Method of flow control
OwnerGino James Roussinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An improved method of flow control by developing a dimensionless model describing Reynolds number values of a pipe as a function of Reynolds numbers of a flow control device connected to the pipe. The model describes the effect on flow performance of the flow control device due to variations of choke sizes operatively installed in proximity to the flow control device. The model is then utilized to determine the characteristic dimension of a choke to be placed in proximity to a flow control device in order to achieve a desired flow coefficient value.
Claims17
A method for modeling flow performance, comprising:
- (1) Determining the flow coefficient for plurality of flow restrictions operatively installed to a length of pipe, wherein the characteristic dimension of each flow restriction varies relative to the other flow restrictions;
- (2) Using the values measured in step (1) to determine a value for the Reynolds number of the pipe at each measured data point;
- (3) Using the values measured in step (1) to determine a value for the Reynolds number of the flow restriction at each measured data point;
- (4) Using the values for the Reynolds number for the pipe determined in step (2) and the values for the Reynolds number for the flow restrictions determined step (3) to empirically determine a mathematical relationship describing the Reynolds number of the flow restrictions as a function of the Reynolds number of the pipe;
- and
- (5) Using the mathematical relationship determined in step (4) to determine a mathematical relationship describing the characteristic dimension of a flow restriction as a function of the actual inner diameter of a specified pipe and a desired flow coefficient.
A method of designing a flow control device, comprising:
- (1) Generating a Reynolds-based model describing the flow performance of a set of flow control devices and a plurality of chokes;
- (2) Selecting a value for the inner diameter of a pipe connected to a flow control device;
- (3) Selecting a value for the desired flow coefficient through the flow control device;
- (4) Using the values for the inner diameter of a pipe selected in step (2) and the desired flow coefficient selected in step (3) to calculate a value for the Reynolds number for the pipe;
- (5) Using the Reynolds-based model developed on step (1) and the Reynolds number for the pipe calculated in step (4) to determine the characteristic dimension of a choke corresponding to the desired flow coefficient value;
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- (6) Using the characteristic dimension determined in step (4) to produce a choke.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.