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Pipeline Flow Assurance 1571503110 PDF
Pipeline Flow Assurance 1571503110 PDF
Pipeline Flow Assurance 1571503110 PDF
Flow assurance covers the whole range of possible flow problems in pipelines such
as hydrate formation, wax & asphaltene deposition, corrosion, erosion, scaling,
emulsions, foaming, and severe slugging.
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Flow Assurance Concerns & Strategies-1
Flow assurance is a recognized critical part in the design & operation
of both onshore & offshore oil/gas systems.
Concerns:
• Pipeline rupture from corrosion
• Pipeline blockage from hydrates or wax
• Severe slugging can damage separator
• Large pressure drop in pipelines can cause lower flow than should
be
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Flow Assurance Concerns & Strategies-2
Strategies:
• Hydraulic Analysis – acceptable pressure drops,
pipeline size, erosion & corrosion limits
• Thermal Analysis – temperature distribution, heat loss
• Inhibition Analysis – hydrate inhibitors, wax inhibitors,
corrosion inhibitors, scale inhibitors
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When to do Flow Assurance?
The bulk of the flow assurance analysis is done during the Front End
Engineering & Design (FEED) stage.
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Typical flow chart for Flow Assurance
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Typical flow chart for Flow Assurance (cont.)
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Typical flow chart for Flow Assurance (cont.)
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Modeling of Pipeline Systems
Why Model?
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Modeling of Pipeline Systems
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Modeling of Pipeline Systems
Transient Modeling
• Transient modeling of a pipeline supports a more detailed understanding
and appreciation how a pipeline will behave under operational conditions
• OLGA is the best recognized transient modeling software for pipeline
multi-phase flow
• Transient Cases or Scenarios
- Start-up and Shut-down
- Emergency shut-down
- Blow-down and warm-up
- Ramp up or down
- Pigging / slugging
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Modeling of Pipeline Systems
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Modeling of Pipeline Systems
• Emergency Shutdown
- To evaluate the optimum location of Emergency Shutdown Valves (ESD)
- To develop procedures for initiating an emergency shutdown so that any risk arising
out of the emergency shutdown is reduced to as low as practicably possible
• Restart Warm-up
- To evaluate the risk of surge at the gathering facilities
- To evaluate hydrate formation because of the Joule-Thomson effect specially across
a choke valve and if the downstream section is a cold depressurized section consisting
of lines and gathering stations
• Blowdown
- To determine optimum blowdown rate and time to prevent damaging liquid slugs
and minimizing the J-T effect causing excessive cooling which can lead to hydrate
formation and / or low-temperature brittle damage of the pipeline metal
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Modeling of Pipeline Systems
• Ramp Up or Down
- To evaluate the entire range (maximum turndown to design values) of flow rates for
stable pipeline operation
- To evaluate formation of large liquid slugs during a ramp up operation. This is a
very likely scenario when dealing with pipeline transportation of gas condensates
- To establish safe ramp up and ramp down rates to maintain stable pipeline
operation
• Pigging
- To establish optimum pigging intervals for a variety of pigging operations including
flow integrity, pipeline cleaning (de-waxing, de-sludging, scale removal), corrosion
check, erosion check, pipe wall thinning etc.
- To evaluate pigging velocities in order to minimize liquid slug formation. Pigging
operations are the cause for formation of the largest liquid slugs and hence the pig
velocities play an important role during pigging.
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Modeling of Pipeline Systems
• Slugging
- To evaluate the formation of slugs and for the entire pipeline operations including
normal operations, start-up, shutdown, ramp-up and ramp down.
- To study the various forms of slugging specifically when dealing with multi-phase
flow such as hydrodynamic slugging, terrain-induced slugging and operational surges
- To establish conditions for the various operating scenarios with the target of
minimizing slugging
Definitions:
- Hydrodynamic Slugs: These are formed during normal operations over a period of
time due to the stratification or boundary layer separation of the flow phases
-Terrain-Induced Slugs: These are caused by accumulation and periodic surging of
liquid due to the elevation profile change of the pipeline particularly at low flow rates
- Operation-Induced Slugs: These are caused due to the various operational modes
such as start-up, shutdown, ramp up, ramp down and when switching from one mode
to another
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Hydrate Formation
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Hydrate Formation-(cont’d 2)
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Hydrate Formation-(cont’d 3)
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Hydrate formation- (cont’d 4)
• Nucleation Sites:
In general terms, a nucleation site is a point where a
phase transition is favored, and in this case the
formation of a solid from a fluid phase.
Good nucleation sites for hydrate formation include an
imperfection in the pipeline, a weld spot, or a pipeline
fitting (elbow, tee, valve, etc.). Silt, scale, dirt, and sand
all make good nucleation sites as well.
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Hydrate Formation- (cont’d 5)
Free Water:
• Free-water is not necessary for hydrate formation, but
the presence of free-water certainly enhances hydrate
formation.
References for Hydrate Formation:
1. Section 20- GPSA Engineering Data Book, 11th Ed.
2. Natural Gas Hydrates – A Guide for Engineers by John
Carroll
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Hydrate Formation- (cont’d 6)
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Wax Formation
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Wax Formation- (cont’d 2)
Depends on Composition:
➢ Cloud Point
➢ Wax Appearance Temperature
➢ Pour Point
Thickness of wax layer depends on:
➢ Composition of Oil
➢ Temperature
➢ Pressure
➢ Fluid Velocity
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Corrosion
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The Basics of Multiphase Flow
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The Basics of Multiphase Flow –
(cont’d 2)
Temperature:
• Fluid properties (density, viscosity) depend upon multiphase
composition, pressure and temperature
• Fluid temperature depends on:
> Surroundings temperature
> Surroundings conductivity (soil, sea-water, air)
> Insulation
> Inside film conductivity
> Residence time
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The Basics of Multiphase Flow – (cont’d 3)
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The Basics of Multiphase Flow – (cont’d 4)
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The Basics of Multiphase Flow – (cont’d 5)
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The Basics of Multiphase Flow – (cont’d 6)
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The Basics of Multiphase Flow – (cont’d 7)
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The Basics of Multiphase Flow – (cont’d 8)
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The Basics of Multiphase Flow – (cont’d 9)
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The Basics of Multiphase Flow – (cont’d 10)
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The Basics of Multiphase Flow – (cont’d 11)
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The Basics of Multiphase Flow – (cont’d 12)
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The Basics of Multiphase Flow – (cont’d 13)
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Conclusions
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Literature
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Thank you for valuable time
and
your presence
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