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SOCIETY FOR UNDERWATER TECHNOLOGY

Sub-Saharan Africa Branch
SUBSEA AWARENESS COURSELAGOS -- August 2010
Lecture SSA L6; Overview of Principles of Fluid Flow FLOW
ASSURANCE. Prevention and Mitigation; (Lecture Level 1 by AZUR OFFSHORE LTD)
CONTENTS;
1.0 INTRODUCTION
2.0 FLOW ASSURANCE OF SUBSEA PRODUCTION SYSTEMS (SPS)
2.1 DEFINITION OF FLOW ASSURANCE (FA)
2.2 FLOW REGIMES
2.2.1 Challenges for multiphase flows
2.2.2 The problem of slugging
2.2.3 The problem of Water & Hydrates
- Structure and Formation
- Traditional Tools
- Prediction Methods - Prevention Methods - Remediation Methods
2.2.4 The problem of Wax deposition
2.2.5 Flow related Corrosion and Emulsions
2.3 PRESENT STRATEGIES FOR DEEPWATER FIELDS
-- Non Chemical solutions; Insulation, heating, etc...
-- Chemical Based solutions; Continuous Treatment or batch injections
2.4 CAN SUBSEA SEPARATION HELP?
- Advantages of Water Separation and Re-Injection
2.5 OTHER FACTORS AFFECTING THE OPERATIONS OF SPS
2.6 THE PROBLEM OF THE COLD POINTS
2.7 THE PROBLEM OF SAND PRODUCTION AND HIGH DRAW-DOWN
3.0 ENERGY MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION TECHNIQUES
3.1 PREVENTION OF DEPOSITION
3.2 THE OPERATING ENVELOPE
3.3 TRANSIENT BEHAVIOUR
3.4 WHAT IS ENERGY MANAGEMENT?
3.5 ELEMENTS OF INVESTIGATION!
3.5.1 NEAR WELLBORE / RESERVOIR WELL INTERFACE
3.5.2 WELL DESIGN
3.5.3 ARTIFICIAL LIFT AND BOOSTING TECHNIQUES
3.5.4 MANIFOLDS AND CLUSTERS
3.5.5 SUBSEA PIPELINE AND FLOWLINE SYSTEMS
3.5.6 BEHAVIOUR OF PRODUCED FLUIDS
4.0 SYSTEM OPTIMISATION WITH COMPUTER MODELS
REFERENCES ; List of Papers & AOL DVD 1
LIST OF FIGURES; N 1 to N 36 within a suite of 68 Slides
APPENDIX; DEFINITION OF F.A. summary.
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1.0 INTRODUCTION;
See DVD 1.
Everything starts from the reservoir where the fluids it contains and the means of
extracting them via subsea wells, varies from reservoir to reservoir. Some may need
water injection to maintain the pressure, or gas lift in the wells. Others may need down
hole pumping or seabed boosting or gas lift at the base of the riser to keep them producing
over the life of the field, ( only a few years or many years ,20 to 30 or more). Other
reservoirs may have special chemical properties and they may need special chemical
injection treatments or steam injection.
On the top of that there are always variations of pressure and temperature over the
operating life as well as an increase of the water cut.
One major problem of deposition does not depend upon either temperature or pressure; it
is that of produced sand in the well, with potential serious consequences for the entire
system from the well to the surface separator/ process equipment.
These are all the basic challenges that subsea production systems (S.P.S.) have to meet.
In addition, with high pressures and cold surrounding temperatures at the seabed
(between + 4 and 0 degrees C) solids known as hydrates can form in the upper well
tubing, in the Xmas Tree, in the Manifold piping, in the Flowlines / Pipelines and in the
Risers. Ultimately blockages can occur and be very difficult to locate and remove, with
subsequent significant losses of production and revenues.
Wax and organic minerals like scale can deposit on the internal surface of the well tubing,
piping and flowlines, reducing the bore diameter.
Asphaltenes, which are heavy fractions of oil, can also precipitate and make the reservoir
less porous and more difficult to produce.
Sand from the producing formation (unconsolidated sand types) can also be a problem,
and in extreme cases can cause either flowline blockage or severe erosion of system
components.
Souring of the reservoir may produce Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S) with many corrosion and
safety risk implications.
We will see later in this lecture that few other factors have a direct impact on the operation
of SPS. All these conditions have to be considered by designers, manufacturers, installers
and operators of subsea systems.
At the SYSTEM DESIGN stage, to help the designers and process engineers, there are
computer simulations to predict many of the anticipated effects over the predicted life of
the field, well by well. The simulations also takes into consideration all the fluid variations
and compositions, as much as possible.
Obtaining the FLOW ASSURANCE of MULTIPHASE FLOW PRODUCTIONS by getting
the flow regimes and the production chemistry right is always a complicated process. With
the development of deep and very deep water fields, the problems are compounded.
The main contents of this lecture are dealing with the key topics of;
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Flow Assurance (in all operating modes)

