Numerical Simulation of Oil-Water Two-Phase Flow in Low Permeability Tight Reservoirs Based on Weighted Least Squares Meshless Method

In response to the complex characteristics of actual low-permeability tight reservoirs,this study develops a meshless-based numerical simulation method for oil-water two-phase flow in these reservoirs,considering complex boundary shapes.Utilizing radial basis function point interpolation,the method approximates shape functions for unknown functions within the nodal influence domain.The shape functions constructed by the aforementioned meshless interpolation method haveδ-function properties,which facilitate the handling of essential aspects like the controlled bottom-hole flow pressure in horizontal wells.Moreover,the meshless method offers greater flexibility and freedom compared to grid cell discretization,making it simpler to discretize complex geometries.A variational principle for the flow control equation group is introduced using a weighted least squares meshless method,and the pressure distribution is solved implicitly.Example results demonstrate that the computational outcomes of the meshless point cloud model,which has a relatively small degree of freedom,are in close agreement with those of the Discrete Fracture Model(DFM)employing refined grid partitioning,with pressure calculation accuracy exceeding 98.2%.Compared to high-resolution grid-based computational methods,the meshless method can achieve a better balance between computational efficiency and accuracy.Additionally,the impact of fracture half-length on the productivity of horizontal wells is discussed.The results indicate that increasing the fracture half-length is an effective strategy for enhancing production from the perspective of cumulative oil production.

Ultrasonic method for measuring water holdup of low velocity and high-water-cut oil-water two-phase flow

Oil reservoirs with low permeability and porosity that are in the middle and late exploitation periods in China＇s onshore oil fields are mostly in the high-water-cut production stage.This stage is associated with severely non-uniform local-velocity flow profiles and dispersed-phase concentration（of oil droplets） in oil-water two-phase flow,which makes it difficult to measure water holdup in oil wells.In this study,we use an ultrasonic method based on a transmission-type sensor in oil-water two-phase flow to measure water holdup in lowvelocity and high water-cut conditions.First,we optimize the excitation frequency of the ultrasonic sensor by calculating the sensitivity of the ultrasonic field using the finite element method for multiphysics coupling.Then we calculate the change trend of sound pressure level attenuation ratio with the increase in oil holdup to verify the feasibility of the employed diameter for the ultrasonic sensor.Based on the results,we then investigate the effects of oildroplet diameter and distribution on the ultrasonic field.To further understand the measurement characteristics of the ultrasonic sensor,we perform a flow loop test on vertical upward oilwater two-phase flow and measure the responses of the optimized ultrasonic sensor.The results show that the ultrasonic sensor yields poor resolution for a dispersed oil slug in water flow（D OS/W flow）,but the resolution is favorable for dispersed oil in water flow（D O/W flow） and very fine dispersed oil in water flow（VFD O/W flow）.This research demonstrates the potential application of a pulsed-transmission ultrasonic method for measuring the fraction of individual components in oil-water two-phase flow with a low mixture velocity and high water cut.

A transient production prediction method for tight condensate gas wells with multiphase flow

Considering the phase behaviors in condensate gas reservoirs and the oil-gas two-phase linear flow and boundary-dominated flow in the reservoir,a method for predicting the relationship between oil saturation and pressure in the full-path of tight condensate gas well is proposed,and a model for predicting the transient production from tight condensate gas wells with multiphase flow is established.The research indicates that the relationship curve between condensate oil saturation and pressure is crucial for calculating the pseudo-pressure.In the early stage of production or in areas far from the wellbore with high reservoir pressure,the condensate oil saturation can be calculated using early-stage production dynamic data through material balance models.In the late stage of production or in areas close to the wellbore with low reservoir pressure,the condensate oil saturation can be calculated using the data of constant composition expansion test.In the middle stages of production or when reservoir pressure is at an intermediate level,the data obtained from the previous two stages can be interpolated to form a complete full-path relationship curve between oil saturation and pressure.Through simulation and field application,the new method is verified to be reliable and practical.It can be applied for prediction of middle-stage and late-stage production of tight condensate gas wells and assessment of single-well recoverable reserves.

