Geothermal Two Phase

Flow Correlation in
Vertical Pipes

General Equation
The flowing bottom-hole pressure of a
geothermal well is the sum of the flowing
wellhead pressure, the pressure exerted by the
weight of the fluid column, the kinetic energy
change, and the energy losses resulting from
heat transfer and friction (Pora, 2013).
The equations that describe two-phase flow are
the
continuity,
energy,
and
momentum
equations. These are then used to express the
total pressure drop up the wellbore in terms of
its
potential,
acceleration,
and
frictional
components (Jaime, 1983; Pora, 2013).

The Continuity Equation

The continuity equation describes the
transport of conserved quantity, in this
case conservation of mass. For the case of
two phase flow the continuity equation has
to account for the different phase
properties
d
d

dz

v m A m

dz

(m t ) 0

where vm is mixture velocity of fluid that is

given
v m by
v sl v sg

The Continuity Equation

vsl and vsg are the superficial velocities of liquid
and gas respectively

ql
v sl
A

v sg

qg
A

m is the density of the liquid-gas mixture which

is a function of the void fraction.

m l 1 g

is also called gas holdup. It is the volume of

gas or steam actually present in a given pipe
section and given by (Wallis, 1969).

Ag
A

Gas Hold up
Gas hold up is the fraction
of the total volume in the
pipe occupied by gas

If velocity of gas (vg) is

equal to that of liquid (vf)
then

The Continuity Equation

mt is total mass flow rate that is defined as
m t ml mg lq l gq g
Gas density and liquid density can be
estimated using the following equations
(Wagner and Pruss, 1993)

ln

1
3

1
3

1
3

1
3

1
3

i1 i 2 i 3 i 4 i 5 i 6

1
1
1
1
1
1
l
1 j1 3 j2 3 j3 3 j4 3 j5 3 j6 3
c

1
3

The Continuity Equation

where
c = 20.102 lb/ft3

= 1-(T/705.103)

i1 = -2.03150240

i4 = -17.2991605

i2 = -2.68302940

i5 = -44.7586581

i3 = -5.38626492

i6 = -63.9201063

j1 = 1.99274064

j4 = -1.75493479

Energy Equation
2
2

d
vl
g
m l
gz h l m g
gz h g Q 0
2

dz
2

The energy equation is derived from the

first law of thermodynamics.
The equation is divided into four parts,
namely kinetic part, change in enthalpy
per unit length, gravitational potential
energy, heat loss per unit length.

Momentum Equation
d
dp
m t v m A mgA t f A 0
dz
dz
where tf is the pressure drop per unit length due
to friction. tf depends on flow regime of the two
phase flow.

f
tf
v l2 l (1 ) v g2 g
2gD

The momentum equation for two phase flow

consists of change in inertia per unit length,
Pressure changes per unit length, hydrostatic
pressure gradient, hydrostatic pressure gradient
and head loss.

The Steam Quality

The steam quality of the mixture, x, is the ratio
between mass flow of gas and total mass flow
through a given cross section of the pipe (Wallis,
1969).

mg
ml mg

R sw g
l R sw g

where Rsw is gas solubility in water (Ahmed, 2006)

R sw

1
2

k1 k 2 p k 3 p
5.615

The Steam Quality

k1 2.12 3.45(103 )T 3.59(105 )T 2
k 2 0.0107 5.26(105 )T 1.48(107 )T 2
k 3 8.75(107 ) 3.9(109 )T 1.02(1011 )T 2

A relationship between the gas hold up,

steam quality, slip ratio and phase densities
exists, can be expressed by (Kjartan, 2011)

x l

[(1 - x )gS x l ]

Gas Hold up
where S is slippage between the phases. This
slippage is commonly termed slip ratio, S, and
is defined as the ratio between the average
velocity of the gas phase and the average
velocity of the liquid phase in gas-liquid flow
(Zhao, 2005)

vg
vl

If slip between liquid phase and gas phase is

negligible, then S is equal to one.

