The Influence of Turbulence on Mineral Scale Deposition

Scale deposition in pipelines for oil and gas production has proven a complex problem to predict. Therefore, a better understanding of the influence of flow characteristics on mixing is sought. This study examines the influence of turbulent transport of chemical species on surface reaction rates through experiments and numerical modelling. A Taylor-Couette flow cell with an axial inflow of two incompatible brines has been used for experimental studies. The outflow concentrations are measured to quantify the real-time mass deposition of mineral scale. Different turbulence intensities are obtained by adjusting the rotational speed and flow rate. A CFD model is implemented in STAR--CCM+ to model flow characteristics using a combination of LES and RANS. The LES model is used to calibrate the RANS model including the turbulent Schmidt number. The RANS model uses the Reynolds Stress Tensor model to simulate the slower transients of the experiments. A customized numerical chemical model for saturation, reaction and wall deposition has been implemented in the CFD models. The obtained results are used to describe the importance of flow properties on the prediction and prevention of scale buildup.