Non-linear rheology and pressure propagation in the pipeline filled with gelled waxy crude oil in isothermal and non-isothermal conditions: in the context of flow restart by Dr. Lalit Kumar

Location and Date: 
Thursday, March 3, 2016, 3:30 PM, LT 102

 Abstract: 

Waxy crude oil comprises nearly 20% of the world oil reserves. Flow restart is one of the major concerns for the exploration of waxy crude oil reserve. It has been reported that some of the oil reserves have been prematurely abandoned due to the problem related to the restart of the gelled pipeline. Recently, a number of studies have been performed to understand the gelation and the flow restart of th pipeline filled with gelled waxy crude oil. However, due to lack of accurate rheological assessment of gelled waxy crude oil, prediction of the pressure propagation and the flow restart remains incomplete. In our study, we formulated new strain dependent constitutive equation based on a rheological measurement and proposed a new simulation method. We are able to predict pressure propagation and flow restart of the pipeline longer than the critical length in isothermal and non-isothermal conditions. Finally, we have validated our result using large scale measurements. I will briefly cover these aspects in my talk. I will also briefly introduce some of my other research works.

Bio-sketch:

Lalit Kumar is a researcher who has worked on the research areas dealing with the theoretical, experimental and numerical modeling of various aspects of Industrial problem such as multiphase flow, colloidal transportation and deposition, rheology and complex fluid flow. Recently, he has done his postdoc from the University of British Columbia. Previously, he completed bachelor's and master's degree at IIT Kanpur and before completing his PhD from NTNU, he has worked at various research labs such as Hindustan Unilever, ETH Zurich and IISc Bangalore.