pressure drop

Flowmeters are used to measure liquid/gas products. Turbine flowmeters are an effective means of accurate measurement of liquid/gas products in many industries. Because of the turbine meter's versatility and flexibility in product metering applications, it is one of the most widely used technologies in flow measurement. Turbine meters were invented in the 18th century by Reinhard Woltman, and at that time were used for water-flow measurement. In 1970, the API recognized the turbine meter in MPMS Chap. 5 Sec. 3, "Measurement of Liquid Hydrocarbons by Turbine Meters."[1]

The minimum basic parameters that are required to design the piping system include, but are not limited to, the following. These basic parameters are needed to design a piping system. Assuming steady-state flow, there are a number of equations, which are based upon the general energy equation, that can be employed to design the piping system. The variables associated with the fluid (i.e., liquid, gas, or multiphase) affect the flow. Although piping systems and pipeline design can get complex, the vast majority of the design problems encountered by the engineer can be solved by the standard flow equations.

Turbulent flow consist of eddies of various size range, and the size range increases with increasing Reynolds number. At very small scale, the energy of the eddies dissipates into heat due to viscous forces. Energy dissipation rate is the parameter to determine the amount of energy lost by the viscous forces in the turbulent flow. Different approaches are used to calculate the energy dissipation rate, depending on the type of restrictions the fluid passes through. Turbulent flow is a complex phenomenon, which may seem highly unpredictable.

A relief system is an emergency system for discharging gas during abnormal conditions, by manual or controlled means or by an automatic pressure relief valve from a pressurized vessel or piping system, to the atmosphere to relieve pressures in excess of the maximum allowable working pressure (MAWP). A scrubbing vessel should be provided for liquid separation if liquid hydrocarbons are anticipated. The relief-system outlet may be either vented or flared. If designed properly, vent or flare emergency-relief systems from pressure vessels may be combined. Some facilities include systems for depressuring pressure vessels in the event of an emergency shutdown.

Produced or fresh water being treated may have suspended solids, such as formation sand, rust from piping and vessels, and scale particles, or dissolved solids (various chemical ions). For most uses or disposal methods, these solids may need to be removed. It may be necessary to remove these solids to prevent wear in high-velocity areas, prevent solids from filling up vessels and piping and interfering with instruments, and comply with discharge restrictions on oil-coated solids. This page discusses appropriate removal technologies and handling of the removed material. Solid particles, because of their heavier density (compared to water) and net negative buoyant force, will settle to the bottom with a terminal velocity that can be derived from Stokes' law, as shown in Eq. 1. This equation applies strictly to creeping flow regimes in which the Reynolds number is less than unity; this is mainly concerned with spheres of very small diameter surrounded by a liquid. For very small particles, the inertial forces are much less than the viscous forces because of the low particle mass, and the particle does not enter into a turbulent settling regime. Most sedimentation basins are rectangular flumes with length-to-width ratios of 4:1 or greater to limit crossflow.

As oil and gas production moves into deeper water, the cost of surface production platforms becomes prohibitively high. The industry has found that surface facilities must be kept to a minimum and shared by satellite fields to be commercial. Subsea processing is a key toward a cost-effective, "hub-and-spoke" development (Figure 1), allowing the industry to operate successfully in deeper water. Subsea processing refers to the separation of produced fluids into gas and liquid--or gas, oil, and water--for individual phase transport and disposal (in the case of water). The liquid stream can be pumped to a central facility for final processing.

The low shear valve aims to reduce the turbulence and shear forces acting on the fluid mixture. Less emulsified fluid flow has positive impact on the separation facilities. This article describes low shear valve design principles. Various valve geometries with low shear design principles are presented. The majority of process valves can be divided into two types of applications: isolation valves and control valves.

The three primary functions of a drilling fluid depend on the flow of drilling fluids and the pressures associated with that flow. These functions includes: The transport of cuttings out of the wellbore, prevention of fluid influx, and the maintenance of wellbore stability. If the wellbore pressure exceeds the fracture pressure, fluids will be lost to the formation. If the wellbore pressure falls below the pore pressure, fluids will flow into the wellbore, perhaps causing a blowout. It is clear that accurate wellbore pressure prediction is necessary. To properly engineer a drilling fluid system, it is necessary to be able to predict pressures and flows of fluids in the wellbore.

After precipitation, asphaltene can remain as a suspended solid in the oil or deposit onto the rock. Here, the term precipitation corresponds to the formation of a solid phase from thermodynamic equilibrium and deposition means the settling of solid particles onto the rock surface. Deposition will induce alteration of wettability (from water-wet to oil-wet) of the rock and plugging of the formation. These aspects have been known for a long time and are the subject of many recent investigations. This section reviews the investigations and laboratory observations of these aspects.

Noise logging is an inexpensive way to investigate whether there is channeling in injection or production wells. The noise-logging tool "listens" passively to downhole noise, for example, from gas bubbling up through liquid in the wellbore. Behind pipe, a channeling flow often passes through cramped spaces and constrictions. These "tight spots" cause high velocities, sudden pressure reductions, and significant flow turbulence. The noise tool listens to the noise associated with the turbulence.