Modeling and Simulation of Flow Field Around a Blowout Well

Abstract

Summary Modeling and simulation of a blowing-out oil/gas well is very important in the drilling industry because they can accurately predict the velocity, pressure, and temperature fields around the well. This would help the personnel during the control operation to make proper decisions with minimum risk. In this paper, hydrodynamics and thermal behavior of a gaseous-well blowout were investigated. The flow was modeled as a free turbulent jet discharging in the atmosphere. A realizable k-ε model was used to model the turbulence, and a non-premixed model was used to model the combustion. The effect of placing a flow tube on the wellhead was studied. The results showed that combustion has an important effect on the flow behavior around the well by doubling the suction flow rate. Using the flow tube has a significant effect by concentrating the vacuum at the bottom of the wellhead, and increasing the flow-tube diameter increases the suction flow rate. It was also found that the drag force on the flow tube will be increased when the flow is reacting or when the flow-tube diameter is increased.