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Experimental investigation of two-phase flows in large-diameter pipes and evaluation of flow models applied to worst-case-discharge calculations

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) requires Worst Case Discharge (WCD) calculations for all wells planned to be drilled in the Gulf of Mexico. During drilling activities, diameters larger than 10 inches are present in many portions of the well configuration. Wellbore configuration for wells drilled in deepwater in the Gulf of Mexico often includes deeper wells (more than 10,000 ft deep) with open-hole sections of diameter larger than onshore or shallow water wells. As part of the WCD calculations, multiphase flow models have been used to predict pressure and temperature changes in these wellbores. The accuracy of these models is still questionable, however, particularly for pipe diameters larger than 5 inches. Furthermore, comparisons between such models and experimental data are rare in the open literature for WCD scenarios. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of models commonly used in WCD calculations.

Online purl.fdlp.gov