Multiphase Transport in Solid-Liquid and Solid-Gas Flows with Subsea Applications

本研究项目研究多相流的热力学和传热，特别是固-液和固-气流动中涉及颗粒和晶体的多相流。主要应用领域是近海石油和天然气应用中以高粘性石油为主的井流，特别是海底作业。这项研究将开发新的分析技术和物理化学数据测量，从而能够更准确地预测和测量以高粘性石油为主的井流的多相流的特定过程。几个主要的海上石油和天然气生产油田，以及最近发现的新油田，为纽芬兰和拉布拉多提供了重要的机会。高粘多相流研究是充分利用和安全开采这些储量的重要领域。近海石油和天然气的生产和运输严重依赖多相流过程。井流必须从复杂的储集层中提取，这些储集层由几个相组成，这些相具有化学反应，必须在恶劣的近海条件下进行处理，或者长途运输到陆上处理设施。将进行新的实验，并将开发半解析解决方案，以提高对以高粘性石油为主的井流的了解，特别是针对侧重于北极和亚北极条件的海底应用。将开发预测技术，以便更好地进行成本分析和改进设计方法，以便有效地输送未处理和半处理井流。这将为更高效、更安全的回接系统提供有用的新见解，从而扩大单一平台的覆盖范围。 提高对以高粘度石油为主的井流的物理化学特征的了解，将使很大一部分加工设备能够转移到陆地上，从而显著降低基础设施和运营成本。将需要在海底对井流进行部分处理，特别是大量水/气体的去除可以通过限制不必要的流体的运输而大大减少所需的抽水功率，从而减少过大的设备，并有助于防止水合物的形成。更全面地了解沉没颗粒的物理化学特征、相分离、除水/除气和其他多相输送过程，可大大有利于近海石油和天然气生产。这项研究将为更有效地输送和海底处理高粘油为主的井流提供新的理论见解和实验数据，为更具成本效益、安全、可靠和环境友好的海上石油开采方法提供新的理论依据和实验数据。这一研究成果还将在其他多相流技术中得到有益的应用，如流态化床中的固气流动、热化学循环中的固液流动以及浆料输送等。

This research program investigates the thermodynamics and heat transfer of multiphase flows, particularly involving particles and crystals in solid-liquid and solid-gas flows. The primary application area is highly-viscous oil-dominated wellstreams in offshore oil and gas applications, particularly subsea operations. The research will develop new analytical techniques and physiochemical data measurements that enable more accurate prediction and measurement of specific processes of multiphase flows with highly-viscous oil-dominated wellstreams. Several major offshore oil and gas production fields, and new fields recently discovered, provide a significant opportunity for Newfoundland and Labrador. Highly-viscous multiphase flow research is an important field to fully utilize and safely extract these reserves. Offshore oil and gas production and transportation rely heavily on multiphase flow processes. Wellstreams must be extracted from complex reservoirs, consisting of several phases, which are chemically reactive and must be processed in harsh offshore conditions or transported over long distances to onshore processing facilities. New experiments will be conducted and semi-analytical solutions will be developed to improve the knowledge of highly-viscous oil-dominated wellstreams, particularly for subsea applications with a focus on arctic and subarctic conditions. The predictive techniques will be developed for better cost analysis and improved design methodologies to effectively transport un-processed and semi-processed wellstreams. This will provide useful new insight into more efficient and safer tieback systems, thereby widening the reach of a single platform. Improved understanding of the physiochemical characteristics of highly-viscous oil-dominated wellstreams will enable a significant portion of the processing equipment to be moved onshore, which significantly reduces infrastructure and operational costs. Partial-processing of the wellstream will be required on the seafloor, particularly, bulk water/gas removal can significantly reduce the required pumping power by limiting the transport of unnecessary fluids, thus reducing oversized equipment and helping prevent hydrate formation. More complete knowledge of the physiochemical characteristics of immersed particles, phase separation, water/gas removal and other multiphase transport processes can significantly benefit offshore oil and gas production. This research will provide new theoretical insight and experimental data for more effective transport and subsea processing of highly-viscous oil-dominated wellstreams, for more cost effective, safe, reliable and environmentally benign methods of offshore oil recovery. The results of the research will also have useful applications in other multiphase flow technologies, i.e., solid-gas flows in fluidized beds, solid-liquid flows in thermochemical cycles, and slurry transport, among others.