An Improved Coupled Level Set and Continuous Moment-of-Fluid Method for Simulating Multiphase Flows with Phase Change

An improved algorithm for computing multiphase flows is presented in which the multimaterial Moment-of-Fluid(MOF)algorithm for multiphase flows,initially described by Li et al.(2015),is enhanced addressing existing MOF difficulties in computing solutions to problems in which surface tension forces are crucial for understanding salient flow mechanisms.The Continuous MOF(CMOF)method is motivated in this article.The CMOF reconstruction method inherently removes the"checkerboard instability"that persists when using the MOF method on surface tension driven multiphase(multimaterial)flows.The CMOF reconstruction algorithm is accelerated by coupling the CMOF method to the level set method and coupling the CMOF method to a decision tree machine learning(ML)algorithm.Multiphase flow examples are shown in the two-dimensional(2D),three-dimensional(3D)axisymmetric"RZ",and 3D coordinate systems.Examples include two material and three material multiphase flows:bubble formation,the impingement of a liquid jet on a gas bubble in a cryogenic fuel tank,freezing,and liquid lens dynamics.

Wax deposition modeling in oil-water stratified pipe flow

Wax deposition in oil-water stratified flow is commonly encountered onshore and offshore oil production pipe systems,and typically reduces transportation capacity of oil.The accurate predicted model of wax deposition has becomes an indispensable approach to design effective remediation strategies.However,a reliable mechanistic model for wax deposition prediction in oil-water two-phase stratified pipe flow is lacking to validate the deposition process.In this work,a three-dimensional(axial,radial,and angular)robust wax deposit model for oil-water stratified circular pipe flow was developed.The model of formation of a gel deposit based on the first principles of rheology was developed,associated with the results obtained from hydrodynamics and heat/mass transfer simulations.The predictions for wax deposition are found to compare satisfactorily with experimental data with two different oils for single phase and four different water cuts for oil-water stratified pipe flow.It can be seen from the wax gelation mechanism that an increase in water cut can help to reduce the wall/oil-deposit interface shear stress,thereby leading to an increase in the degree of gelation as well as the deposit rate.Furthermore,a local deposit analysis in the circumferential direction was conducted,for water cut 75%and total flow rate 5 m3/h,which provided insights to understand that the thickness on pipe wall was roughly uniformly distributed locates near the top of the pipe and the nearer the position gets close to two points,where the oil-water interface contacts the inner wall,the deposition thickness quickly dropped to 0.It was attributed to the fact that a roughly uniformly thickness far away from the oil-water interface contact the inner wall resulted in the slowly changes temperature along the circumferential pipe wall wetted by oil.

Phase-Based Optical Flow Method with Optimized Parameter Settings for Enhancing Displacement Measurement Adaptability

To enhance the applicability and measurement accuracy of phase-based optical flow method using complex steerable pyramids in structural displacement measurement engineering applications, an improved method of optimizing parameter settings is proposed. The optimized parameters include the best measurement points of the Region of Interest (ROI) and the levels of pyramid filters. Additionally, to address the issue of updating reference frames in practical applications due to the difficulty in estimating the maximum effective measurement value, a mechanism for dynamically updating reference frames is introduced. Experimental results demonstrate that compared to representative image gradient-based displacement measurement methods, the proposed method exhibits higher measurement accuracy in engineering applications. This provides reliable data support for structural damage identification research based on vibration signals and is expected to broaden the engineering application prospects for structural health monitoring.

Numerical Solutions of the Classical and Modified Buckley-Leverett Equations Applied to Two-Phase Fluid Flow

Climate change is a reality. The burning of fossil fuels from oil, natural gas and coal is responsible for much of the pollution and the increase in the planet’s average temperature, which has raised discussions on the subject, given the emergencies related to climate. An energy transition to clean and renewable sources is necessary and urgent, but it will not be quick. In this sense, increasing the efficiency of oil extraction from existing sources is crucial, to avoid waste and the drilling of new wells. The purpose of this work was to add diffusive and dispersive terms to the Buckley-Leverett equation in order to incorporate extra phenomena in the temporal evolution between the water-oil and oil-water transitions in the pipeline. For this, the modified Buckley-Leverett equation was discretized via essentially weighted non-oscillatory schemes, coupled with a three-stage Runge-Kutta and a fourth-order centered finite difference methods. Then, computational simulations were performed and the results showed that new features emerge in the transitions, when compared to classical simulations. For instance, the dispersive term inhibits the diffusive term, adding oscillations, which indicates that the absorption of the fluid by the porous medium occurs in a non-homogeneous manner. Therefore, based on research such as this, decisions can be made regarding the replacement of the porous medium or the insertion of new components to delay the replacement.

