Capítulo 3. EL PROYECTO FRUTOS PARA EL OSO
3.4. Más de 15 años plantando frutales
The test rig consists of a 5.5 m horizontal flow line with I.D. = 0.026 m and made from Perspex “clear acrylic”. Several insertion points are costumed to inject heavy oil, air, water, and slurry (Figure 3-3). Flow from the test rigs returns to the open top collecting tank and then back to water or heavy oil tanks.
Thus the rigs are operated at near atmospheric pressure.
Figure 3-3: Horizontal Perspex pipe with insertion points
Both single and differential pressure transducers are used in Perspex pipe, positioned at 3 m and 5.17m from the insertion points, to measure the pressure gradient. The differential pressure transducer (GE Sensing PMP 4110 amplified output pressure transducer, pressure range -200 to +200 mbar and accuracy
±0.04 % full scale) is used with experiments associated with relatively small pressure drop (water, slurry, and gas flow). Two singles GE Sensing PMP 1400 industrial amplified pressure transducer, pressure range 6 bar gauge and accuracy ±0.15 % typical) are used to measure all the flows ( including heavy oil
Since the temperature affects the viscosity of the heavy oil, the temperatures of the fluids are constantly monitored in the transportation line and in the Perspex pipe. Temperatures are measured using J-type thermocouples with accuracy of
±0.1°C.
Air is supplied from the laboratory compressor. This compressor has a maximum supply capacity of 1275 m3/hr free air delivery (FAD) and a maximum discharge pressure of 7 barg. A 2.5 m3 air tank receiver is used to damp down the pressure fluctuation induced by the compressor. From the receiver, air pass through a bank of filters (coarse, medium and fine), a cooler where moisture in the air is stripped, before the flowmeters.
Air flow rate is measured by using two gas flowmeters in order to cover the range of application requires:
Thermal mass flowmeter, Endress+Hauser t-mass 65F15 DN15 (0.5-inch), with a range of 0 to 2 m3/hr @ 9 barg;
Vortex flowmeter, Endress+Hauser Prowirl 72F25 DN 25 (1-inch), with a range of 3 to 100 m3/hr @ 9 barg;
The gas flowmeters have 4-20 mA HART output that are connected to the data acquisition system.
Water is stored in a tank of 0.15 m3 capacity. The water temperature is controlled by an external chiller system. The water is pumped by a progressive cavity pump (PCP) through a flexible pipe. The PCP pump has a maximum capacity of 2.18 m3/hr with safety switch to stop the pump at the maximum discharge pressure of 10 barg. Water flow is metered using an electromagnetic meter, Promag 50P50, DN50, with a range of 0 m3/hr to 2.18 m3/hr. The 4-20 mA HART output is connected to the data acquisition system.
Sand and water are mixed in a cylindrical tank of 0.20 m3 capacity (Figure 3-4).
The slurry is mixed by a stirrer with a variable speed controller. The slurry is pumped by a progressive cavity pump (PCP) through flexible pipe. The PCP
pump has a maximum capacity of 2.18 m3/hr with safety switch to stop the pump at a maximum discharge pressure of 10 barg. Water flow is metered using an electromagnetic meter, Promag 50P50, DN50, with a range of 0 m3/hr to 2.18 m3/hr. The 4-20 mA HART output is connected to the data acquisition system.
Figure 3-4: Sand-water mixer tank
Heavy oil is stored in a tank of 0.15 m3 capacity. The heavy oil temperature is controlled by a chiller system to attain temperature ranges (5°C - 50°C);
therefore achieving the desired viscosity range for the run. The Heavy oil is injected by flexible pipe to the test rig by the progressive cavity pump (PCP) through a 1-inch (ID = 25 mm). The PCP pump has a maximum capacity of 0.72 m3/hr with safety switch to stop the pump at maximum discharge pressure of 10 barg. Heavy oil flow is metered using Coriolis flow meter, Promass 83I50, DN50, with a range of 0 m3/hr to 0.72 m3/hr. The 4-20 mA HART output is connected to the data acquisition system.
Bulk flow of heavy oil, water, and sand mixture are collected in a specially
components is achieved by gravity. The heavy oil is pumped back to heavy oil tank and the water is pumped back to water tank by individual progressive cavity pump (PCP). The PCP pumps have a maximum capacity of 0.72 m3/hr &
2.18 m3/hr for Heavy oil and water respectively. Both pumps have a maximum discharge pressure of 10 barg.
Figure 3-5: Separator tank drawings
Two types of Congleton HST 50 with an average particle size of 270µm and Congleton HST95 with an average particle size of 144µm were used. The bulk sand mass to be investigated cover solids loadings of 1-10% by volume. The sand feeder system consists of a cylinder with a cone shape end hopper of 0.20 m3capacity and a stirrer. The water/sand mixture is pumped to the main flow line by a variable speed PCP pump. The PCP pump has a maximum capacity of 2.18 m3/hr and a maximum discharge pressure of 10 barg. The mixer is designed to maintain a stable flowrate for 5 minutes minimum.
The conditioned raw data from the instrumentations (including flowmeters, pressure transducers, differential pressure transducers and temperature sensors) are sampled and saved onto a PC data acquisition system using a Labview®, version 8.6.1, based system (Figure 3-6). This system consists of the following components:
An NI USB-6210 connector board (National Instruments) interfaces the output signals from the instrumentations using BNC coaxial cables.
A standard PC system (2.40 GHz Dell, VOSTRO1320, Intel ® Core ™ 2 Duo CPU P8600) with 300 GB hard disk and 4.00 GB of RAM.
Figure 3-6: PC data acquisition system with Labview
Data acquisition software is written in the graphical programming language Labview® ‘Virtual Instrument’, version 8.6.1. As each test run may generate a considerable amount of data, the software is designed to write data continuously to the computer hard disk. Sensor signals are converted into engineering units before on screen display and storage.
The technical specifications summary for the 1 inch multiphase Test Facility and equipment\instruments are listed in Table 3-1:
Equipment\Instruments Description
Flow rigs Diameter 1” Perspex
Internal diameter 26 mm
Length of horizontal pipe 5.5m Operating temperature
and pressure Pressure near atmospheric
Temperature 5°C - 50°C
Flow rates 2 PCP water pump 2.18 m3/hr @ 10 barg
PCP water/sand pump 2.18 m3/hr @ 10 barg 2 PCP heavy oil pump 0.72 m3/hr @ 10 barg Air compressor 1275 m3/h FAD @ 7 barg Flow meters Heavy oil flowmeter 0 – 2.18 m3/h
2 water flowmeters 0 – 2.18 m3/h
624mm diameter x 1000mm high
Motor: 4 pole, 400v, 3ph, 50 Hz, IP55. 0.75 kW.
Drive: Gearbox maximum 300 rpm Shaft: 1002mm long, 40mm diameter.
Impeller: SC3, 365 mm diameter Designed for viscosity: 1cps - 200cp
specific gravity: 1 solids: sand, s.g. 2.65 particle size: 450μm
solids concentration: 15% volume
Table 3-1: 1 inch multiphase rig technical specifications