DFD-DEM Modeling of the Gravel Packing Process During Petroleum Horizontal Well Completions

Abstract

The increasing exploration challenges, faced by the oil industry, require the development of new technologies to achieve higher efficiency in the extraction of oil and gas, contemplating the lowest possible cost. Numerical simulation of processes exist to help solving several problems faced by industries, and is capable of accomplishing different virtual try-outs, which can provide answers to understand and optimize the process in discussion. With the expressive development of computers capabilities, the simulation field that most called attention in the last years has been the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), which can computationally reproduce complex fluid flows involving turbulence, reactions, multiphase system, etc. One of the gaps still faced by the modern CFD codes is the incapacity of simulating in details the multiphase systems involving granular solids, which are common in many industry processes, especially in the oil and gas industry. The present paper holds as its objective to develop a new methodology to numerically reproduce granular flows, addressing a different tool to help during the calculation: the so called Discrete Element Method (DEM), used to perform particles simulation. As an adopted methodology, a coupling between CFD (Fluid Flow Calculation) and DEM (Particle Tracks Calculation) is performed. To assess and validate the approach proposed, the Gravel Packing process of horizontal wells was used as a test for the simulations of the present work, which is widely used by Petrobras for completion deepwater and ultra-deep water wells which requires a better comprehension to search more efficient and economical considerations. The obtained results in the present work turned out to be very much promising, which means that it is possible to work numerically with the complex problem of high solids concentration. The main results of this study show a validation of the alpha wave height obtained in numerical simulation within simulators data of Petrobras. The results proved the applicability of the approach and that the CFDDEM coupling may, in the future, be used to aid in the design operation of gravel packing in horizontal wells.