A doctoral dissertation at the University of Basrah examines numerical analysis of two-phase flow in oil wells

A doctoral dissertation at the University of Basrah examines numerical analysis of two-phase flow in oil wells

A doctoral dissertation at the College of Engineering, University of Basrah, investigated a numerical and experimental study of two-phase flow in horizontal oil wells.

The dissertation, submitted by student Ahmed Hatif Kareem, aims to address the rapid decline of global oil reserves, which has shifted focus toward reservoirs with high permeability in hard-to-reach areas. Low-pressure drop regions show a strong impact of perforation density distribution along horizontal wells on oil production. One of the major issues in production engineering is the behavior of two-phase flow. In horizontal wells, two-phase flow exhibits multiple flow patterns depending on the specific flow rates of each phase.

The dissertation included five chapters, through which the student analyzed constant pressure drop and observed flow patterns. An experimental setup was constructed accordingly, with the test pipe dimensions identical for both the experiment and numerical simulation. Regarding borehole formation, it was observed that productivity is consistently higher in perforated horizontal wells compared to smooth, non-perforated wells.

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