Abstract:
In the oil wells with high water cut, low-temperature gathering and transportation can be implemented below the freezing point of crude oil. When the gathering temperature is lower than its wall sticking occurrence temperature, however, the crude oil will be adhered and accumulated on the wall, which will impact the actual operation of the oilfield. In this paper, the pipeline flow characteristics of oil-water two-phase flow in Gaoyang Block of Huabei Oilfield at different inlet temperatures were investigated by stopping the heating of three pipes to decrease the inlet temperature of oil and water. This study was carried out using the visual experiment device based on a great number of field experiments. The relationship between the inlet temperature and the pressure drop was obtained and the sudden pressure drop at the wall sticking occurrence temperature was discovered. In this way, the method for the on-site determination of wall sticking occurrence temperature of crude oil in the oil wells with high water cut was developed, and the wall sticking occurrence temperatures of three typical oil wells in Gaoyang Block was measured. It is indicated that the wall sticking occurrence temperature under actual production conditions is 3-4 ℃ lower than the freezing point of crude oil. What's more, the higher the liquid production rate of oil well is, the higher the water cut is and the lower the wall sticking occurrence temperature is. In conclusion, this proposed method for measuring wall sticking occurrence temperature is of guiding significance to the low-temperature gathering and transportation of oil wells with high water cut in Huabei Oilfield.