How CFD supports problem analysis and solution in oil production industry

Abstract

In spite of the fact that it is the most imperative and crucial industry, oil production is still facing problems which represent challenges to producers and operators. This paper presents brief highlights on CFD simulations of some problems associated with oil/water and oil/gas flows carried out by a specialized research team in Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS. Three particular problems have been modelled, simulated and analysed. The first problem is on oil/water mixture flow in the production zone in the downhole; the second is on separation of the oil/water by hydrocyclone separator in the downhole; while the third problem is on the two phase oil/gas flowing in a pipe and the resulted slug flow. For each case, the layout of the procedure of the model setup is explained, and the numerical procedure is outlined in terms of the software used, the mesh generation and its independency criteria. For each case, the validation procedure has been mentioned and in the last part of each case, some samples of results are presented and briefly discussed.