Study on the Bridge Plugging Law of Pipeline Particles in Liquid-Solid System

Abstract

Bridge plugging of solid particles is a common phenomenon in the field of oil and gas engineering, and it mostly occurs in liquid-solid. However, as a basic problem involving many fields, the current research focuses on the funnel flow system driven by gravity, and the exploration of liquid phase driving system is relatively few. In this paper, a visual particle pipeline bridge plugging test system was constructed and evaluated. The particle bridge plugging test experiment with particle/pore size ratio between 0.26-0.6 in liquid-solid system was carried out, and the influence of particle/pore size ratio on bridge plugging was analyzed. The results show that when the particle/pore size ratio is less than 0.28, the pipeline will not be blocked by particles. With the increase of the particle/pore ratio from 0.39 to 0.60, the number of particles required for the particles to form a stable bridge at the hole becomes less, the easier it is to form a stable bridge blocking structure, and the probability of bridge blocking is higher. The number of particles in the flow decreases with the increase of particle/pore size ratio before particle plugging. After the plugging is formed, the upstream pressure increases sharply, the flow rate decreases sharply and tends to be stable, and the flow rate corresponding to the plugging of large particles is higher. It has important guiding significance for further clarifying the bridging mechanism of particles in the flow environment.