| Peer-Reviewed

Study of the Performance of a New Kind of Downhole Gas-Liquid Separation with High Gas Content

Received: 7 January 2019     Published: 23 May 2019
Views:       Downloads:
Abstract

In the downhole, gas separation is crucial for the Electrical Submergible Pumps’ normal operation. This paper presents a new type of downhole gas-liquid separator (DGLS) and studies its separation performance in experiments that interests the oil industry. Laboratory results show that the pressure drop in the DGLS is rather small and that the gas-liquid separation in the DGLS can be seen as an incompressible flow. When the split ratio equals the gas content at the inlet, complete gas-liquid separation occurs. In addition, as the liquid density increases, the gas-liquid separation performance improves. The separation mechanism of the DGLS is related to the centrifugal acceleration, which is better when it is less than 30 times the gravitational acceleration. A method for predicting the separation performance is proposed.

Published in Journal of Energy and Natural Resources (Volume 8, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.jenr.20190802.11
Page(s) 45-49
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Downhole Gas-Liquid Separation, Split Ratio, Gas Content, Centrifugal Acceleration, Experiment

References
[1] Carios E., Vega L., Pardo R., et al. Experimental Study of a Poor Boy Downhole Gas Separator Under Continuous Gas-Liquid Flow [M]. 2013.
[2] Hreiz R., Lainé R., Wu J., et al. On the effect of the nozzle design on the performances of gas–liquid cylindrical cyclone separators [J]. International Journal of Multiphase Flow, 2014, 58 (1): 15-26.
[3] Ortiz-Vidal L. E., Barbosa M. C., Rodriguez O. M. H.. High efficiency gas-liquid separation system for pumped wells [J]. Petroleum, 2018.
[4] Movafaghian S., Jaua-Marturet J. A., Mohan R. S., et al. The effects of geometry, fluid properties and pressure on the hydrodynamics of gas–liquid cylindrical cyclone separators [J]. International Journal of Multiphase Flow, 2000, 26 (6): 999-1018.
[5] Lucero D. P.. A downhole gas separator for methane production from geopressured aquifers [J]. Applied Energy, 1984, 16 (3): 193-221.
[6] Liu X. L., Falcone G., Teodoriu C.. Liquid loading in gas wells: Experimental investigation of back pressure effects on the near-wellbore reservoir [J]. Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, 2016, 36: 434-441.
[7] Ortiz-Vidal L. E., Barbosa M. C., Rodriguez O. M. H.. High efficiency gas-liquid separation system for pumped wells [J]. Petroleum, 2018: 1-5.
[8] Weingarten J. S., Kolpak M. M., Mattison S. A. et al. Development and testing of a compact liquid-gas auger partial separator for downhole of surface applications. SPE Production and Facilities, 1997: 34-40.
[9] Wissink J. G.. DNS of separating low Reynolds number flow in a turbine cascade with incoming wakes. International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow, 2003, 24 (4): 626-635.
[10] Rollet-Miet P., Laurence D., Ferziger J.. LES and RANS for turbulent flow in tube bundles. International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow, 1999, 20 (3): 241-254.
[11] Jack F. M.. Aerospace gas-liquid separator for terrestrial applications. IEEE, 1996: 109-113.
[12] Weomgarten J. S., Kolpak M. M., Mattison S. A. et al. Development and testing of a compact liquid –gas auger partial separator for downhole or surface applications. SPE Production and Facilities, 1997: 34-40.
[13] Bohorquez R., Ananaba V., Alabi O. et al. Laboratory testing of downhole gas separators [J]. SPE Production and Operations, 2009, 24 (4): 499-509.
[14] Enrique C., Libar V., Raimundo P. et al. Experimental study of a poor boy downhole gas separator under continuous gas-liquid flow [C]. SPE Artificial Lift Conference-Americas, 2013, 21-22 May, Cartagena City, Colombia.
[15] Yang L. L., Liu S., Li H., et al. Gas-liquid flow splitting in T-junction with inclined lateral arm [J]. Journal of Hydrodynamics, 2018, 30 (1): 173-176.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Fanchen Meng, Shiying Shi, Naiqing Ma. (2019). Study of the Performance of a New Kind of Downhole Gas-Liquid Separation with High Gas Content. Journal of Energy and Natural Resources, 8(2), 45-49. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jenr.20190802.11

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Fanchen Meng; Shiying Shi; Naiqing Ma. Study of the Performance of a New Kind of Downhole Gas-Liquid Separation with High Gas Content. J. Energy Nat. Resour. 2019, 8(2), 45-49. doi: 10.11648/j.jenr.20190802.11

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Fanchen Meng, Shiying Shi, Naiqing Ma. Study of the Performance of a New Kind of Downhole Gas-Liquid Separation with High Gas Content. J Energy Nat Resour. 2019;8(2):45-49. doi: 10.11648/j.jenr.20190802.11

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.jenr.20190802.11,
      author = {Fanchen Meng and Shiying Shi and Naiqing Ma},
      title = {Study of the Performance of a New Kind of Downhole Gas-Liquid Separation with High Gas Content},
      journal = {Journal of Energy and Natural Resources},
      volume = {8},
      number = {2},
      pages = {45-49},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jenr.20190802.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jenr.20190802.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jenr.20190802.11},
      abstract = {In the downhole, gas separation is crucial for the Electrical Submergible Pumps’ normal operation. This paper presents a new type of downhole gas-liquid separator (DGLS) and studies its separation performance in experiments that interests the oil industry. Laboratory results show that the pressure drop in the DGLS is rather small and that the gas-liquid separation in the DGLS can be seen as an incompressible flow. When the split ratio equals the gas content at the inlet, complete gas-liquid separation occurs. In addition, as the liquid density increases, the gas-liquid separation performance improves. The separation mechanism of the DGLS is related to the centrifugal acceleration, which is better when it is less than 30 times the gravitational acceleration. A method for predicting the separation performance is proposed.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Study of the Performance of a New Kind of Downhole Gas-Liquid Separation with High Gas Content
    AU  - Fanchen Meng
    AU  - Shiying Shi
    AU  - Naiqing Ma
    Y1  - 2019/05/23
    PY  - 2019
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jenr.20190802.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.jenr.20190802.11
    T2  - Journal of Energy and Natural Resources
    JF  - Journal of Energy and Natural Resources
    JO  - Journal of Energy and Natural Resources
    SP  - 45
    EP  - 49
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-7404
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jenr.20190802.11
    AB  - In the downhole, gas separation is crucial for the Electrical Submergible Pumps’ normal operation. This paper presents a new type of downhole gas-liquid separator (DGLS) and studies its separation performance in experiments that interests the oil industry. Laboratory results show that the pressure drop in the DGLS is rather small and that the gas-liquid separation in the DGLS can be seen as an incompressible flow. When the split ratio equals the gas content at the inlet, complete gas-liquid separation occurs. In addition, as the liquid density increases, the gas-liquid separation performance improves. The separation mechanism of the DGLS is related to the centrifugal acceleration, which is better when it is less than 30 times the gravitational acceleration. A method for predicting the separation performance is proposed.
    VL  - 8
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

Author Information
  • Oil & Gas Cooperation and Development Company, BHDC, Neimenggu Eerduosi, China

  • Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

  • Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

  • Sections