Chemical Injection
Energy Conservation

Since 1998 and again today, it is said that FLOW ASSURANCE is the most important
technical issue facing the subsea oil industry. This was reflected in various expensive
research programmes like DEEPSTAR in the US, JIPs in the UK or various FSH projects
in France. Many millions of $ have already been spent and a lot more will have to be, in
order to resolve all of the issues for future ultra deep water production systems in water
depths down to 3000m (-10000ft).
The number of subsea wells is growing, in particular for DEEP WATER fields but they
have limitations in terms of productivity, intervention, etcFor large fields, surface wells
are prefered by Operators. However we will concentrate on subsea wells F.A. issues.
2.0
2.1

FLOW ASSURANCE OF SUBSEA PRODUCTION SYSTEMS (SPS);

Definition of FLOW ASSURANCE (FA);

FA is the ability to produce fluids economically from the reservoir to the production facilities
over the life of the field and in all conditions & environments. See Fig 1.
Today, the common understanding of F.A. covers the needs of dealing with;
-

Flow regimes In all operating modes, in wells, in horizontal lines and in

vertical risers up to the process system.
Hydrates - Formation of ice crystals incorporating methane and other
hydrocarbons in low temperatures, high pressure, wet systems producing gas,
condensate or oil.
Wax / Asphaltenes - The deposition of solids inside the flowlines and risers
reducing flow capacity and ultimately blocking the line.
Slugging - The phenomena caused by the instabilities of the gas and liquid
interfaces and liquid sweep-out by gas inertial effects.
Erosion - Wearing of the manifold pipe work and the flowline walls due to solid
particles such as sand or liquids impingement passing at high velocities.
Corrosion - Wearing of the pipe work and flowline wall thickness due to
chemistry of the produced fluids.
Emulsions - Oil and water mixtures at approximately 40 to 60% water cut that
cause excessive pressure losses in the wells or the SPS system.
Scaling - Solids build up, especially onto the well bore tubing due to the
chemistry of the produced water.
Sand Production - Sand production from the reservoir causing blockage of
system components such as flowlines.
Cold Points - Multiple non insulated devices in the system in contact with the
surrounding cold water acting as fast heat exchangers in particular during well
shut down and other operating modes.

EFFECTIVE FLOW ASSURANCE MUST ADDRESS ALL CHEMISTRY ISSUES AND

OTHER VARIABLES AT SYSTEMS DESIGN STAGE, WELL BEFORE PROJECT
START-UP, AND TRY TO PREDICT PERFORMANCES DURING THE FULL FIELD LIFE.

