Experimental study on how hydrophobic tubing modifies gas wells liquid unloading

Experimental study on how hydrophobic tubing modifies gas wells liquid unloading | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Experimental study on how hydrophobic tubing modifies gas wells liquid unloading Wang Zhibin, Wang Yiheng, Li Mengwei This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4704501/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 12 May, 2025 Read the published version in Flow, Turbulence and Combustion → Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Experimental and theoretical studies on liquid unloading in gas wells show that the critical gas velocities for carrying droplets upward is much smaller than the critical gas velocity for carrying liquid film upward. The latest studie s show that the hydrophobic coating can change solid surface wettability, reduce contact area between liquid droplet and solid surface, and can promote the droplet formation from liquid film in annular flow. It is speculated that tubing with a hydrophobic inner wall can reduce the critical gas rate of liquid unloading and modifies gas wells liquid unloading under certain production conditions. However, how hydrophobic tubing modifies gas wells liquid unloading is still unkown. This study present the experimental results of air-water two phase flow in hydrophobic pipe. First, a hydrophobic coating was sprayed on the inner wall of a transparent pipe, and then an experimental loop with a height of 8 m and an inner diameter of 40 mm was built for air-water two phase flow. A comparative experiment was conducted in the pipe with and without hydrophobic coating. The influence of hydrophobic coating on flow pattern characteristics, flow pattern conversion conditions, pressure gradient, liquid holdup, droplet entrainment rate, and critical gas rate was measured. The mechanism of hydrophobic coating improves the liquid carrying capacity of gas wells has been revealed from multiple perspectives. Hydrophobic pipes Gas-liquid two phase flow Pressure drop gradient Liquid holdup Droplet entrainment rate Critical gas velocity of liquid unloading Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 12 May, 2025 Read the published version in Flow, Turbulence and Combustion → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 05 Nov, 2024 Reviews received at journal 04 Nov, 2024 Reviews received at journal 02 Nov, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 08 Oct, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 07 Oct, 2024 Reviewers invited by journal 06 Oct, 2024 Editor assigned by journal 31 Jul, 2024 Submission checks completed at journal 24 Jul, 2024 First submitted to journal 08 Jul, 2024 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4704501","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":337796703,"identity":"a4d62892-524f-4310-9850-f544af37115d","order_by":0,"name":"Wang Zhibin","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAr0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYPCCA3Js7O0HSNNizMdzJoE0LYnzJBwMiFMrPyP3mDTPnzvpbRIMCQw/KrYR1mJwIy9NmofnWW6bdOMBxp4zt4nQIp1jJp0jcTi3TeZAAjNjGxFa5GeDtBgcTmeTSDAgTgvDbZCWhMMJxGsxuP8u2frPgWeGbcBAPkiUX+R7zh68OePPHXn59vaDD35UEOMwBh4E8wAx6lG1jIJRMApGwSjACgDktjwe+GUsWwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Southwest Petroleum University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Wang","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhibin","suffix":""},{"id":337796704,"identity":"b9d8dc11-f2bd-4832-8e89-281d4c6f2367","order_by":1,"name":"Wang Yiheng","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Southwest Petroleum University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Wang","middleName":"","lastName":"Yiheng","suffix":""},{"id":337796705,"identity":"f74764e2-bdc2-4a87-9438-1dfb2f6fb0a2","order_by":2,"name":"Li Mengwei","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Southwest Petroleum University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Li","middleName":"","lastName":"Mengwei","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-07-08 09:51:16","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4704501/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4704501/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10494-025-00658-3","type":"published","date":"2025-05-12T15:57:46+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":83067855,"identity":"87d37b23-2f79-42cc-a46f-a9b133f3b647","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-05-19 16:07:06","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":313296,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"maindocument.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4704501/v1_covered_17211857-2184-483b-9138-da64556ed3a5.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Experimental study on how hydrophobic tubing modifies gas wells liquid unloading","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"flow-turbulence-and-combustion","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"appl","sideBox":"Learn more about [Flow, Turbulence and Combustion](http://link.springer.com/journal/10494)","snPcode":"10494","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/10494/3","title":"Flow, Turbulence and Combustion","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Hydrophobic pipes, Gas-liquid two phase flow, Pressure drop gradient, Liquid holdup, Droplet entrainment rate, Critical gas velocity of liquid unloading","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4704501/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4704501/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eExperimental and theoretical studies on liquid unloading in gas wells show that the critical gas velocities for carrying droplets upward is much smaller than the critical gas velocity for carrying liquid film upward. 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