Liquid loading in annuli, the effect of eccentricity

This paper presents new experimental data of gas/liquid flows in an annulus in the transition from annular to churn flow, which is relevant to the phenomenon of liquid loading in gas wells. The focus of the study has been on the effect of eccentricity to the onset of liquid back flow and pressure gradients. The results show that an increase in the eccentricity is triggering liquid loading already at larger gas flow rates. Pressure gradients seem to be affected most when gap bridging by waves is occurring.