Analysis of Gas and Liquid Two-Phase Slug Flow Production Logging Interpretation Model in near Horizontal Shale Gas Wells

The development of shale gas reservoir is mainly based on horizontal well production. Slug flow of gas-liquid two-phase is invariably encountered in inclined wells and horizontal wells of a producing environment. Due to gravitational differentiation, oil-water two-phase flow pattern, the local velocity and local phase holdup along the radial direction of pipe in near horizontal wells will perform complicatedly. This paper presented the results of an experimental study and a theoretical analysis of two-phase gas/water flow in horizontal and highly inclined systems. Extensive experiments were conducted using a test loop made of 124 mm diameter acrylic pipe with inclination angles from the horizontal of 0°, 5°, 15°, 45°, -2°, -5° and -10°, and with the total flow rate ranging from 50 to 800 m3/day. Based on the research on the law of slug flow dynamics model for gas-water two-phase flow in near horizontal pipeline, the theoretical analysis and experimental researches were done to propose the expressions of stable and exact production logging interpretation model for two-phase flow in near horizontal pipeline. The performance of the proposed method for estimating water holdup and water superficial velocity is in good agreement with our measurements. As a result, the slug flow dynamics model of gas-water two-phase flow in near horizontal wellbore was developed. The application effect of production logging in near horizontal wells had been improved.