Computational Fluid Dynamics

Mission of the SPE-GCS Computational Fluid Dynamics Study Group is to provide a common platform for CFD practitioners in Oil & Gas industry to foster knowledge sharing and networking, facilitate discussions, education/learning/training and develop boarder consensus on best practices in the area of CFD modelling for applications including (but not limited to) Near wellbore reservoir modelling, Drilling and Completion, Flow Assurance, Process and Process Safety, Offshore and Deepwater, Refining and Petrochemicals…

Scope for CFD modelling is gaining momentum and growing rapidly in Oil & Gas industry. It is important to set proper expectations through good understanding of opportunities and challenges in CFD modeling. By raising awareness and providing a platform for industry professionals to network, this Study Group increases confidences on CFD predictions and influences sound decision making.

To address the growing interest within the SPE community, the CFD Study Group organizes knowledge‐sharing events by key industry practitioners, thought leaders, and decision makers. The target audience for these events include oil and gas executives and managers, CFD practitioners, industry professionals, and subject matter experts from operators, service companies, consultants, academia, software vendors, and government labs.

 

 

Webinar: CFD Modelling for Separators – Industry Practices

October 8, 2020

 

Separators are commonly used in O&G industry for a wide range of applications like gas-liquid separation, oil-water separation and particle separation. Their design ranges from commonly seen horizontal and vertical separators which are gravity-based, to cyclones which use the principle of centrifugal separation. Traditional design of separators has been code based with simplistic equations to size and design the separators. However, with increasing demand and complexity of underlying processes, more sophisticated designs and internals are being used to enhance capacity, separation efficiency and / or reduce physical size. CFD modeling has gained significant traction over the last decade for separators and it has become an essential tool for design of these equipment by OEMs and by the wider industry. The large amount of details with in-depth insights and the high degree of fidelity provided by CFD analysis make it an ideal tool for design optimization, operational de-bottlenecking, troubleshooting process upset issues and root cause analysis upon physical failures.

This webinar is a joint session of SPE-GCS CFD Study Group and SPE Separations Technology Technical Section and it aims to bring together industry professionals and experts from OEMs, operators and engineering companies who have experience and interest in application of CFD techniques to solve challenges related to both design and operational issues with gravity separators and other separation equipment. This workshop will include short talks by key practitioners covering various aspects of CFD modelling for separators, followed by group discussion.

 

Presentations:

Operational Significance of Separator Modelling, Peggy Lane, BP

Importance of flow distribution and how to judge these effects when it comes to separation, Sander van Woudenberg, TFMC

CFD and Mysep, a Strong Team for Challenging Separator Retrofits, Henri Witteveen, Kranji Solutions

Pragmatic CFD Modeling of Multiphase Separators – Towards Separator Digital Twins, Lanre Oshinowo, Saudi Aramco

Retrospective Verification of a Produced Water Degasser CFD Model Using the Latest Developments in Theoretical Analysis Methods, Tim Newton, NOV

Making Sense of Conflicting CFD Results vs. Field Measurements – Tale of a Wet Gas Separator, Christian Chauvet, Wood

Application of CFD Technique for Designing Efficient Flow Separators, Rafiqul Khan, Schlumberger

 

Webinar on Erosion CFD Modelling – Industry Practices

July 30, 2020

 

Solid particle erosion is one of the key issues affecting operational reliability, safety and cost of tools and equipment in the oil and gas industry. Predicting accurate erosion rate is critical for safe and reliable operations while maximizing output efficiency. The extent to which erosion occurs depends on many factors such as flow conditions, fluid properties, wall material, and particle properties. As a result, it is difficult to investigate the effects of all these factors using experimental methods alone.

CFD modeling of Erosion has gained significant traction over the last decade. CFD is a powerful tool to model erosion patterns in geometrically complex flow domains. The large amount of details with in-depth insights and the high degree of flexibility provided by CFD analysis makes it also an ideal tool for design optimization, de-bottlenecking, optimizing production limits and failure investigation.

Erosion CFD modeling is a complex process, in addition to accurate solution of flow and turbulence field, a proper treatment of fluid-particle interaction is important for the accuracy of the erosion rate prediction. There are several parameters that need to be considered when using CFD to predict solid particle erosion. Though these CFD analyses are typically carried out through use of recognized CFD software in combination with hardware, there are no consistent practices and erosion predictions can vary significantly between different CFD practitioners. There is a consensus among the growing number of CFD practitioners that a joint effort is needed to have a consolidated practice for CFD erosion modeling to accelerate industry’s acceptance of CFD as an engineering tool. This will ensure industry provides consistent and accurate erosion CFD predictions.

The aim of the workshop is to address best practices and get a broader consensus on minimum standards for CFD methodology, and to foster discussions in formulating industry accepted CFD erosion modelling guidelines. This workshop will be a brainstorming session, and it will include short talks by key practitioners covering various aspects of erosion CFD modelling, followed by group discussion.

Presentations:

 

1st one-Day Symposium on 

Digital Solutions for Fluid Flow Problems in Oil & Gas Industry

April 11, 2019, Chevron Auditorium, 1500 Louisiana St, Houston

Program Booklet

Presentations:

 

 Luncheon Meetings

January 23, 2018: Prof Krishnaswamy Nandakumar from LSU on Multiphase flow models for Processes Innovation: Challenges and Opportunities

March 15, 2018: Prof Siamack A. Shirazi from Univ of Tulsa on CFD Simulations and Experiments in Multiphase Flow for Predicting Solid Particle Erosion: Challenges and Success Stories

May 25, 2018: Dr. Jang Whan Kim – Chief Technical Advisor @ TechnipFMC/ Genesis Americas on Industry Efforts to Develop CFD-Base Numerical Wave Basin

August 21, 2018: Alistair E. Gill – General Manager @ Wild Well Control on CFD – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

January 25, 2019: Marcus Reis and Clovis Maliska Jr – ESSS Group on CFD – DEM Coupling for Modeling of Fluid Flow with Accurate Particle Representation

September 17, 2019: Dr Andy Cai, COMSOL on Corrosion Modelling: Mechanisms, Challenges and Numerical Solutions

December 5, 2019: Prof Rodney Fox, Iowa State University –CFD Modeling for Multiphase Flows

 

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Officers

Position Name Phone
Chair Madhusuden Agrawal 281-661-9228
Vice Chair Kedar Desphande 785-304-0571
Treasurer Mazdak Parsi 918-849-5000
Program Coordinator Gocha Chochua 832-523-0870
Program Coordinator Bharat Tulsyan 617-275-9482
Program Coordinator Uday Godse 512-934-3552
Program Coordinator Kuochen Tsai 281-658-9176

Photos

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