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Drop Breakup and Size Evolution in Oil and Gas Production: A Review of Models and Mechanisms

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Droplet and Spray Transport: Paradigms and Applications

Part of the book series: Energy, Environment, and Sustainability ((ENENSU))

Abstract

The prediction of drop sizes in dispersions is important in a number of industrial applications. Although many advances have been achieved in the understanding of the factors influencing drop size distributions obtained in high shear systems, as well as size evolution throughout pipe flow and equipment, there are still many open questions that remain to be addressed. Here, the governing breakage mechanisms under different conditions will be reviewed, including various fluid systems and experimental apparatuses. Furthermore, different models that have been proposed in the literature will be outlined, including mechanistic models and drop size evolution approaches. Finally, a practical approach to study dynamic emulsion stability characterization will be presented.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    It is important to note that mass transfer processes at the interface may also affect the size evolution, if solutes can be transferred across the interfaces. This will depend on the concentration of the solute in the external phase (Ostwald ripening) and also on the composition of the individual droplets (compositional ripening).

  2. 2.

    The timescales are an important aspect here, because they define the persistence of stability. Thermodynamically, the separation of oil and water, for example, decreases the surface area density and its energy, being a more favorable state for the system. Therefore, in order to generate a “stable” dispersion, high levels of energy input to the system are usually necessary.

  3. 3.

    This assumption implies low drop coalescence rates and that turbulence is not affected by the dispersed phase at low concentration.

  4. 4.

    At this point, it is important to stress that the concept of “maximum stable drop diameter” does not preclude breakage events at smaller sizes. In fact, experiments in Stirring tanks (Konno et al. 1983; Bałdyga and Bourne 1995; Lam et al. 1996) suggest that, at longer mixing times, droplets continue breaking, reaching values far below \(d_{max}\). This has been attributed to the statistical/intermittent character of turbulent flows (Bałdyga et al. 2001).

  5. 5.

    The density ratio \(\rho _c/\rho _d\) is often considered \(\approx \)1; however, it is retained in the expression given by Calabrese et al. (1986a).

  6. 6.

    Turning back to Eq. (7), Hinze (1955) suggested that a criterion for breakup is given when the Weber number exceeds a critical value; \(\mathrm {We_{crit}}=\frac{\rho _c \overline{u'^2(d)} }{\sigma /d_{max}}\), leading essentially to the same result.

  7. 7.

    For impellers, the maximum shear usually occurs at regions close to the impeller tips. For rotor-stator mixers, high localized shear occurs in the gap between rotor and stator and also in the jets coming from the stator holes. The nominal shear rate is often considered to be proportional to \(\propto N D/\delta _{gap}\), where \(\delta _{gap}\) is the gap thickness.

  8. 8.

    A Hershel-Bulkley model was used to describe the rheological data: \(\tau (\dot{\gamma })=\tau _0+c_{\eta }\dot{\gamma }^{m}\).

  9. 9.

    In order that two drops coalesce, they have to be located at a distance sufficiently close to each order—the concept of radial distribution function allows to evaluate the probability that drops with diameter \(d_1\) encounters drops with diameter \(d_2\).

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Acknowledgements

Amit Patil and Stein Tore Johansen thank SINTEF Materials & Chemistry, through the project SIP SURFLUX, for funding the development of the stirred tank emulsion characterization method.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto SINTEF do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    João N. E. Carneiro, Gabriel F. N. Gonçalves & Mariana Gallassi

  2. SINTEF MK, Trondheim, Norway

    Amit Patil & Stein T. Johansen

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  1. João N. E. Carneiro
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  2. Amit Patil
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  3. Stein T. Johansen
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  4. Gabriel F. N. Gonçalves
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  5. Mariana Gallassi
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Correspondence to João N. E. Carneiro .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science Bangalore, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

    Saptarshi Basu

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Avinash Kumar Agarwal

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

    Achintya Mukhopadhyay

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Chetan Patel

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Carneiro, J.N.E., Patil, A., Johansen, S.T., Gonçalves, G.F.N., Gallassi, M. (2018). Drop Breakup and Size Evolution in Oil and Gas Production: A Review of Models and Mechanisms. In: Basu, S., Agarwal, A., Mukhopadhyay, A., Patel, C. (eds) Droplet and Spray Transport: Paradigms and Applications. Energy, Environment, and Sustainability. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7233-8_5

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