King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals

Mehaboob Basha

Luai M Alhems

Luai M Al-Hadhrami

Syed M Shaahid

Rihan Omar Rihan

Muwaffaq Qubbai

The operational performance of pumps can be improved when pumping liquids with at least 10 vol. % gas volume fraction (GVF) as found in many oil fields, wherein wells produce mixtures of gas and oil in varying proportions. An increase in the GVF that would have led to slugging in the flow, degrading the performance of pump in multiphase flow loop, and would have necessitated a check valve at each fluid stream to avoid flow reversal, can be overcome by a multiphase flow loop including a solenoid valve on the gas stream, which maintains the same intake gas pressure as that of oil/liquid pressure during the experiments. By testing pumps at more accurate GVFs, pump performance can be better assessed, resulting in reduced power consumption and increased efficiency.

Multiphase flow loop for pump performance evaluation

The stress corrosion cracking (SCC) testing device includes a corrosion cell for placing a specimen to be tested therein. The corrosion cell is configured to simulate the extreme high temperature and pressure, as well as the corrosive environments experienced by engineered, industrial components. A heating element and a pressurizing assembly are operatively attached to the corrosive cell to simulate the high temperature and pressure environs. A circulation assembly is also attached to the corrosion cell to simulate both flowing and stagnant conditions of the corrosion solution that the industrial component can be subjected to. A loading assembly with a specimen holding shaft is operatively attached to the specimen to place a predetermined and constant tensile load on the specimen until fracture in order to determine Kand Kof the engineered component. PTFE seals are used to seal the specimen holding shaft during testing.

Growing community of inventors

Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

Mehaboob Basha