GERAÇÃO DE EMULSÕES DURANTE A PRODUÇÃO DE PETRÓLEO / EMULSION GENERATION DURING OIL PRODUCTION

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2007

RESUMO

Emulsion formation during oil production may take place in the flow inside the reservoir or in the two-phase flow down hole in production wells, and through pipelines and valves in surface facilities. Emulsions can cause a number of operational problems such as tripping of equipment in gas-oil separations plants and high pressure drops in flow lines. Flow conditions responsible for generation of emulsions present at the surface, going from porous media, turbulence down hole, through pumps, or in surface facilities, are uncertain, and their effects on the drop size, are not well understood. The present work is focused on emulsion generation inside reservoirs and in some aspects of the produced emulsions in turbulent flow. Emulsions can be formed in the two-phase flow inside a porous media by different mechanism. Snap-off of the non-wetting phase drops as there flow through pore throats is one of these mechanisms. This phenomenon is analyzed in this work by visualizing the flow of large oil drops suspended in water through a glass micro-capillary with a constriction. The conditions at which the snap-off occurs were mapped as a function of the operating parameters. The results define the conditions at which emulsification by snap-off occurs inside a porous media. Study of emulsion formation in a turbulent flow was focused on the characteristics of the produced emulsion (external phase and diameter size distribution) as a function of the phase concentration and properties. Conditions for emulsion inversion were analyzed as a function of the phases properties and concentration. The results can be used to estimate the state of emulsification as a function of process conditions at different locations, from the reservoir to the surface facilities.

ASSUNTO(S)

emulsions petroleo generation petroleum geracao emulsoes

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