Flow assurance
In the wake of the falling number of exploratory wells in the country, Brazil-owned Petrobras addressed audience concerns as well as outlined new avenues for production at the Offshore Technology Conference.
This paper describes a case history in the UAE in which the cleanout of scale contaminated with naturally occurring radioactive material was conducted successfully.
The authors of this paper describe a project to develop a virtual sensor to monitor the cooling effect downstream of a subsea choke to avoid hydrate plugs during cold-start operations.
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Comprehension of the mechanisms that influence wax deposition in oil-production systems has not yet been achieved fully. This paper investigates the influence of the Reynolds number on wax deposition. -
Current logistics and pipeline-infrastructure limitations make transportation and production of waxy crude oil challenging, necessitating a step change in the chemistry required to mitigate crude-oil-composition issues.
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Banyu Urip crude contains 26% wax, which can lead to flow-assurance challenges in a crude pipeline exposed to lower temperatures. Injection of pour-point-depressant (PPD) chemicals has been considered an effective method to ensure flow of moderate waxy crude.
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This paper presents a case study that is an example of how reassessing a flow-assurance risk-management strategy for operating assets can identify opportunities for optimization.
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These balls have the potential to alter how pipeline inspections are done, and a consortium of pipeline operators and industry experts in North Dakota is examining just how well this emerging technology can handle the small-diameter pipelines in the area.
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Cold finger tests are a standard method for testing paraffin inhibitors, but there is no standard testing protocol, and sometimes different labs can see inconsistent results. Shell and BHGE studied the root causes of these issues.
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The influx-management-envelope (IME) concept is an advanced, innovative way to assess influx conditions in managed-pressure-drilling (MPD) operations, offering an improved tool for the decision-making process.
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Offshore project execution enhancement ideas are highlighted for debottlenecking, gas-hydrate-induced pipeline vibration, and the design of subsea systems for efficient startup.
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A computational fluid dynamics model is proposed to analyze the effect of hydrate flow in pipelines using multiphase-flow-modeling techniques. The results will identify the cause of pipeline failure, regions of maximum stress in the pipeline, and plastic deformation of the pipeline.
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The 9th International Conference on Gas Hydrates featured discussions on key advancements in flow assurance, including the concept of risk management and anti-agglomerates being applicable strategies in transient operations.
