Agradecimentos: We gratefully acknowledge the support of EPIC – Energy Production Innovation Center, hosted by the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) and sponsored by Equinor Brazil and FAPESP – São Paulo Research Foundation (2017/15736-3). We acknowledge the support of ANP (Brazil’s National Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency) through the RD levy regulation. Acknowledgments are extended to the Center for Petroleum Studies (CEPETRO), School of Mechanical Engineering (FEM), and Artificial Lift and Flow Assurance Research Group (ALFA) Ver menos

Abstract: Water-in-oil emulsions usually present complex rheological behavior that depends on the physicochemical properties of both phases, the presence of surfactants, and the flow conditions. Thereby, this paper aims to propose a criterion to characterize the rheological behavior of stable and unstable water-in-oil emulsions within the centrifugal pumps. This criterion is based on the slip ratio between the dispersed and continuous phases. For this, the droplet size distribution was measured at the ESP outlet and the slip ratio was estimated based on the centrifugal buoyancy-induced flow. A new model was proposed to determine the Sauter mean diameter for different systems of the water-in-oil emulsion flows within the ESP based on operational conditions, which presents good agreement with the experimental data (12.6% of error). Finally, a new dimensionless number parameter named Slip Relevance number was proposed to separate the different emulsion flow behaviors within the ESP and its critical value was obtained Ver menos