SIMULATION OF OIL-WATER TWO PHASE FLOW AND SEPARATION BEHAVIORS IN COMBINED T JUNCTIONS

The combined T junctions used for the oil-water separation have the advantages of compactness in structure, consistency in effects and economy in cost. The mixture k- ε turbulence model and the Eulerian multi-fluid model are used to simulate the flow and phase distribution in the combined T junctions. The effects of structural parameters such as the branched pipe interval and height on the flow distribution and the separation behaviors are studied. The results show that the combined T junctions under fixed inlet and outlet boundary conditions form a single hydraulic equilibrium system in which the fluid energy distributes freely till a balance is achieved. The split-flow promotes the separation of the immiscible oil and the water. The separation efficiency increases with the increase of the branched pipe interval and changes slightly with the increase of the branched pipe height. The structural change of the combined T junctions may change the flow direction in the branched pipes. Simulation results can provide some guidance for the design of the combined T junctions as one kind of oil-water separator.

Partial phase flow rate measurements for stratified oil-water flow in horizontal wells

To accurately measure and evaluate the oil-water production profile of horizontal wells, a dynamic measurement experiment of oil-water two-phase flow in horizontal wells and numerical simulation were combined to establish a method for measuring the partial phase flow rate of oil-water two-phase stratified flow in horizontal wells. An experimental work was performed in horizontal oil-water two-phase flow simulation well using combination production logging tool including mini-capacitance sensor and mini-spinner. The combination tool provides a recording of holdup and velocity profiles at five different heights of the borehole cross-section. The effect of total flow rate and water-cut on the response of spinner and capacitive sensor at five measured positions were investigated. The capacitance water holdup interpolation imaging algorithm was used to determine the local fluid property and oil-water interface height, and the measured local fluid speed was combined with the numerical simulation result to establish an optimal calculation model for obtaining the partial phase flow rate of the oil-water two-phase stratified flow in the horizontal well. The calculated flow rates of five measured points are basically consistent with the experimental data, the total flow rate and water holdup from calculation are in agreement with the set values in the experiment too, suggesting that the method has high accuracy.

Complex network analysis in inclined oil-water two-phase flow

Complex networks have established themselves in recent years as being particularly suitable and flexible for representing and modelling many complex natural and artificial systems. Oil-water two-phase flow is one of the most complex systems. In this paper, we use complex networks to study the inclined oil water two-phase flow. Two different complex network construction methods are proposed to build two types of networks, i.e. the flow pattern complex network （FPCN） and fluid dynamic complex network （FDCN）. Through detecting the community structure of FPCN by the community-detection algorithm based on K-means clustering, useful and interesting results are found which can be used for identifying three inclined oil-water flow patterns. To investigate the dynamic characteristics of the inclined oil-water two-phase flow, we construct 48 FDCNs under different flow conditions, and find that the power-law exponent and the network information entropy, which are sensitive to the flow pattern transition, can both characterize the nonlinear dynamics of the inclined oil-water two-phase flow. In this paper, from a new perspective, we not only introduce a complex network theory into the study of the oil-water two-phase flow but also indicate that the complex network may be a powerful tool for exploring nonlinear time series in practice.

Flow Characteristics Analysis of TC18 Titanium Alloy during Hot Deformation Based on Phase Transformation

An accurate flow stress model was established by considering the parameters of strain rate,strain and temperature as well asβ→a+βphase transformation in order to develop the plastic forming theory of TC18 titanium alloy.Firstly,the phase transition kinetics of TC18 titanium alloy during isothermal and continuous cooling at 1073 and 1273 K was studied by thermodynamic calculation,meanwhile,the relationship of volume fraction of phase transition with temperature and time was obtained.Constitutive models were calculated by investigating flow behaviors under hot compression tests with the strain rates of 0.001-1s^(-1) and temperatures of 973-1223 K in the singleβand a+βregions in TC18 titanium alloy,respectively.By combining the phase transformation dynamic kinetics with constitutive models,an accurate flow stress model was established,providing theoretical basis and data support for the hot forging of TC18 titanium alloy.

