Estudo experimental de quebra e coalescência de bolhas em campo centrífugo

Abstract

Electrical Submersible Pumping is a lifting method widely used in oil exploration and production activities. The performance of these equipment is affected when they are subjected to a gas phase in conjunction with the liquid phase. The present work aims to perform an experimental study of the presence of gas in a commercial centrifugal pump, measuring the loss of lifting capacity in different operating conditions. In addition to the acquisition of global data, characteristics of the two-phase flow pattern flowing through the pump and the effects of this centrifugal equipment on these patterns were visualized using the shadow sizing methodology. The results presented are: performance curves for different operational conditions of gas-liquid flow; dimensionless performance curves of the two-phase flow through the pump; measurement of the properties of the dispersed phase at the intake and output of the pump in two-phase gas-liquid patterns of interest and visualization of the flow pattern inside the impeller of a transparent centrifugal pump. These experimental data were used to develop a simplified model for the correction of previous models found in the literature for the prediction of the maximum diameter of bubbles at the outlet of a centrifugal pump. The results found agree with the state of the art in gas-liquid flow and serve as a framework for the development of future detailed models of multiphase flow inside pumps.