Fundamental principles for the conceptual design of a scaled physical model to evaluate of electric resistive heating

Abstract

This paper is aimed at presenting a short description of the procedure carried out for the scaling of a physical model representing the behavior of La Hocha field by subjecting it to a resistive electrical heating process.  The first part of this paper describes the basic principles for the physical upgrading, then the fundamental equations are proposed for the resistive electrical heating process, its transformation into the non-dimensional form and the similarity groups enabling the model scaling. The scaling process takes its form in the final section, where the field prototype characteristics, as well as the forces to be reproduced in the model, the chosen scaling option and calculations of the model properties are defined herein. A validation of the scaling in the thermal simulator (STARS-CMG) is also provided. The physical model conceptual design for the electrical resisting heating process in La Hocha field (HOCOL S.A.) required the combination of low pressure and low temperature traditional scaling options.