Sand Transport – Model Enhancements in Horizontal/Inclined Wells and Pipelines

The major goal of this project is to improve a mechanistic model to predict the minimum flow rate (critical flow rate) required to constantly move the sand particles in single and multiphase flow under different flow patterns. The TUSMP model is currently being expanded and tested to include the effect of the inclination angle. In the recent past, TUSMP has developed models that were compared in single-phase flow and multiphase flow for air-water-sand flow cases or higher liquid viscosity cases involving CMC/Water; however, the effect of higher viscosity and density has to be investigated in detail and modeled effectively. Furthermore, work is in progress to test this model against larger pipe diameters to improve it.