Laminar flow of non-newtonian fluids in an eccentric annulus
Esso Production Research Co. developed a technique for predicting the volumetric flow rate and velocity distribution for laminar flow of power-law and Bingham-plastic fluids in an eccentric annulus. This flow situation occurs during drilling of cementing of oil or gas wells. The volumetric flow rate is presented as a series of dimensionless plots of fluid properties, pipe diameters, eccentricity, and pressure drop, which are obtained by numerically integrating the velocity profile from a finite difference solution of the equations of continuity and motion after transformation into bipolar coordinates. The numerical procedure was verified by comparing the calculations with previously published results for the special cases of Newtonian flow in an eccentric annulus and non-Newtonian flow in a concentric annulus and with limited experimental data for Bingham-plastic flow in an eccentric annulus. The results indicate that the technique is accurate in predicting the volumetric flow rate and velocity distribution within the range of variables specified and on the degree of conformity of the fluid to the rheological model used.
- OSTI ID:
- 6776096
- Journal Information:
- J. Eng. Ind.; (United States), Journal Name: J. Eng. Ind.; (United States) Vol. 97; ISSN JEFIA
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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