Experimental investigation of Pressure Drop/Flow Rate Relationship for Small Aperture Holes for High Viscosity Fluids

Abstract

This paper studies the effect of viscosity and fines particle loading on the pressure drop across a 4mm orifice in a specific geometry built to mimic a representative well completion. In previous studies, most of these orifices have been validated experimentally for viscosities up to 200cp only for such completions. The current study focused on a wider viscosity variation (1cp – 3000cp) with lower flow rates (0.1m3/day - 30m3/day). The pressure drop was measured across the orifice and through the entire pipe assembly. The measured data was non-dimensionalized using the Euler number and plotted against the Reynolds number for all the rates and viscosities. The orifice pressure drop data overall agreed well with the limited data that was available from the literature. It was also compared and validated against commercially available CFD software. The effect of sand particle loading was also studied and its effect on apparent viscosity increase was measured in the laboratory. The pressure drop-flow rate relationship disclosed in this paper can be used to design effective completions for intermediate/high viscosity oil applications and will be able to predict the completions pressure drop more accurately.