Pressure Drop Equation

The three governing equation can be
assembled to derive a pressure drop
correlation in the vertical two-phase flow.
Jaime (1983) has modified Orkiszewskis
method for predicting the pressure drop of
the two-phase flow in geothermal wells as

follows

m t f
z
(m l m g )q g
1 4637A 2 p

1
p
144

Pressure Drop Correlation Using

Dimensional Analysis
Several physical parameters which have a
significant effect on the fluid flow in pipe are
as follows
Mixture density (m)
Total mass flow rate (mt)
Enthalpy (h)
Pipe diameter (d)
Pressure gradient (P/L)

Pressure Drop Correlation Using

Dimensional Analysis
The unit and dimension of the parameters
are listed in the following table
Table 1: Unit and dimension of the
selected parameters
No. Parameter Unit Dimension
1.
lbm/ft3
ML-3
m
2.
lbm/sec
MT-1
mt
3.
h
Btu/lb
L2T-2
4.
d
ft
L
5.
psi/ft
ML-2T-2
P/L

Pressure Drop Correlation

Using Dimensional Analysis
The unit and dimension of the parameters
are listed in the following table
Table 1: Unit and dimension of the
selected parameters
No. Parameter Unit Dimension
1.
lbm/ft3
ML-3
m
2.
lbm/sec
MT-1
3.
h
Btu/lb
L2T-2
4.
d
ft
L
5.
psi/ft
ML-2T-2
P/L

Pressure Drop Correlation

Using Dimensional Analysis
As per the Buckingham theorem, two
number of dimensionless groups can be
formed. Therefore

f(1, 2 ) 0

The first group consists of the first four

variables. The variables are arranged to
form the dimensionless equation as follows

2 4
md h
2
mt

Pressure Drop Correlation

Using Dimensional Analysis
Using
the
same
way,
the
second
dimensionless
group
is
arranged
by
replacing the fourth variable with the fifth
one. The equation
is as follows
5 P
md

2
m 2t

P Pwf Pwh

where:
By rearranging the equation, the flowing
bottom-hole pressure 2is obtained:

Pwf Pwh

Lm t 2

md5

Relationship of 1 and 2
In order to obtain relation between the two
dimensionless groups, several variables given
in Table 2 were randomly varied to result in
350 sets of data.
Table 2: Parameter used to correlate the two
Parameter
minimum
Maximum
dimensionless
groups
d(ft)
L(ft)
e(in)
Pwh(psi)
Pbh(psi)
Twh(oF)
Tbh(oF)
mt(lb/sec)
h(btu/lb)
U (btu/hr/sqft/F)
w

0.72
2280
0.00006
195
658
50
182
25
21
289
0.75

1.0335
8299
0.0001
995
3073
534
757
154
528
1386
1.13

Relationship of 1 and 2

The relationship between the two groups is

0.966377
0.0000092033 1

Pressure Drop Correlation

Using Dimensional Analysis
In order to obtain relation between the two
dimensionless groups, several variables given
in Table 2 were randomly varied to result in
350 sets of data.
Table 2: Parameter
to correlate
Parameter used
minimum
Maximum the two
d(ft)
0.72 groups
1.0335
dimensionless
L(ft)
e(in)
Pwh(psi)
Pbh(psi)
Twh(oF)
Tbh(oF)
mt(lb/sec)
h(btu/lb)
U (btu/hr/sqft/F)
w

2280
0.00006
195
658
50
182
25
21
289
0.75

8299
0.0001
995
3073
534
757
154
528
1386
1.13

Procedure for Calculating Pwf

The procedure to estimate the flowing bottom
is given as follows:
1. Assume a value of flowing bottom-hole
pressure (Pwfa).
2. Calculate average pressure and average
temperature using the following equations

Pwh Pwfa
Twh Twf
P
T
3. Calculate2 or measure mixture 2density, (m),
total mass flow rate (mt), enthalpy, and
diameter pipe at
and .

