Flow Assurance: Validation of Wax Deposition Models Using Field Data from a Subsea Pipeline

Author(s):  
Amrinder Singh ◽  
Hyun Su Lee ◽  
Probjot Singh ◽  
Cem Sarica
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jatin R. Agarwal ◽  
Simran Dhingra ◽  
Neel Shah ◽  
Subhash N. Shah

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Van Thinh Nguyen ◽  
Thi Hai Yen NGUYEN

Over the last few years, PetroVietnam has discovered and exploited several marginal oil fields such as Ca Ngu Vang, Te Giac Trang, Hai Su Den, Hai Su Trang, etc. however the reserves are modest. Test results received during drilling exploratory wells within these fields indicated that the maximum total daily production rate from the wells could promisingly range to about 20,000 barrels of oil per day (BOPD). Unfortunately, the optimum development of these offshore oil fields still offers numerous challenges to oil engineers due to the limitations of equipment and technology. Oil production activities worldwide show that if the daily production of an offshore oilfield is less than 20,000 BOPD, a connection of the marginal fields to their nearest larger oil field should be taken into consideration in order to efficaciously recover more crude oil. Often, this method of production requires a long subsea pipeline system. Besides, the transportation of the fluids from these fields to the processing platform will undergo several serious problems caused by the deposition of wax. All these matters should be handled to guarantee the performance of transportation. A number of models using PIPESIM, PIPEPHRASE and OLGA have been applied to design and examine the operations of the subsea pipeline in different working conditions. Results of the simulations proposed the use of passive insulation to economically eliminate wax deposition and recommended proper pipeline shutdown operations to minimize several problems related to flow assurance issues in the region of interest.


2021 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 65-78
Author(s):  
Thinh Van Nguyen ◽  
Chinh Duc Nguyen ◽  
Truong Hung Trieu ◽  

In offshore production of oil and gas, transporting products by subsea pipeline always has potential risks affecting the efficiency of the transportation process. For the Diamond oilfield, the process of gathering products and transportation is carried out according to a closed scheme in which the exploited products are preliminarily treated. The separated oil is transported to FPSO Ruby - II while the separated gas passed through the air compressor to increase pressure and then used for gaslift production. In fact, the oil produced at the Diamond oilfield has a high paraffin content, which causes difficulties during transportation. Therefore, the study on flow assurance to ensure the transportation of oil and gas from the Diamond oilfield to the FPSO Ruby - II is imperative. This paper presents the results of the research on flow assurance to maintain the safety of the transportation basing on the analysis of field data and the capability of the current subsea pipeline in comparison with the data gained from models carried out with OLGA software. The results show that the rate of wax deposition at normal steady state condition is relatively low. In addition, the thickness of wax deposition build - up is relatively small by simulation results. However, due to low temperature of transported oil which is lower than pour point temperature, a freeze layer will form on the surface of the pipeline. Therefore, regular pigging is considered the most effective way to remove wax.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ferdio Giffary ◽  
Achmad Anggawirya Alimin ◽  
Bambang Heru Susanto

2017 ◽  
Vol 07 (02) ◽  
pp. 311-323
Author(s):  
Son Tung Pham ◽  
Minh Huy Truong ◽  
Ba Tuan Pham

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Song Wang ◽  
Lawrence Khin Leong Lau ◽  
Wu Jun Tong ◽  
Kun An ◽  
Jiang Nan Duan ◽  
...  

