Chapter Outline

• Introduction

• Fundamentals of fluid flow in flowline

• Analysis of flowline performance

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 186
Introduction
 Pressure drops exist in fluid flow through flowline
on the surface.

 Although the flow regimes through flowlines

(mostly horizontal) differ from those in wells
(vertical or deviated), the analysis of flowfline
performance shares the same approach: (a)
estimate flow regime, and (b) predict the
corresponding pressure drops.

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 187
Nonhomogeneous Flow Calculation
Procedure
To provide an essential background of petroleum
production system and its components

To provide fundamentals for the performance analysis of

each component as well as the whole production system

To provide the background of production data analysis

and production forecast with decline curve analysis
(DCA)

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 188
 Analysis of Single-Phase Flows
Through Horizontal Pipes

 Pressure drop for the horizontal flow of a liquid

 Pressure drop for a gas flow in horizontal pipes

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 189
Pressure Drop for Single-Phase Flows in
Horizontal Pipes
 Single-phase liquid flow

2 f F u L 2
p  p1  p2 
gc D

 Single-phase gas flow

 g ZTq  24 f F L
2
p1 
p  p   4.195 10
2
1
2
2
6
 4   ln 
D  D p2 

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 190
 Problem 1: Pipeline Leaking
Water flows in a 1 1/2-inch-ID pipeline with a constant
friction factor of 0.0076. The pipeline is found to leak water
at a point where the upstream and downstream pressure
gradients of the leaking location are 0.05 and 0.038 psi/ft,
respectively. The water has a specific gravity of 1.05 and a
viscosity of 1.2 cp. Determine the water-leakage rate.

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 191
 Analysis of Two-Phase Flows
Through Horizontal Pipes

 Flow regime prediction

 Pressure gradient calculations

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 192
Nonhomogeneous Flow Procedure
Phase properties,
flowrates, and two-
phase variables

Flow pattern
prediction

Slip liquid holdup

and mixture
properties

Pressure gradient

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 193
Approaches of flow modeling
Factors Empirical Correlation Mechanistic Modeling
Period 1950 – 1975 1976 – present
• Conservation laws and
• Experimental data fitting
little empiricism
Basic • Variables related by constant
• Variables related by basic
coefficients
physical mechanisms
Formulation Simple Complex
Solution Simple explicit solution Often numerical solution
• Not up-scalable to field • Up-scalable to field
Flexibility conditions conditions
• Not improvable • Improvable
Accurate Less More
Understanding
Easy Special training
and use
Cost/time Low High
4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 194
Flow Pattern Concepts in Pipelines

Quiz: What governs flow patterns?

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 195
 Horizontal Flow Regimes
1. Segregated Flows: The two phases are separated for the most
parts

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 196
 Horizontal Flow Regimes

2. Intermittent Flows: The gas and liquid phases are alternating.

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 197
 Horizontal Flow Regimes

3. Distributive Flows: One phase disperses in the other phase.

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 198
Flow Regime Prediction
Flow regime can be predicted by flow regime maps.
Some widely used methods are:
 Baker (1953)

 Mandhane et al. (1974)

 Beggs & Brill (1973)

 Taitel & Dukler (1976)

 Taitel and Barnea (1990)

 Xiao et al. (1990)

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 199
 Baker’s Flow Regime Prediction

• Flow regime can be predicted with flow regime map

using two groups:
Gl Gl 
 Gg
• where Gl and Gg are mass fluxes of liquid and gas,
respectively.

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 200
 Baker’s Flow Regime Prediction
• where

Gl  usL  L , Gg  usG G

2 1/3
73   62.4  
1/2
  G    L  
     ,    L   
 0.0765   62.4      L  


4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 201
Flow Regime Map by Baker (1953)

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 202
 Mandhane et al.’s Flow Regime
Prediction

• Mandhane et al. (1974) proposed a flow regime map by

which the flow regime of a liquid flow in horizontal pipes
can be predicted using superficial velocities

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 203
 Mandhane et al.’s Flow Regime Map

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 204
 Beggs and Brill Flow Regime Map

• The flow regime in horizontal pipes can be predicted by

the mixture Froude number (NFr) and the liquid fraction
(ll)

u 2
usl
N Fr  m
l 
gD um

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 205
 Beggs and Brill Flow Regime Map

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 206
 Pressure Gradient Calculation
• Pressure gradient of a two-phase gas/liquid flow through
horizontal pipes can be calculated by experimental
correlations
• Three most popular correlations are Beggs & Brill
(1973), Eaton et al. (1976) and Dukler (1969).

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 207
 Beggs and Brill (BB) Correlation
• Step 1: Predict the flow regime using the flow regime
map;
• Step 2: Calculate the liquid holdup
• Step 3: Calculate the frictional pressure gradient, the
kinetic and potential energy pressure drops (if any).

