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Model of pressure losses in pipes during the transport of heavy oil with 11 API gravity

Abstract:

During the transport of heavy oils by pipes, there are difficulties related to their high viscosity with non-Newtonian behavior, directly affecting the performance of the transport facilities, because of the inaccuracies of the calculation methodologies. In the present work it obtain a mathematical model that describes the pressure variations for non-Newtonian oil flow in pipes; obtained from the limitations of methodologies and correlations, that allows the evaluation of the simultaneous effects of the viscous force and of mixing in the laminar and turbulent regime during the transport of heavy oils by pipes. Equation 15 is the generalized theoretical model for the calculation of pressure variations in the transport of heavy crude oil by pipeline. It takes into account the variation of temperature during transport, the effects of viscous friction, and the effects of mixing between flow layers. The values of the flow index for the transport of heavy oil of 11ºAPI by pipes oscillates between 0,917 and 0,929 in function of the temperature values that vary between 29°C and 69.8°C. The consistency index varies between 13.55 Pa.s and 1.46 Pa.s for the same temperature range.