Abstract This paper elucidates the importance of flow assurance transient multiphase modelling to ensure uninterrupted late life productions. This is discussed in details through the case study of shut-in and restart scenarios of a subsea gas well (namely Well A) located in South China Sea region. There were two wells (Well A and Well B) producing steadily prior to asset shut-in, as a requirement for subsea pipeline maintenance works. However, it was found that Well A failed to restart while Well B successfully resumed production after the pipeline maintenance works. Flow assurance team is called in order to understand the root cause of the failed re-start of Well A to avoid similar failure for Well B and other wells in this region. Through failure analysis of Well A, key root cause is identified and associated operating strategy is proposed for use for Well B, which is producing through the same subsea infrastructure. Transient multiphase flow assurance model including subsea Well A, subsea Well B, associated spools, subsea pipeline and subsea riser is developed and fully benchmarked against field data to ensure realistic thermohydraulics representations of the actual asset. Simulation result shows failed restart of Well A and successful restart of Well B, which fully matched with field observations. Further analysis reveals that liquid column accumulated within the wellbore of Well A associates with extra hydrostatic head which caused failed well restart. Through a series of sensitivity analysis, the possibility of successful Well A restart is investigated by manipulating topsides back pressure settings and production flowrates prior to shut-in. These serve as a methodology to systematically analyze such transient scenario and to provide basis for field operating strategy. The analysis and strategy proposed through detailed modelling and simulation serves as valuable guidance for Well B, should shut-in and restart operation is required. This study shows the importance of modelling prior to late life field operations, in order to avoid similar failed well restart, which causes significant production and financial impacts.


Author(s):  
Zahiraniza Mustaffa ◽  
Pieter van Gelder

Several recent discoveries in the fluid-structure interactions between the external flows and circular cylinders placed close to the wall have added new values to the hydrodynamics of unburied marine pipelines on a seabed. The hydrodynamics of waves and/or currents introduced vortex flows surrounding the pipeline. External corrosions formed in marine pipelines were assumed to be partly contributed by such fluid-structure interactions. The spatial consequences of such interactions were of interest of this study. This paper summarized some experimental and numerical works carried out by previous researchers on these new discoveries. Actual field data were utilized in this study to support this hypothesis. The characteristics of corrosion orientations in the pipelines were studied comprehensively using stochastic approaches and results were discussed. Results adopted from the field data acknowledged well to the hypothesis from the reported literature. The updated knowledge from this fluid-structure interaction is hoped to be given more attention by the industry and perhaps to be incorporated into the current subsea pipeline designs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-85
Author(s):  
S. A. Marfo ◽  
P. Opoku Appau ◽  
J. Acquah ◽  
E. M. Amarfio

The increasing exploration and production activities in the offshore Cape Three Point Blocks of Ghana have led to the discovery and development of gas condensate fields in addition to the oil fields which produce significant amount of condensate gas. These discoveries require pipelines to transport the fluids avoiding hydrates and wax formation. This paper focuses on subsea pipeline design using Pipesim software that addresses flow assurance problems associated with transporting condensate gas from the Jubilee and TEN Fields to the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant. It also considered an alternate design that eliminates the need for capacity increase of flowlines for the futuristic highest projected flow rates in 2030. The design comprises of two risers and two flowlines. Hydrate formation temperature was determined to be 72.5 ˚F at a pressure of 3 000 psig. The insulation thickness for flowlines 1 and 2 were determined to be 1.5 in. and 2 in. respectively. The pipe size for flowlines 1 and 2 were determined to be 12 in. and 14 in. respectively. The maximum designed flow rate was determined to be 150 MMSCFD. To meet the highest projected flow rate of 700 MMSCFD in the year 2030 at the processing plant, a 16 in. ID pipeline of 44 km length was placed parallel to the 12 in. ID flowline 1. This parallel pipeline increased the designed flow rate by approximately 4.7 times (705 MMSCFD). The alternate design employs 18 in. and 20 in. ID pipes for flowlines 1 and 2 respectively. Keywords: Condensate Gas; Flowline; Flow Assurance; Hydrate; Pipesim


Author(s):  
Gaurav Himanta Khaklari ◽  
Prasenjit Talukdar

Crude oil needs to be transported from oil wells to refinery and storage facilities in one form or another to ultimately become end use products. After the successful extraction of oil from the ground it is mostly transported through pipelines where the crude oil experiences various changes in its physical and chemical properties. These rheological changes may cause numerous flow assurance problems such as wax and paraffin deposition which ultimately restricts the flow of oil. Chemical additives such as Pour Point depressants (PPDs) are used in this case for the efficient transportation of crude oil by lowering the Wax Deposition Temperature (WAT). Hence, in order to enhance the knowledge about PPDs, the mechanism of various types of Pour Point Depressant for aiding the flow of crude oil while transportation were discussed in this paper.


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