Shadi Ansari

220 Pages·2016·50.01 MB·English

by  Shadi Ansari

Newtonian and Non-Newtonian Flows through Mini-channels and
Micro-scale Orifices for SAGD Applications

by

Shadi Ansari

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Science

Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Alberta

© Shadi Ansari, 2016
Abstract
This experimental investigation examined the inflow to a producer well
geometry found in a typical steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) process. The
flow of Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid through mini-channels
(D = 0.837 µm) and micro-scale orifices (keystone slots, D = 0.858 µm) were
h h
considered. The major goal was to describe the velocity distribution and this was
undertaken using particle image velocimetry (PIV).
The velocity profile determined for the flow through the long channel was
used to find the rheological parameters of the fluid. Theory of the rheology of non-
Newtonian fluids along with PIV measurements were used to find the flow index, n,
and flow consistency index, k. These where validated against commercial
rheometer. It was shown that measuring the velocity distribution of a non-
Newtonian fluid can be used to identify rheological property of the fluid.
The second set of experiments considered the flow of Newtonian (water), and
non-Newtonian (polyacrylamide) fluids to study the respective velocity profiles
using PIV. The results showed that an increase in slot angle, , increased the
gradient at which the velocity reduced along the channel. At low𝜃𝜃 flow rates, the
increase in slot angle ( 6 ) caused a flow separation phenomenon which was
only present for the N𝜃𝜃ew≥ton°ian fluid. Comparison with theory showed that the
Newtonian flow profiles found from experiment matched well while for the non-
Newtonian fluid the profiles deviated from expected. This was a result of the
contraction-expansion geometry which increased the shear rate giving the fluid a
pseudo-Newtonian-like behavior.
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Preface
This thesis is original work by Shadi Ansari. Part of Chapters 4 and 5 of this
thesis have been published as Ansari, S., Rashid, M. A. I., Chatterjee, O.,
Waghmare, P. R., Ma, Y., & Nobes, D. (2015) “Visualization of the viscous effects
of non-Newtonian fluids flowing in mini-channels”, and as Ansari, S., Rashid, M. A.
I., Waghmare, P. R., Ma, Y., & Nobes, D. (2015) “Newtonian and non-Newtonian
flows through micro scale orifices” in proceeding of the 10th, Pacific Symposium
on Flow Visualization and Image Processing.

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Acknowledgements
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Dr. David S.
Nobes for his continuous support during the whole of my study. I greatly appreciate
his patience in motivating me and sharing his knowledge for all challenges I had.
Conversations with him always kept me at higher level of thinking and were true
inspirations. I could not imagine having an advisor who is better than him.
I am also grateful for Dr. Prashant Waghmare for his kindness in letting me
use his laboratory and research facilities. Thanks to my friends and lab mates for
their support, friendship and help. Especially I thank my friends Yishak Yusuf and
Rouholluh Shokri for their help and useful comments for my thesis.
Special thanks go to my loving husband, Ali Baladi, who has not only been a
husband but also the greatest colleague, friend, and one to truly rely on for anything
anytime. Finally, a greatest thank you to my parents and my brother for providing
me support during my whole life and believing me all along. I owe it to you all!
Funding support for this project was made available by RGL Reservoir
Management Inc. and the Natural Sciences and Research Council (NSERC) of
Canada.