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2.2 Flow Regimes;

From the bottom of the well, inside the SPS, in the seabed flowlines, at the base of the
riser, inside the riser, at the top of if and into the separator for fluid processing, various
flow regimes have to be considered. An animation in horizontal lines and vertical lines will
be presented during the lecture . The more detailed IFP presentation of the TACITE IFP
simulator will complement this critical point.
Please refer to Fig 2 for a typical model from well to topside.
Refer to Fig 3 for typical Three phases / Multiphase flow patterns, using TACITE from IFP.
2.2.1 Challenges for Multiphase flows;
Production uncertainties, production performance versus CAPEX & OPEX expenditures,
long distances of subsea Tie- backs are all of critical importance. See Figures 4, 5 & 6.
2.2.2 The Problem of Slugging ;
Slugging is described as intermitent slugs of liquids followed by pockets of gas :- They depend on the flow conditions
- The geometry of the seabed
- The shape of the riser system
- Changes in flow regime during well testing, flow start-up or shut-down
- The complexity of the piping.
They are various kinds of slugging capable to disturb subsea production;
Normal slugging ( see Fig 7)
Severe slugging ( see Fig 8)
Ramp up slugging ( see Fig 9)
Pigging slugging ( see Fig 10)
2.2.3.The Problem of Water & Hydrates (A SERIOUS RISK IN SPS);
For several years, hydrates properties have been studied world wide in lab and loop test
facilities. The objectives are to better understand the mechanism of formation, the
physical properties of hydrate structures but also to try to develop means of preventing
formation of hydrate plugs. This question has become all the more critical since
deepwater fields have been discovered or put into production These fields are perfect
candidates to encounter hydrate forming conditions. All fields do contain and produce
water and it does form a discrete phase with hydrocarbons liquids. See Fig 11.
Hydrate Structures and formation;
Gas hydrates are ice-like crystalline compounds that form whenever water contacts with
molecules of gas such as low weight hydrocarbon molecules (C1, C2 etc..) or others N2,
CO2 or H2S. See Figures 12 & 13.
Contrary to ice crystals, gas hydrate crystals are able to form at temperatures higher than
0 degrees C as soon as the pressure is higher than a few bars. Conditions favouring
hydrate formation are high pressure (typically > 30 bar) and low temperature (typically < 20
degrees C). Precise conditions in terms of pressure and temperature depend on
composition of the fluids. Hydrate formation can occur for all the produced fluids if
required P-T conditions are reached. This is true for natural gas and gas condensate but
also for crude oil with associated gas, with condensed or formation water..
At a given pressure, due to kinetic effects, the temperature of formation may be shifted
down by a few degrees C.
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The formation of hydrate particles generally leads, by forming solid plugs, to the blockage
of lines and thus to the shut down of production facilities. Hydrate plugs can be the result
of growth of deposits on the inner wall and/or aggregation of hydrate crystals in the bulk.
The removal of hydrate plugs is generally difficult to achieve, and several days may be
necessary prior to the restarting of the production. Pipeline or flowline abandonment may
be required ultimately. See Fig 14.
Hydrates can also form inside Xmas Trees in particular after the choke (J T effects), inside
the well cluster flowline jumpers, and inside the piping of a manifold or a template piping.
Formation of hydrates needs to be prevented at all cost.
Traditional Tools;
To combat potential problems related to hydrate blockages, tools and means are available
to Operators with respect to :- Prediction
- Prevention
- Remediation and Mitigation
Prediction Methods;
Prediction methods essentially consist of performing thermodynamic calculations that
enable a dissociation curve of hydrates to be determined. For the last 10 years,
experimental tools have been developed for investigating hydrate formation, hydrate
transportation, blockage conditions as well as performance of additives.
Prevention Methods; See Fig 15.
One way to prevent hydrate blockages is to maintain the pressure and temperature
conditions outside the hydrate formation regions. It can be accomplished by insulating,
burying or heating pipelines to reduce heat losses. It can also be accomplished by shifting
the dissociation curve towards the lowest temperatures with the injection of
thermodynamic inhibitors such as methanol or glycol. Methanol injection leads to a high
OPEX and also the need for large storage facilities on the platform or the FPSO / FPV.
See Figure 16 for conventional thermodynamics inhibitors in current use offshore.
An option would be the injection of Low Dosage Additives (LDA). The required
concentration of these additives is expected to be less than 1 wt% (with respect to the
water level). Although low concentration can lead to a significant reduction of processing
cost, the most interesting issue would probably be the reduction in the size of the storage
facility.
There are two types of LDA: The Kinetic Hydrate Inhibitors (KHI) and the Dispersant
Additives also called Anti-Agglomeration Additives (AA).
AA additives do not prevent the formation of hydrate crystals but make their transport in
suspension feasible by preventing deposition and formation of large aggregates. LDA
additives are not yet extensively used and some technical limitations remain. Kinetic
inhibitors limitations are in terms of sub cooling temperatures and residence times. Today,
it is commonly admitted that the maximum sub cooling temperature is less than 10
degrees C for a residence time of 2 days. On the other hand, dispersant additives have
mainly limitations in terms of water cut. The maximum water cut for which they may be
effective is expected to be around 40%.