Experimental Investigation of Regular or Wavy Two-Phase Flow in a Manifold

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the properties of stratified regular or wavy two-phase flow in two parallel separators located after a manifold.A total of 103 experiments with various gas and liquid velocity combinations in three inlet pipes were conducted,including 77 groups of outlet pipe resistance symmetry and 26 groups of outlet pipe resistance asymmetry trials.The experimental results have revealed that when the gas-liquid flow rate is low,the degree of uneven splitting is high,and“extreme”conditions are attained.When the superficial gas velocity is greater than that established in the extreme case,the direction of the liquid-phase displacement is reversed,while that of the gas remains unchanged.Thus,the degree of gas phase bias tends to be mitigated with an increase in the gas velocity,while the uneven splitting degree of liquid approaches 10%.Finally,varying the gas-phase outlet pipe resistance is shown to effectively change the gas-liquid two-phase flow distribution.

Multifractal analysis of inclined oil-water countercurrent flow

Characterizing countercurrent flow structures in an inclined oil-water two-phase flow from one-dimensional measurement is of great importance for model building and sensor design.Firstly,we conducted oil-water two-phase flow experiments in an inclined pipe to measure the conductance signals of three typical water-dominated oil-water flow patterns in inclined flow,i.e.,dispersion oil-in-water pseudo-slug flow （PS）,dispersion oil-in-water countercurrent flow （CT）,and transitional flow （TF）.In pseudo-slug flow,countercurrent flow and transitional flow,oil is completely dispersed in water.Then we used magnitude and sign decomposition analysis and multifractal analysis to reveal levels of complexity in different flow patterns.We found that the PS and CT flow patterns both exhibited high complexity and obvious multifractal dynamic behavior,but the magnitude scaling exponent and singularity of the CT flow pattern were less than those of the PS flow pattern; and the TF flow pattern exhibited low complexity and almost monofractal behavior,and its magnitude scaling was close to random behavior.Meanwhile,at short time scales,all sign series of two-phase flow patterns exhibited very similar strong positive correlation; at high time scales,the scaling analysis of sign series showed different anti-correlated behavior.Furthermore,with an increase in oil flow rate,the flow structure became regular,which could be reflected by the decrease in the width of spectrum and the difference in dimensions.The results suggested that different oil-water flow patterns exhibited different nonlinear features,and the varying levels of complexity could well characterize the fluid dynamics underlying different oil-water flow patterns.

Mechanisms of fracture propagation from multi-cluster using a phase field based HMD coupling model in fractured reservoir

Natural fractures(NFs)are common in shale and tight reservoirs,where staged multi-cluster fracturing of horizontal wells is a prevalent technique for reservoir stimulation.While NFs and stress interference are recognized as significant factors affecting hydraulic fracture(HF)propagation,the combined influence of these factors remains poorly understood.To address this knowledge gap,a novel coupled hydromechanical-damage(HMD)model based on the phase field method is developed to investigate the propagation of multi-cluster HFs in fractured reservoirs.The comprehensive energy functional and control functions are established,while incorporating dynamic fluid distribution between multiple perforation clusters and refined changes in rock mechanical parameters during hydraulic fracturing.The HMD coupled multi-cluster HF propagation model investigates various scenarios,including single HF and single NF,reservoir heterogeneity,single HF and NF clusters,and multi-cluster HFs with NF clusters.The results show that the HMD coupling model can accurately capture the impact of approach angle(θ),stress difference and cementation strength on the interaction of HF and NF.The criterion of the open and cross zones is not fixed.The NF angle(a)is not a decisive parameter to discriminate the interaction.According to the relationship between approach angle(θ)and NF angle(a),the contact relationship of HF can be divided into three categories(θ=a,θ<a,andθ>a).The connected NF can increase the complexity of HF by inducing it to form branch fracture,resulting in a fractal dimension of HF as high as2.1280 at angles of±45°.Inter-fracture interference from the heel to the toe of HF shows the phenomenon of no,strong and weak interference.Interestingly,under the influence of NFs,distant HFs from the injection can become dominant fractures.However,as a gradually increases,inter-fracture stress interference becomes the primary factor influencing HF propagation,gradually superseding the dominance of NF induced fractures.

