Use of Fiber Optic Information to Detect and Investigate the Gas-in-Riser Phenomenon

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Otto L. Santos ◽  
Wesley C. Williams ◽  
Jyotsna Sharma ◽  
Mauricio A. Almeida ◽  
Mahendra K. Kunju ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Fiber Optic ◽  
Control Area ◽  
State University ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Flow Rates ◽  
Well Control ◽  
Louisiana State University ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Experimental Runs

Abstract Potential applications of optical fiber technologies in the well control area are to detect the presence of gas and to unfold the gas dynamics inside marine risers (gas-in-riser). These issues became even more relevant now when considering the application of managed pressure drilling (MPD) operations in deep and ultradeep waters that may allow for a controlled amount of gas inside the riser. The application of these fiber optic technologies in the well control domain is currently being evaluated at Louisiana State University (LSU) as a part of a gas-in-riser research project granted by the Gulf Research Program (GRP). To accomplish that, an actual well was recompleted and instrumented with fiber optic sensors to continuously collect data along the wellbore and with four pressure and temperature downhole gauges to record those parameters at four discrete depths. A 2-7/8 in. tubing string with its lower end at a depth of 5026 ft and a chemical line to inject nitrogen at the bottom of the hole were also installed in the well. This paper discusses the results of four out seven experimental runs that were performed in this full-scale apparatus using fresh water and nitrogen in order to calibrate the installed pieces of equipment, to train the crew of researchers to run the tests, to check experiments repeatability and to obtain experimental results under very controlled conditions since water and nitrogen have well defined and constant properties. The paper also presents a mathematical model based on the unsteady-state flow of a two-phase mixture that was developed to help design the experimental runs. The results obtained in the seven runs were used to calibrate the model that was additionally modified to read the experimental parameters. The simulated results produced a remarkable agreement with the fiber optic and pressure and temperature sensors gathered data. Finally, the paper shows and analyzes simulation results of gas-in-riser operations on an actual drilling floater unit after the mathematical model has been adapted to predict pressures and output flow rates during gas circulations out of the riser. The effects of circulation flow rate, backpressure applied at surface and amount of gas inside the riser on pressures and flow rates are displayed and analyzed.

Use of Fiber-Optic Information To Detect and Investigate the Gas-in-Riser Phenomenon

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Otto L. A. Santos ◽  
Wesley C. Williams ◽  
Jyotsna Sharma ◽  
Mauricio A. Almeida ◽  
Mahendra K. Kunju ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Fiber Optic ◽  
Research Effort ◽  
Pressure Sensors ◽  
Full Scale ◽  
Petroleum Engineering ◽  
Gas Migration ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Engineering Research ◽  
Experimental Runs

Summary A potential application of optical fiber technologies in the well control domain is to detect the presence of gas and to unfold the gas dynamics inside marine risers (gas-in-riser). Detecting and monitoring gas-in-riser has become more relevant now when considering the application of managed pressure drilling operations in deep and ultradeep waters that may allow for a controlled amount of gas inside the riser. This application of distributed fiber-optic sensing (DFOS) is currently being evaluated at Louisiana State University (LSU) as part of a gas-in-riser research project granted by the National Academies of Sciences, the Gulf Research Program (GRP). Thus, the main objective of this paper is to present and discuss the use of DFOS and downhole pressure sensors to detect and track the gas position inside a full-scale test well during experimental runs conducted at LSU. The other objectives of this work are to show experimental findings of gas migration in the closed test well and to present the adequacy of a mathematical model experimentally validated to match the data obtained in the experimental trials. As a part of this research effort, an existing test well at the LSU Petroleum Engineering Research and Technology Transfer Laboratory (PERTT Lab) was recompleted and instrumented with fiber-optic sensors to continuously collect data along the wellbore and with four pressure and temperature downhole gauges to record those parameters at four discrete depths. A 2⅞-in. tubing string, with its lower end at a depth of 5,026 ft, and a chemical line to inject nitrogen at the bottom of the hole were also installed in the well. Seven experimental runs were performed in this full-scale apparatus using fresh water and nitrogen to calibrate the installed pieces of equipment, to train the crew of researchers to run the tests, to check experimental repeatability, and to obtain experimental results under very controlled conditions because water and nitrogen have well-defined and constant properties. In five runs, the injected gas was circulated out of the well, whereas in two others, the gas was left inside the closed test well to migrate without circulation. This paper presents and discusses the results of four selected runs. The experimental runs showed that fiber-optic information can be used to detect and track the gas position and consequently its velocity inside the marine riser. The fiber-optic data presented a very good agreement with those measured by the four downhole pressure gauges, particularly the gas velocity. The gas migration experiments produced very interesting results. With respect to the mathematical model based on the unsteady-state flow of a two-phase mixture, the simulated results produced a remarkable agreement with the fiber-optic, surface acquisition system and the downhole pressure sensors data gathered from the experimental runs.

