Simulation of drilling mud flow in elbow

Abstract

This work aims to make a simulation of the steady, forced, and incompressible flow in the long radius, 90° elbow, using drilling mud, which is considered a pseudoplastic (non-Newtonian fluid), obeyed by the power law, in a laminar and turbulent regime, in order to better understand the hydraulic and thermal behavior of this fluid, as well as the phenomenon known as pressure drop in this area. The simulation program solved the energy balance composed by the differential equations using the Ansys Fluent 2024R1. The objective of this study is to understand the hydrodynamic and thermal behavior of fluid inside the elbow as well as the phenomenon of pressure drop with a change in the Reynolds number. The obtained results show that the pressure loss is influenced by the flow regime, and the equation for calculating these losses must be suitable for the type of fluid used