Abstract
Generally, artificial lifts to pump crude oil having a high viscosity from wellbores using an electrical submersible pump (ESP) are not efficient. The present study consists of a numerical approach to understand the effect of fluid viscosity and surface roughness of the flow passage on the performance of an ESP. A three-dimensional numerical analysis was carried out using Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations at different off-design conditions. The standard k-ϵ turbulence model was used for the steady incompressible flow. Water and crude oils having different viscosities were used as working fluids and numerical analyses were made by varying surface roughness of the flow passage. Although there was a sharp drop in the efficiency with the increase in surface roughness, but the combined effect of viscosity and surface roughness showed an increase in efficiency up to a certain fluid viscosity.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Symposia |
Subtitle of host publication | Turbomachinery Flow Simulation and Optimization; Applications in CFD; Bio-Inspired and Bio-Medical Fluid Mechanics; CFD Verification and Validation; Development and Applications of Immersed Boundary Methods; DNS, LES and Hybrid RANS/LES Methods; Fluid Machinery; Fluid-Structure Interaction and Flow-Induced Noise in Industrial Applications; Flow Applications in Aerospace; Active Fluid Dynamics and Flow Control - Theory, Experiments and Implementation |
Publisher | American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) |
Volume | 1A-2016 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9780791850282 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2016 |
Event | ASME 2016 Fluids Engineering Division Summer Meeting, FEDSM 2016, collocated with the ASME 2016 Heat Transfer Summer Conference and the ASME 2016 14th International Conference on Nanochannels, Microchannels, and Minichannels - Washington, United States Duration: Jul 10 2016 → Jul 14 2016 |
Other
Other | ASME 2016 Fluids Engineering Division Summer Meeting, FEDSM 2016, collocated with the ASME 2016 Heat Transfer Summer Conference and the ASME 2016 14th International Conference on Nanochannels, Microchannels, and Minichannels |
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Country/Territory | United States |
City | Washington |
Period | 7/10/16 → 7/14/16 |
Keywords
- Electrical submersible pump
- High viscosity
- Numerical analysis
- Surface roughness
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Mechanical Engineering