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Remediation Methods;
The only successful method implemented so far by Operators is two-sided
depressurisation, sometimes made more effective by injecting methanol or external
heating. However, this method may be very time consuming. It may be not practical to
depressurise both sides of a plug. Thus, a one side depressurisation procedure, resulting
in a substantial pressure drop across the plug, has to be deployed. In such cases, two
extreme events can occur. Firstly, the plug length can be extended because of the JouleThompson effect generated by the gas flow through the plug. Secondly, the plug can be
suddenly broken off from the pipe wall and travel down the flowline, thus damaging
downstream facilities with very severe potential safety implications. See Fig 17.
2.2.4. The Problem of Wax deposition;
Many crudes are considered waxi and uncontrolled deposition can prevent flow in SPS.
Wax deposition can be prevented by prediction, monitoring and various methods of
prevention. Refer to Figures 17, 18 & 19 for details.
Chemical injection in the Manifold piping and at the head of the production & test flowlines
of wax inhibitor is common to SPS. The design of a pigging loop is also well used by
system designers but the cost of a return line could be prohibitive, then subsea pig
launchers can be evaluated. Refer to Figures 20 & 21.
Clean waxy crudes are quite manageable but Ashphaltenes may enhance or delay wax
deposition.
2.2.5. Flow related Corrosion and Emulsions;
Corrosion is a serious concern with significant environmental and operational implications
as well as safety implications. Structural integrity of the systems have to be maintained,
but Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and produced water from the reservoir fluids as well as
temperature and pressure can increase internal corrosion of piping, flowlines and riser
systems. It is possible to predict and monitor internal corrosion or select non corroding
materials but at a higher expense (eg duplex steel etc).
The more cost effective combination is to select carbon steel pipe and inject corrosion
inhibitors to protect the pipe wall.
At low flow rates, accumulation of water and solids in lines could lead to ineffective
inhibition and at high flow rates, the film of inhibitor deposited on the wall of the flowlines
can be stripped out. Flow velocity must be controlled. See Fig. 22.
Emulsions are a mixture of oil and water witch can form under particular conditions in the
well bore and in the flowlines. The change in viscosity of the transported fluids could lead
to pressure drop problems and lower production rates. They can be prevented by chemical
injection of specific inhibitors and good insulation to maintain heat in the system.
See Fig 23.
2.3..Present Strategies for Deep Water Fields; (Non Chemical & Chemical)
In the case of gas and gas condensate fields, the quantity of water to be treated is low.
From an economical point of view, injection of chemicals is generally acceptable and
represents a better option than the installation of insulated lines.
In the case of oil fields there is no simple solution. The problem of preventing hydrate
formation in case of an unplanned shut-down of significant duration either during the
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shutdown or especially at restart is much more difficult. One solution is to ensure the
production remains at a temperature higher than hydrate formation. This principally relies
on line insulation. A solution is to provide means for displacing, batch treating or replacing
the fluid in the line prior to restarting production. Another method is to make sure that the
