NALU™ NEAR-WELLBORE MODELLING
NALU™ is a multiphase flow dynamics wellbore simulation proprietary software. The software can conduct multiphase flow dynamics simulation in the near-wellbore regions to mimic various sand control and flow control completions methods. Unlike the commercial software on the market, NALU is based on the fundamental Navier-Stokes Equation with minimal reliance on the empirical correlation. Therefore, the fluctuations between neighboring flow regimes caused by the empirical relationships, as observed in the other commercial wellbore simulators, will be eliminated.
NALU has been utilized as an efficient flow control design tool for various applications including tubing deployed and liner deployed inflow and outflow control devices for both conventional and unconventional operations. Various sand control screens can also be accounted for in the simulation. The key outputs of the model are the radial mass flow rates across the nozzles and pressure drops associated with the specific nozzle distribution.
EVALUATING PARTIALLY COMPLETED LINER PERFORMANCE
Using state-of-the-art computational fluid-dynamics (CFD) software packages, Variperm engineers have developed simulations to predict the additional pressure drop incurred from partially completing a wellbore’s liner. The simulation allows Variperm’s engineers to contrast the cost savings of a partially completed liner against the additional pressure-loss disadvantage, and in turn select a partial completion that strikes a balance between these competing factors.
EXPERIMENTAL & COMPUTATIONAL NOZZLE TESTING
Variperm engineers are expanding there in-house testing capabilities to evaluate increasingly complex flow situations experienced by FCD nozzles. Currently, Variperm engineers can simulate and experimentally measure the performance of nozzles impinged by single-phase flows and are now developing apparatuses and models to evaluate nozzle performance during multiphase flow.
