HEAVY IRON NEWS
The Rise of Multiphase Flows
Design Team • November 3, 2015
Multiphase flows represent an engineering issue that is not likely to go away. As multiphase flows are more common in marginal wells, recovering from multiphase flows becomes more necessary the more that oil and gas is needed. The oil and gas industry has been making additional attempts to secure oil and gas even from non-optimal wells, and this has ultimately lead to multiphase flow techniques.
THE PROBLEM OF MULTIPHASE FLOWS
It will always be difficult to recover materials that are non-homogenous in nature. Consequently, engineers have focused on separating the flows beforehand. Oil, gas, and water are all separated through the use of gravity. Gas will sit on the top, oil will provide a layer beneath it, and the water will situate itself at the very bottom. Once the liquids have been separated in this way, the extractors will remove layer by layer. This avoids any issues with mixtures inside of the lines, as the lines are only used for one type of material at a time. The process is known as phase separation, and it relies heavily on choke valves. These valves not only control and separate the flow, but they can be used also to control the speed of the flow, which differs from each liquid time and viscosity.
SEPARATING LIQUID AND SOLID FLOWS
Separating solid flows from liquid matter can be more challenging. When solids are mixed into oil and water, they are usually in the form of small particulates. These particulates can cause problems when mixed into the extracted materials, as they can collect, block the line, and increase pressure, all while making the movement of liquids through the line erratic. But particles can't always be separated through gravity; they won't always settle because they may have lighter density. Instead, a centrifuge must be used to remove particles. Centrifuges in use can remove particles of up to 0.5mm.
Multiphase flows are increasingly being approached by engineers, but the ability to sort through the flow beforehand and separate each material type makes the process of managing the flow much easier. Multiphase flows will always present an engineering problem if extraction is attempted before separation, and there may still be some issues when switching between types of material.
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