CFD Analysis of Turbulent Flow of Power-Law Fluid in a Partially Blocked Eccentric Annulus

Ravi Singh, Ramadan Ahmed, Hamidreza Karami, Mustafa Nasser and Ibnelwaleed Hussein
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Ravi Singh: Mewbourne School of Petroleum and Geological Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA
Ramadan Ahmed: Mewbourne School of Petroleum and Geological Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA
Hamidreza Karami: Mewbourne School of Petroleum and Geological Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA
Mustafa Nasser: Gas Processing Center, College of Engineering, Qatar University, P.O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar
Ibnelwaleed Hussein: Gas Processing Center, College of Engineering, Qatar University, P.O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-15

Abstract: This study focuses on analyzing the turbulent flow of drilling fluid in inclined wells using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique. The analysis is performed considering an annulus with a fixed eccentricity of 90% and varying fluid properties, diameter ratio, and bed thickness to examine velocity profile, pressure loss, and overall wall and average bed shear stresses. CFD simulation results are compared with existing data for validation. The pressure loss predicted with CFD agrees with the data. After verification, predictions are used to establish a correlation that can be applied to compute bed shear stress. The established correlation mostly displays a discrepancy of up to 10% when compared with simulation data. The correlation can be used to optimize hole cleaning and manage downhole pressure.

Keywords: CFD; annular flow; bed shear stress; velocity profile; turbulent flow (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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