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 208
 Parameters Used in BB

• Pressure gradient can be calculated using the

following parameters:
2
u usl
N Fr  m l 
gD um

L1  316l0.302 L2  0.0009252 l
2.4684

L3  0.10l1.4516 L4  0.5l6.738

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 209
Flow Regime Prediction with BB
• Segregated flow exists if

l  0.01, N FR  L1 or l  0.01, N FR  L2
 Transition flow occurs if
l  0.01, L2  N FR  L3
 Intermittent flow exists if
0.01  l  0.4, L3  N FR  L1 or l  0.4, L3  N FR  L4
 Distributed flow exists if
l  0.4, L1  N FR or l  0.4, L4  N FR
4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 210
Liquid Holdup Calculation with BB

• Liquid Holdup: yl  ylo

a b
ylo  c
l
, ylo  l  1
NFR

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 211
 Pressure Gradient Calculation by
Beggs and Brill Method
• Pressure loss by friction

 dp  2 f tp  mum2
   , psi/ft
 dz  f gc D

 m  l l  g  g , lbm/ft 3

ftp  f n e S l
x 2
y l

ln  x 
S
0.0523  3.182 ln  x   0.8725  ln  x    0.01853  ln  x  
2 4

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 212
 Pressure Gradient Calculation by
Beggs and Brill Method
• If 1 < x < 1.2 S  ln(2.2 x  1.2)

 The no-slip friction factor, fn, can be determined from

Moody diagram (or Chen’s equation) using the Reynolds
number for two-phase flows as follows:

 m um D
N Rem  m  l l  g  g
m
4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 213
 Pressure Gradient Calculation by
Beggs and Brill Method
• The kinetic energy contribution to the pressure gradient is
taken into account with parameter Ek

dp (dp / dz ) PE  (dp / dz ) F
 , psi/ft
dz 1  Ek

umusg  m
Ek 
gc p

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 214
 Problem 2: Horizontal Two-Phase Flow
Pattern Prediction
A two-phase mixture of gas and crude oil flows in a
horizontal 0.61-m (24-in.) ID pipeline. At a specific location,
the in-situ flow parameters and fluid physical properties are
known; these are given below. Determine the flow pattern at
that location.

𝑣 = 1.5 𝑚/𝑠 𝜌 = 800 𝑘𝑔/𝑚 𝜇 = 5 𝑐𝑝 𝜎 = 0.03 𝑁/𝑚

𝑣 = 1 𝑚/𝑠 𝜌 = 150 𝑘𝑔/𝑚 𝜇 = 0.02 𝑐𝑝

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 215
 Problem 3: Two-Phase Flow in a
Horizontal Pipe
At a specific location, a two-phase flow mixture is flowing a
horizontal, 6-in-ID pipeline with 10,000 STBO/D and a
producing gas/oil ratio of 1,000 scf/STBO or a gas-
production rate of 10 MMscf/D. The following flow
parameters are known.

𝐵 = 1.197 𝑏𝑏𝑙/𝑆𝑇𝐵𝑂 𝐵 = 0.0091 𝑓𝑡 /𝑠𝑐𝑓 𝑅 = 281 𝑠𝑐𝑓/𝑆𝑇𝐵𝑂

𝜌 = 47.61 𝑙𝑏𝑚/𝑓𝑡 𝜌 = 5.88 𝑙𝑏𝑚/𝑓𝑡 𝜎 = 8.41 dyne/cm

𝜇 = 0.97 𝑐𝑝 𝜇 = 0.016 𝑐𝑝 𝜀 = 0.0006 𝑓𝑡

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 216
 Problem 4: Flow Pattern
Starting from a horizontal, stratified two-phase flow pattern,
investigate the effect of the following parameters on flow
pattern.

1. Decrease in pipe diameter

2. Increase in inclination angle

3. Increase in gas density

4. Decrease in gas/liquid surface tension

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 217
 Problem 4: Flow Pattern

Taitel and Dukler (1976) flow pattern map (Shoham 2006)

4/24/2025 Dr. Mai Cao Lan, Dept. of Drilling & Production Engineering, GEOPET, HCMUT 218
Exercise 13: Calculate multiphase flow rates through choke
using Sachdeva’s method
Parameter Value Unit
Reservoir Pressure (Pr) 2500 psi
Well Depth (L) 9632.2 ft
Roughness 0.001 in

in
Tubing Inner Diameter (ID) 4.5
Oil Gravity (API) 35.71
Oil Viscosity 1.5 cp
Producing GLR 34.37 scf/STB

Gas specific Gravity (air=1) 0.64

Water Cut (WC) 4 %
Interfacial Tension 30 dynes/cm
S.G water 1.02
Liquid Rate 1154.4 STB/D
Gas Rate 0.04 mmscf/d
g 32.17
S.G Oil 0.846
Water Rate 46.176 bbl/d
S.G Liquid 0.853
Liquid Viscosity 1.460 cp 219
Density of Oil ρo 52.805 lbm/cuft