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In the previously published studies, the calculations of critical liquid-carrying gas velocity in a horizontal well were based on conventional calculation models of a droplet in a vertical well and do not consider the influence of the inclination angle of the well on the liquid-carrying ability of gas. Horizontal wells are currently widely used in the gas fields, while the traditional critical liquid-carrying velocity models cannot be applied to evaluate gas flow characteristics in the inclined sections of horizontal wells. In this paper, based on experimental results, we established that the critical liquid-carrying conditions in an inclined well occur when the inclination angle is 55°. Considering the flow characteristics of the liquid phase in a gas well, we obtained the flow mode of the liquid film in the pipeline. The established liquid-film model provides a calculation method of the critical liquid-carrying velocity for different inclination angles. The accuracy of the new method has been verified by the field data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To identify the accurate gas volume to carry liquid in horizontal gas well, this paper simulates the gas-liquid two-phase flow in a single pipe on the platform of multiphase pipe flow. Through indoor experiments on gas-liquid two-phase flow, it is confirmed that the inclined section (inclined angle: 45°~ 60°) is mostly likely to suffer from liquid loading in horizontal gas well. Then, a new critical liquid-carrying model was built after fitting the liquid holdup calculation formula at different inclined angles, considering the actual liquid-carrying phenomenon. The proposed model was proved accurate enough for engineering application through verification by indoor experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]