing (CT) is widely used for horizontal well fracturing, squeeze cementing, and sand and solid washing in the oil and gas industry. During CT operation, a gas–liquid two-phase flow state appears in the tubing. Due to the secondary flow, this state produces a more extensive flow-friction pressure loss, which limits its application. It is crucial to understand the gas–liquid flow behavior in a spiral tube for frictional pressure drop predictions in the CT technique. In this study, we numerically investigated the velocity distribution and phase distribution of a gas–liquid flow in CT. A comparison of experimental data and simulated results show that the maximum average error is 2.14%, verifying the accuracy of the numerical model. The gas and liquid velocities decrease first and then rise along the axial direction due to the effect of gravity. Due to the difference in the gas and liquid viscosity, i.e., the flow resistance of the gas and liquid is different, the gas–liquid slip velocity ratio is always greater than 1. The liquid velocity exhibits a D-shaped step distribution at different cross-sections of spiral tubing. The secondary-flow intensity, caused by radial velocity, increases along the tubing. Due to the secondary-flow effect, the zone of the maximum cross-section velocity is off-center and closer to the outside of the tube. However, under the combined action of centrifugal force and the density difference between gas and liquid, the variation in the gas void fraction along the tubing is relatively stable. These research results are helpful in understanding the complex flow behavior of gas–liquid two-phase flow in CT.