Shadi Ansari
January, 2016

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Table of Contents
Abstract ........................................................................................................... ii
Acknowledgements ................................................................................................ iv
Preface .......................................................................................................... iii
Chapter 1. LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................1
1.1 Introduction .........................................................................................1
1.2 Rheology of bitumen and the mixture of bitumen and sands .............5
1.3 Study of flow through mini-channels .................................................8
1.4 Flow of Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids through orifices ......11
1.5 Flow velocity measurement techniques ............................................14
1.6 Particle image velocimetry ...............................................................16
1.7 Objectives .........................................................................................18
1.8 Thesis Outline ...................................................................................19
Chapter 2. Experimental Setup ..........................................................................21
2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................21
2.2 Optical setup to study the velocity field of flow through a mini-channel
22
2.2.1 Camera .............................................................................................24
2.2.2 LED .................................................................................................25
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2.2.3 Köhler Illumination .........................................................................26
2.3 Optical setup to study the velocity field of flow through slots .........28
2.4 Flow loop ..........................................................................................30
2.4.1 Flow cell design ...............................................................................30
2.4.2 Control fluid and flow rate ..............................................................38
2.5 Tracer particles..................................................................................39
2.5.1 1µm fluorescent particles ................................................................40
2.5.2 Hollow glass sphere particles with mean diameter of 18 µm .........42
2.5.3 Image preprocessing: .......................................................................44
2.5.4 Processing ........................................................................................46
2.5.5 Post processing: ...............................................................................47
2.6 Uncertainty analysis ..........................................................................49
Chapter 3. Rheology of Polyacrylamide Solution .............................................53
3.1 Chemical properties of polyacrylamide ............................................54
3.2 Preparation of polyacrylamide solution ............................................56
3.3 Specification of the rheometer ..........................................................57
3.4 Non-Newtonian effects of a polyacrylamide solution under shear ...60
3.5 Repeatability .....................................................................................63
3.6 Effect of concentration on the rheology of polyacrylamide solution66
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3.7 Effect of time on viscosity of polyacrylamide solution ....................69
3.8 Conclusion ........................................................................................70
Chapter 4. Velocity profile of Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids through a
mini-channel ..........................................................................................................72
4.1 Introduction .......................................................................................72
4.2 Theory of Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid through mini-channels
73
4.3 Study of the effect of fluid rheology and flow rate on velocity profile77
4.4 Comparison of the velocity profile of Newtonian and non-Newtonian
fluid with corresponding theory .........................................................................83
4.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................88
Chapter 5. Velocity profile of Newtonian and non-Newtonian Fluids through
keystone slots .........................................................................................................90
5.1 Introduction .......................................................................................90
5.2 Processing procedure of the velocity profile in keystone slots .........93
5.3 Velocity profile of water through keystone slots ..............................96
5.4 Velocity profile of non-Newtonian solutions through keystone slots106
5.5 Comparison of the velocity decay profiles through keystone slots 118
5.6 Conclusion ......................................................................................127
Chapter 6. Conclusions and future work .........................................................129
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6.1 Flow of Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids through mini-channel129
6.2 Flow of Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids through keystone slots130
6.3 Future work .....................................................................................131
References ........................................................................................................133
Appendix ........................................................................................................147

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List of Tables
Table 2-1.Experimental setting and specifications for camera .............................. 25
Table 2-2.Specification of instruments in the optical setup (all units are in mm) . 27
Table 2-3.Dimensions of slots after manufacturing ............................................... 34
Table 2-4. Properties of fluorescent particles ......................................................... 41
Table 2-5. Properties of 18µm particles ................................................................. 43
Table 3-1. Properties of polyacrylamide powder used for preparation of the
solution ................................................................................................. 57
Table 3-2-Dimensions of the measuring cup and bob of the rheometer (mm) ...... 58
Table 3-3. Rheological parameters for different concentrations of polyacrylamide
solution using Ostwald-de Waele power law model ............................ 68
Table 4-1. Table of parameters and Reynolds number for polyacrylamide solutions
through mini-channel at different flow rates ........................................ 78
Table 4-2. Comparison of flow index calculated by curve fitting and rheometer
measurement for different concentration of polyacrylamide ............... 87
Table 5-1. Reynolds number of polyacrylamide solutions at different
concentrations and flow rates ............................................................. 106

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Table A- 1. Parameters of linear regression of reversed normalized velocity vs.
normalized position for water flow .............................................. 197
Table A- 2. Parameters of linear regression of reversed normalized velocity vs.
normalized position for 0.2 wt. % polyacrylamide flow ............ 198
Table A- 3. Parameters of linear regression of reversed normalized velocity vs.
normalized position for 0.4 wt. % polyacrylamide flow ............. 199

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