Scale-Up Correlation for the Flow of Surfactant-Based Fluids in Circular Coiled Pipes

Abstract

This study involves experimental investigation on the flow properties of aqueous surfactant-based (SB) fluids in small and large-scale coiled tubing. It aims at understanding the viscoelastic properties and its effect on the flow behavior of SB fluids in coiled tubing. In spite of SB fluids wide use as friction reducer and/or fracturing fluid in the oil and gas industry, the flow data in large pipe sizes as well as coiled tubing are very scarce. Majority of the available flow data are gathered in straight pipes with small sizes. The scale-up of small-scale flow data is questionable due to the pronounced diameter effect. Furthermore, previous studies have correlated flow behavior of these fluids only through simple power-law model parameters. Limited work with polymeric fluids has been reported that includes fluid elasticity in scale-up procedure and it is nonexistent for highly elastic SB fluids. In this study, the properties of widely used Aromox APA-T, a highly active surfactant used as gelling agent in aqueous and brine base fluids, are thoroughly investigated. Rheological measurements are conducted using Bohlin rheometer for SB fluid concentration of 1.5 vol %, 2 vol %, 3 vol %, and 4 vol %. Flow data are gathered using 1.27 cm, 3.81 cm, 6.03 cm, and 7.30 cm OD coiled tubing with various curvature ratios. This study presents the first attempt to investigate the flow behavior SB fluids in large-scale coiled tubing. The results show that SB fluids exhibit non-Newtonian pseudoplastic behavior. Elastic and viscous properties of SB fluids are very sensitive to surfactant concentration. Friction losses in coiled tubing are significantly higher than those in straight pipes due to secondary flow effect. Increasing curvature ratio yields higher friction pressure loss. Also, small-scale data correlations using only simple power-law model fluid rheological parameters lead to erroneous results when scaled-up to large pipe sizes. New technique, based on the modified Deborah number, which includes fluid elasticity and pipe shear effect, has been developed to correlate data from the small laboratory-scale tubing and large field-scale pipes. Correlation to predict Fanning friction factor of SB fluids in coiled tubing as a function of Deborah number and fluid flow behavior index is presented. Correlation is validated by comparing predictions with the experimental data. It is shown that the new correlation accurately predicts friction factor of SB fluids and thus alleviates the scale-up issue.