A new prediction approach for continuous liquid carrying in gas wells considering droplet deformation and flowing conditions

Most widely used critical liquid-carrying flow prediction models are Turner model and Li Min model. They both do not consider the influence of flow conditions on the liquid carrying in gas wells and assume the drag coefficient to be a constant. However, the variations of Reynolds number has a great influence on the drag coefficient in highly turbulent flow region, the discrepancies of the two models calculation with actual data exist. Aiming at this problem, considering the effect of drop deformation on the minimum critical flow rate and introducing GP model calculating the drag coefficient in highly turbulent flow regime, a new prediction model for continuous liquid-carrying in gas wells was established. The new model simplifies the calculation of droplet deformation parameters and considers the variations of the drag coefficient with Reynolds numbers in highly turbulent flow region. The new model is compared with Turner model and Li Min model, and validated with the actual data. The results show that the new model provides the prediction results in best coincidence with the actual state of gas wells. In conclusion, critical flow rate of gas wells in highly turbulent flow region can be predicted accurately by the new model, which has a guidance for gas production planning.