Work out tubing flow rate instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.
Rearranging the Darcy-Weisbach equation for velocity gives v = sqrt(2 deltaP D / (f L rho)), and multiplying by the flow area gives volumetric rate. Tubing size dominates: because area scales with diameter squared and friction with the fifth power of diameter, a small increase in tubing ID gives a large rate gain.
Darcy-Weisbach rearranged
v = sqrt(2 x deltaP x D / (f x L x rho)); Q = v x flow area
For a fixed pressure drop, capacity scales with roughly the 2.5 power of diameter. Upsizing from 2 3/8 to 3 1/2 inch tubing can nearly double rate on the same drawdown.
Rarely. Most producing wells are multiphase, needing a vertical lift performance correlation such as Hagedorn-Brown or Beggs-Brill. Use this for a first-order check only.