Effect of droplet characteristics on liquid-phase distribution in spray zone of internal mixing air-mist nozzle

In continuous casting production,droplet characteristics are important parameters for evaluating the nozzle atomization quality,and have a significant impact on the secondary cooling effect and the slab quality.In order to study the behavior of atomized droplets after reaching the slab surface and to optimize the spray cooling effect,the influence of droplet diameter and droplet velocity on the migration behavior of droplets in the secondary cooling zone was analyzed by FLUENT software.Results show that the droplets in the spray zone and on the slab surface are mainly concentrated in the center,thus,the liquid volume fraction in the center is higher than that of either side.As the droplet diameter increases,the region of high liquid volume fraction on the slab surface becomes wider,and the liquid phase distribution in the slab width direction becomes uneven.Although increasing the droplet velocity at the nozzle exit has little effect on droplet diffusion in the spray zone,the distribution becomes more uneven due to more liquid reaches the slab surface per unit time.A prediction formula of the maximum water flow rate on the slab surface for specific droplet characteristics was proposed based on dimensionless analysis and validated by simulated data.A nozzle spacing of 210 mm was recommended under the working conditions in this study,which ensures effective coverage of the spray water over the slab surface and enhances the distribution uniformity of water flow rate in the transverse direction.

Simulation of Oil-Water Flow in Shale Oil Reservoirs Based on Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics

A Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics(SPH)method is employed to simulate the two-phase flow of oil and water in a reservoir.It is shown that,in comparison to the classical finite difference approach,this method is more stable and effective at capturing the complex evolution of this category of two-phase flows.The influence of several smooth functions is explored and it is concluded that the Gaussian function is the best one.After 200 days,the block water cutoff for the Gaussian function is 0.3,whereas the other functions have a block water cutoff of 0.8.The effect of various injection ratios on real reservoir production is explored.When 14 and 8 m^(3)/day is employed,the water breakthrough time is 130 and 170 days,respectively,and the block produces 9246 m^(3) and 6338 m^(3) of oil cumulatively over 400 days.

Simulation of Oil-Water Flow in a Shale Reservoir Using a Radial Basis Function

Due to the difficulties associated with preprocessing activities and poor grid convergence when simulating shale reservoirs in the context of traditional grid methods,in this study an innovative two-phase oil-water seepage model is elaborated.The modes is based on the radial basis meshless approach and is used to determine the pressure and water saturation in a sample reservoir.Two-dimensional examples demonstrate that,when compared to the finite difference method,the radial basis function method produces less errors and is more accurate in predicting daily oil production.The radial basis function and finite difference methods provide errors of 5.78 percent and 7.5 percent,respectively,when estimating the daily oil production data for a sample well.A sensitivity analysis of the key parameters that affect the radial basis function’s computation outcomes is also presented.

Effect of forced lamina flow on microsegregation simulated by phase field method quantitatively

The influence of supercooled melt forced lamina flow on microsegregation was investigated. The concentration distribution at solid-liquid boundary of binary alloy Ni-Cu was simulated using phase field model coupled with flow field. The microsegregation, concentration maximum value, boundary thickness of concentration near upstream dendrite and normal to flow dendrite, and downstream dendrite were studied quantitatively in the case of forced lamia flow. The simulation results show that solute field and flow field interact complexly. Compared with melt without flow, in front of upstream dendrite tip, the concentration boundary thickness is the lowest and the concentration maximum value is the smallest for melt with flow. However, in front of downstream dendrite tip, the results are just the opposite. The zone of poor Cu in upstream dendrite where is the most severely microsegregation and shrinkage cavity is wider and the concentration is lower for melt with flow than that without flow.

INTERNET TRAFFIC DATA FLOW FORECAST BY RBF NEURAL NETWORK BASED ON PHASE SPACE RECONSTRUCTION

Characteristics of the Internet traffic data flow are studied based on the chaos theory. A phase space that is isometric with the network dynamic system is reconstructed by using the single variable time series of a network flow. Some parameters, such as the correlative dimension and the Lyapunov exponent are calculated, and the chaos characteristic is proved to exist in Internet traffic data flows. A neural network model is construct- ed based on radial basis function （RBF） to forecast actual Internet traffic data flow. Simulation results show that, compared with other forecasts of the forward-feedback neural network, the forecast of the RBF neural network based on the chaos theory has faster learning capacity and higher forecasting accuracy.

Review of gas-solid two phase flow rate-concentration detection technology

The indirect detection method basic principle of rate and concentration,application range and research results on gassolid two phase flow were discussed.The present development situation and the existing problems of rate and concentration detection technology were analyzed and summarized.Emphatically analyzed the existing problems in the industrial application and research status of electrostatic method in measuring phase concentration.Design criterion of electrostatic phase concentration sensor is given,the superiority and wide industrial application prospect of the sensor used for phase concentration measurement are clarified.