1. A review of vortex tools toward liquid unloading for the oil and gas industry.
- Author
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Luo, Xiaoming, Yang, Lulu, Yin, Haoran, He, Limin, and Lü, Yuling
- Subjects
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LIQUID films , *LOADING & unloading , *ANNULAR flow , *GAS industry , *PETROLEUM industry , *SWIRLING flow - Abstract
Due to the influence of gravity, the liquid film formed after the vortex tool in the inclined pipeline has the characteristics of being thin on top and thick at the bottom. Besides, the liquid film is affected by the tangential force. • Liquid unloading mechanism of vortex tools is explained. • Structural optimization progress of vortex tools is reviewed. • Technology application of surface vortex tools is summarized. • Liquid unloading model of swirl annular flow is proposed. The paper presents an in-depth review of the liquid unloading by vortex tools in the low production gas wells or hilly pipelines from the perspective of liquid unloading mechanism analysis, experiments and numerical simulation, and technology application. Moreover, future research directions are suggested that can promote future applications. The review points out that optimizing the vortex tools should take into account the liquid unloading capacity and pressure drop. The challenges are also discussed. Specifically, it is necessary to: 1. establish a liquid unloading model of vortex flow by considering the gravity in the inclined pipe; and 2. predict the effective operating distance between the vortex tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
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