fluid within the line is treated continuously with hydrate inhibitors.
Non Chemical solutions = Insulation of XTrees, Manifolds, Flowlines, Risers;
This option, sometimes combined with heating systems, requires selecting a very efficient
insulation system. Pipe in Pipe, or bundle type insulation systems are generally expected
to provide such performances with U values lower than 1.0 W/m 2 K.
In any case, relying upon insulation only, makes the assumption that the Operators are
always capable of restarting a line within a given time. This may not be possible,
especially if work-over or ROV intervention is required to remedy the problem. Allowing for
longer shut down duration, before the production cools to reach the conditions of hydrate
formation, would help to quickly restart operations. For longer shutdown, it must be
combined with another strategy as described below.
Displacing, Batch Treating or Removing the Production Fluids;
The idea is to be able to replace the fluid in the line with an alternative that would not form
hydrates when cooled even at restart. This is normally done by flushing the line either with
gas pushing a pig, or by replacing the line content with an inhibited fluid, dead oil or diesel.
This requires each flowline to be connected to the topsides with an independent loop, or at
least service lines for injection and depressurisation.
As for batch treatment, the inhibition with methanol of a significant length of static line after
a shutdown is a real challenge. The line is normally accessible from end points (ie at a
wellhead and at a cluster, manifold or top of riser) and the treatment must be implemented
before hydrate plugs are formed. Therefore it relies on the operators capacity to initiate
the injection quickly enough.
Example;
Assuming a 10 km 8 line is half full with liquid and the WC is 80%, this is still more than
90 cubic metres of methanol to be injected. Through a 1 line in the control umbilical, at a
maximum velocity of 2m/s, the injection would take about 30 hours!!!
Chemical based solution = Continuous Treatment or batch injections;
This solution consists in injecting continuously a thermodynamic hydrate inhibitor at the
wellhead. The injection shall be continuous, in order to be effective even in case of an
emergency unplanned shutdown. Some Operators, mainly for transportation of multiphase
lines to onshore facilities are already using this strategy. However, the quantity and cost
of products for continuous treatment with the traditional thermodynamic inhibitors (except
for gas fields) are prohibitive. For an oil field, with WC = 10%. Methanol dosing of 40%,
and a methanol price of 0.4 $/litre, the cost of the sole product (including transportation)
would be around 2.3 $ / barrel of produced oil, making the OPEX unacceptable.
An example of a complete chemical injection programme ( subsea & topside) for a small
subsea satellite field with a daily production of only 35000bopd is presented in Fig 24.
2.3. Can Subsea Separation help ?
Some fields, already in production could benefit from a late installation of a subsea
separation module. Some deep offshore Brazilian fields experience good behaviour
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during operation and in case of shutdown and restart even when crossing into the domain
of hydrate formation. It is assumed that this is due to the intrinsic property of some crude
oil components to act as a natural dispersing agent. This phenomenon has also been
experienced during loop tests. However, it is likely that with higher water cut, especially
above 30% this benefit will be lost and subsea separation will be beneficial.
Combined with seabed boosting the advantages of subsea separation are;

