Selecting an analytical model for describing the viscosity of an oil-water emulsion in the Aspen HYSYS program

When designing technological installations for the preparation of downhole products, it is necessary to know the dynamic viscosity of the oil-water emulsion. It is not always possible to experimentally determine the viscosity and physico-chemical parameters of the oil-water emulsion. In this regard, the formulas used in the Aspen Hysys complex for determining the dynamic viscosity at different temperatures were analyzed. When analyzing the applicability of the analytical dependences, the calculated data were compared with the experimental data obtained by physical modeling of the viscosity of the water-oil emulsion of the Chayandinskoye field. The study was conducted in two stages. The first stage consisted of constructing models of the viscosity of the oil-water emulsion for all dependencies and comparing them with experimental data. This is done to test analytical assumptions and select the most reliable models. The models were constructed for a single temperature T=20 °C. The second stage consists of predicting the viscosity of the emulsion over the entire studied temperature range from -10 to 60 °C and water cut from 0.5 to 95% by weight, followed by verifying the reliability of the results of analytical calculations, as well as identifying existing shortcomings. An alternative formula is proposed, which does not contain empirical constants, describes the entire possible range of water cut, and has a relative forecast error of about 30%. In the future, it is planned to test the formula on water-oil emulsions with oils having similar properties (density, viscosity, amount of paraffins).