Abstract
Coiled tubing (CT) is a well-intervention service used as a cost-effective means of servicing oil and gas wells. In the last few years, more has been learned about the actual flow through the CT. Some of the knowledge has been gained by actual full- scale testing and job conditions. In recent years, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is being used to gain further knowledge while saving the costs of capital and resource investment for testing. CFD can also generate flow patterns, fluid-flow velocity profiles, secondary-flow regimes, and erosion. This information is extremely difficult to obtain during normal testing. Understanding these different parameters can help in tubing management.
This paper discusses the results of CFD modeling of erosion with actual field data, particularly around the tubing-guide area during pumping. It will compare the actual data to the CFD-generated solution. Once the data has been validated, the CFD solution can be used to enhance a CT predicting model.
