Influence of flow rate and operating time on the temperature profiles of oil wells

Autores

  • Luiz E. da Silva Filho
  • Lucas P. de Gouveia
  • Thiago B. da Silva
  • William W. M. Lira
  • Eduardo T. de Lima Junior
  • Joao Paulo N. de Araújo
  • Felipe L. de Oliveira

Palavras-chave:

Temperature profiles, oil wells, parametric analysis

Resumo

During the production of oil and gas wells fluids at high temperatures flow through the tubing string.
Consequently, the well structure experiences thermal gradients along its depth and in the radial direction. This
affects different components such as casings, cement sheath and rock formation. Among the undesirable effects
caused by the temperature variation there is the Annular Pressure Buildup (APB), associated to expansion of the
fluids trapped between strings, and, the decrease of resistance of steel tubes and connections. The changes in
temperature of fluids and components during the operation of a well depend on many factors, among which are:
operating flow rate, inlet pressure and temperature, operation time, and the produced/injected fluid properties. In
this context, this paper presents a parametric study aimed at understanding how the variation of the operating
flow rate and production time impact the temperature profiles generated. The temperature profiles are evaluated
at realistic operational values of flow rate and production time using an in-house developed thermal simulator,
based on the simultaneous resolution of energy balance, momentum balance and mass balance equations. The
main contribution of this work is to demonstrate the importance of isolated properties in the thermal response of
well components. In addition, the methodology presented can be applied to other parameters and thus improve the
understanding of how each property influences the well temperature.

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Publicado

2024-06-22

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