REDUCE WELLHEAD FLOWING PRESSURE

HIGHER PRODUCTION AND LONGER PRODUCTION LIFE
LONGER DISTANCE TRANSPORTATION
TRANSPORTATION IN SINGLE PHASES TO REDUCE RISKS

See Figures 25 & 26.

Presently prototype subsea separators for water separation are of the gravity type,
allowing large turndowns with the same internal design. In such vessels, the oil phase
retention time would be approximately 3 minutes and for the water phase 5 minutes.
The separator can also be designed to perform gas/liquid separation. This would be an
alternative of great interest as routing liquids and gas separately would avoid severe
slugging and pumping the liquids would increase oil recovery.
Advantages of Water Separation and Re-injection
The aim is to separate the water from the hydrocarbons at the mud line level and to reinject the water directly into a disposal well, or in the reservoir. The SUBSIS project led
by STATOIL / VETCO is a good example. See Fig 27. Refer also to additional Lecture
NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR SPS.
In addition to the prevention of hydrate formation there are several advantages in
separating the water from the oil and gas to subsea production wellheads
- Reduced subsea flowline network complexity
- Reduce requirements for high efficiency insulation systems
- Reducing the size, weight and associated cost of the production water treatment
unit topsides.
- Decreasing of overall oil disposal to the sea.
2.5 Other Factors Affecting the Operation of SPS;
.
Operation of flowlines may require Thermal Insulation (determined after a thorough
Thermal Analysis). Basic insulation comes from coating, layers of foam around the pipe,
pipe in pipe with space filled with foam (polyurethanes) or pipe with heating systems (hot
water circulation or electrical trace heating).
Pipelines and flowlines can also be insulated by burying them in the seabed depending of
the heat conductivity of the soil. Seabed surveys and soil sampling analysis along the
proposed route have to be carried out to determine the true insulation characteristics of the
soil. Generally a combination of the two is the best choice optimising the burial depth and
the thermal conductivity of the seabed. The main inconvenience of burial is the access
restriction for future line inspection to verify the overall operational integrity of the system.

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Temperature variation is one of the main contributing factors which can affect the
operations of the SPS. at Start-up and Shut-down.
The other two conditions are scale and reservoir souring.
- Scale inhibitor will prevent scale formation and can be injected inside the well
tubing downhole
- Souring of the reservoir can be avoided with good quality, properly treated with
bactericides, injection water.
2.6 The Problem of COLD POINTS;
When reviewing the details (at the nuts and bolts level) of a subsea production system
operating under high external pressure and in surrounding waters at 4 degrees C or less,
there are plenty of potential heat loss points acting like heat exchangers. In a current large
deepwater SPS under production, more than 500 potential points have been identified.
During design, manufacture, installation, hook-up and testing, all possible measures have
to be taken to eliminate as many points as possible.
Refer to Figures 28 & 29.
During shut down (long one) remedial measures may have to be implemented by ROV or
other tooling, internal coil tubing, local heating etc It is the responsibility of the
Designers to reduce these number to a minimum with a great attention to detail to
insulation and heating systems etc.. This is why we see insulated, Xmas Trees, Manifold
piping, flanges, connectors etc.. being implemented and tested today.
2.7 The Problem of Sand Production and High DRAW-DOWN;
Sand is produced from the reservoir due to the function of the produced fluids when they
pass through the formation into the well. This may be affected by the structure of the
formation, like unconsolidated sands but also by very high draw-down (pressure drop) into
the well. Perhaps the best way to deal with sand is not to produce it, by reducing
production rate and thus the draw-down. In addition to the problem of system blockage
and erosion of system components, the affect of produced sand in the well can be
catastrophic. As more sand is produced, a void appears at the bottom of the well, and as
this grows it becomes unstable. This can lead to a collapse in which the well casing and
tubing are buckled, thus the well is effectively destroyed.
To reduce flow in a well(s) whilst maintaining field production, the economics of drilling an
additional well should be examined closely at Design Time.
If produced sand is to be expected, and if deposition in system flowlines is likely to occur,
then a means of pigging/flushing, flowlines may have to be incorporated. This may be a
looped system allowing the flowline to be flushed from the platform, or a subsea pig
launcher attached to the template/manifold with de-flushing fluid pumped from a
DSV/MSV.
For design purposes, sand production should be avoided at all costs, unless it is
impossible to prevent due to the formation structure, then seabed sand separation need to
be investigated, together with piping systems wall thickness monitoring.
3.0
3.1

ENERGY MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION TECHNIQUES;

Prevention of Deposition;