Analysis of Riser Gas Pressure from Full-Scale Gas-in-Riser Experiments with Instrumentation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahendra R Kunju ◽  
Mauricio A Almeida
Keyword(s):  
Full Scale ◽  
Drilling Process ◽  
Control Methods ◽  
State University ◽  
Gas Migration ◽  
Well Control ◽  
Louisiana State University ◽  
Managed Pressure Drilling ◽  
Upward Transport ◽  
Minimal Fluid

Abstract As the use of adaptive drilling process like Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD) facilitates drilling of otherwise non-drillable wells with faster corrective action, the drilling industry should review some of the misconceptions to produce more efficient well control methods. This paper discusses results from full-scale experiments recently conducted in an extensively instrumented test well at Louisiana State University (LSU) and demonstrate that common expectations regarding the potential for high/damaging internal riser pressures resulting from upward transport or aggregation of riser gas are unfounded, particularly when compressibility of riser and its contents are considered. This research also demonstrates the minimal fluid bleed volumes required to reduce pressure build-up consequences of free gas migration in a fully closed riser.

Generals, Statesmen, and International Politics in Europe, 1898-1945The Republic in Danger: General Maurice Gamelin and the Politics of French Defence, 1933-1940 by Martin S. Alexander. New York, Cambridge University Press, 1992. xiv, 573 pp. $94.95 U.S.Churchill, edited by Robert Blake and Wm. Roger Louis. New York, W.W. Norton, 1993. xv, 579 pp. $46.99.Louis Loucheur and the Shaping of Modem France, 1916-1931 by Stephen D. Carls. Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Louisiana State University Press, 1993. xv, 330 pp.Churchill: The End of Glory, A Political Biography by John Charmley. Toronto, MacFarlane Walter and Ross, 1993. viii, 742 pp. $45.00.The French Foreign Office and the Origins of the First World War, 1898-1914 by M. B. Hayne. Don Mills, Ontario, Clarendon Press, 1993. 328 pp. $78.95.When the Soviet Union Entered World Politics by Jon S. Jacobson. Berkeley, California, University of California Press, 1994. xi, 388 pp. $18.00 U.S.Chamberlain and Appeasement: British Policy and the Coming of the Second World War by R.A.C. Parker. London, Macmillan, 1993. 388 pp. £12.99.Dilemmas of Appeasement: British Deterrence and Defense, 1934-1937 by Gaines Post, Jr. Ithaca, New York, Cornell University Press, 1993. xiii, 363 pp. $48.50 U.S.

1995 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 289-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Jabara Carley
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
World Politics ◽  
State University ◽  
World War ◽  
Political Biography ◽  
Cornell University ◽  
Louisiana State University ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Foreign Office

The effect of two-phase flow regime on hydrodynamics and mass transfer in a horizontal-tube gas-liquid reactor

1985 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 745-757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Zahn ◽  
Lothar Ebner ◽  
Kurt Winkler ◽  
Jan Kratochvíl ◽  
Jindřich Zahradník
Keyword(s):  
Mass Transfer ◽  
Pressure Drop ◽  
Flow Regime ◽  
Liquid Flow ◽  
Horizontal Tube ◽  
Liquid Holdup ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Flow Rates ◽  
Type Relation ◽  
Good Agreement

The effect of two-phase flow regime on decisive hydrodynamic and mass transfer characteristics of horizontal-tube gas-liquid reactors (pressure drop, liquid holdup, kLaL) was determined in a cocurrent-flow experimental unit of the length 4.15 m and diameter 0.05 m with air-water system. An adjustable-height weir was installed in the separation chamber at the reactor outlet to simulate the effect of internal baffles on reactor hydrodynamics. Flow regime maps were developed in the whole range of experimental gas and liquid flow rates both for the weirless arrangement and for the weir height 0.05 m, the former being in good agreement with flow-pattern boundaries presented by Mandhane. In the whole range of experi-mental conditions pressure drop data could be well correlated as a function of gas and liquid flow rates by an empirical exponential-type relation with specific sets of coefficients obtained for individual flow regimes from experimental data. Good agreement was observed between values of pressure drop obtained for weirless arrangement and data calculated from the Lockhart-Martinelli correlation while the contribution of weir to the overall pressure drop was well described by a relation proposed for the pressure loss in closed-end tubes. In the region of negligible weir influence values of liquid holdup were again succesfully correlated by the Lockhart-Martinelli relation while the dependence of liquid holdup data on gas and liquid flow rates obtained under conditions of significant weir effect (i.e. at low flow rates of both phases) could be well described by an empirical exponential-type relation. Results of preliminary kLaL measurements confirmed the decisive effect of the rate of energy dissipation on the intensity of interfacial mass transfer in gas-liquid dispersions.

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