Procedure for Calculating Pwf

4. Calculate the first and second dimensionless
equations.
2 4

md h
1
m 2t

0.966377
0.0000092033 1

5. Calculate flowing bottom-hole pressure.

Pwf Pwh

2
Lm t 2
md5

6. If the different between the calculated Pwf (in step 5)

and the assumed Pwfa (in step 1) is less than 1 psi,
the procedure ends. If not, assume Pwfa = Pwf and go
to step 2.

Example
A geothermal well has a set of fluid
and well properties as follows:
Parameter
Depth, ft
ID pd.Casing, ft
Pwh, psi
Twh, oF
Twf, oF
h(btu/lb)
mt(lb/sec)
Pwf, psi

Data
2253.9
0.9843
587.40
473.00
511.87
558.90
108.03
841.22

Solution
First Trial
1. Assume Pwf = 1000 psi
2. Average pressure and average
T
492.
ave
temperature
P
= 793.7014
=

ave

psi

3. Mixture density, (m), total mass

h (btu/lb)
flow
rate
and=
mt (lb/s)
= (mt), enthalpy,
558.8993
diameter
pipe
at
and
.
108.0265
m (lb/s) =

Solution
First Trial
4. The first and second dimensionless
2 =
1 =
equations
12.81302733

0.000108231

5. Flowing
bottom-hole
pressure
pwf (psi)
=
769.9358

6. Since the different between the

calculated Pwf (in step 5) and the
assumed Pwfa (in step 1) is more than 1
psi, assume Pwfa = Pwf = 769.9358 psi.

Solution
Second Trial
1. Assume Pwf = 769.9358 psi
2. Average pressure and average
T
492.
ave
temperature
P
= 678.6693
=

ave

psi

3. Mixture density, (m), total mass

h (btu/lb)
flow
rate
and=
mt (lb/s)
= (mt), enthalpy,
558.8993
diameter
pipe
at
and
.
108.0265
m (lb/s) =

Solution
Second Trial
4. The first and second dimensionless
2 =
1 =
equations
16.94453123

0.000141791

5. Flowing
bottom-hole
pressure
pwf (psi)
=
795.3481

6. Since the different between the

calculated Pwf (in step 5) and the
assumed Pwfa (in step 1) is more than 1
psi, assume Pwfa = Pwf = 795.3481 psi.

Solution
Third Trial
1. Assume Pwf = 795.3481 psi
2. Average pressure and average
T
492.
ave
temperature
P
= 691.3755
=

ave

psi

3. Mixture density, (m), total mass

h (btu/lb)
flow
rate
and=
mt (lb/s)
= (mt), enthalpy,
558.8993
diameter
pipe
at
and
.
108.0265
m (lb/s) =

Solution
Third Trial
4. The first and second dimensionless
2 =
1 =
equations
16.39210038

0.000137321

5. Flowing
bottom-hole
pressure
pwf (psi)
=
792.1584

6. Since the different between the

calculated Pwf (in step 5) and the
assumed Pwfa (in step 1) is more than 1
psi, assume Pwfa = Pwf = 792.1584 psi.

Solution
Fourth Trial
1. Assume Pwf = 792.1584 psi
2. Average pressure and average
T
492.
ave
temperature
P
= 689.7806
=

ave

psi

3. Mixture density, (m), total mass

h (btu/lb)
flow
rate
and=
mt (lb/s)
= (mt), enthalpy,
558.8993
diameter
pipe
at
and
.
108.0265
m (lb/s) =

Solution
Fourth Trial
4. The first and second dimensionless
2 =
equations
1 =
16.45988227

0.00013787

5. Flowing
bottom-hole
pressure
p (psi)
=
wf

792.5528

6. Since the different between the

calculated Pwf (in step 5) and the assumed
Pwfa (in step 1) is less than 1 psi, then P wf
= 792.5528 psi. The calculation is ended