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As explained in Section 2.0 there are methods to mitigate the effects of deposition. The
first is heat conservation, by application of a thermal insulation to the flowlines and subsea
facilities, which ensures that the system operates above the limiting temperature.
However, as well as being a high capital cost item, the effectiveness of conventional
thermal insulation over long distances is questionable, since current insulation materials
are simply not efficient enough. Whilst some development work is currently underway in
this area, few projects are likely to be able to bear the cost for implementation.
The alternative is the use of chemical inhibitors which, whilst having a lower capital cost
impact, greatly increase operating costs.
First. fluid samples taken from well tests are often quite unrepresentative of the reservoir
fluids to be produced. Secondly, the majority of these samples are "dead" and lab tests of
"live" fluids are rarely conducted at design stage.. Injection requirements determined from
these test results therefore tend to be conservative in order to avoid potential operational
problems in the future. This leads to increased operating costs and a need to optimise
operational procedures at a later stage.
For example, injection volumes for wax inhibitors are currently determined from lab testing
but, again the results tend to be conservative. It is recognised that the continuous fluid
mixing process in the multiphase flow system reduces the tendency for deposition, it has
not been possible to quantify this effect so far. Further work is done in this area.
3.2 The Operating Envelope;
From the above, it is clear that the lower temperature limit is set by the deposition
temperature since, if the system falls below this temperature, operational problems may
occur. This temperature therefore sets the minimum flowrate through the system. The
next step is to determine the flow constraints imposed by multiphase line geometry,
inclusive of the wells, Xmas trees, manifold piping etc.. up to the topside.
There are a number of steady-state multiphase flowline simulation packages currently
available, such as PIPEPHASE from Simulation Sciences, PIPESIM from Schlumberger
and GOFLOW MULTIFLOW from Azur Offshore Ltd. Using one of these, to model the
system and using fluid compositional data from lab tests, it is possible to produce curves
showing the variation in arrival temperature with flowrate.
If higher water cuts are included, it is possible to develop a range of these curves.
However, it is necessary to superimpose the production profile derived from the reservoir
simulation on top of these since, as the water cuts increase, reservoir deliverability tends
to fall. Ultimately, it is possible to determine the limiting water cut at which production is no
longer possible.
By following this methodology it is possible to establish an acceptable operating envelope
for the subsea production system. This is for steady-state conditions. Shut-down and
star-up requires a more sophisticated model as explained in the following section.
3.3 Transient Behaviour;
Following a shutdown, the flowline system is static with no net inflow or outflow of fluids.
The system therefore moves towards its settle-out equilibrium pressure and the flowline
fluid inventory cools with time.
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What is important to determine is how long the system will take to reach the temperature
limit for deposition. In the case of possible hydrate formation, it may be necessary to
depressurises the flowline prior to restart whilst for wax formation, pigging of the flowline
as part of the restart procedure may be required, as discussed in Section 2.0.
There are currently several transient multiphase flow computer simulation packages
available, OLGA from Scandpower, PLAC from AEA Petroleum Services, TACITE from
IFP etc.. See Figure 30.
Warm-up during restart is a much more complicated matter. Unlike cool down, there is no
flow through the system to be taken into account and hence a changing temperature
gradient along the flowline with time. During flowline warm-up, the critical time is taken for
the fluids in the system to exceed the deposition limit. Before this temperature is
exceeded, it will be necessary to inject inhibitors in order to protect the system. The
sections of line closest to the wellheads warm up fastest, whilst the fluid temperatures at
the host platform or FPSO is the slowest to rise.
Using such tools, it is possible to determine for how long it is necessary to inject inhibitor.
If the required concentration is known, then the total volume of inhibitor needed for restart
may be determined. This data is useful for two reasons; both to develop operational
restart procedures dependent upon the duration of a shutdown and to optimise the
quantities of injection chemical required.
For large subsea developments with a multiphase transport system, the operating
procedures are more complicated than would initially be considered. This is a key reason
why to evaluate them at Design Stage.
3.4 What is Energy Management?
Energy management is becoming important as oil field development move into ever
deeper waters and tackles heavier oils in cooler reservoirs, remote from the host facility.
Various programmes are investigating energy transfer effects, ways of making better use
of these, and developing the appropriate design and optimisation tools(computer models)
and introducing these to oil-field development practice. The potential benefits for suitable
oil wells are :-

Enhanced production performance

Improved commercial recovery
Enhanced capability to harvest cool, heavy oil from difficult reservoirs
New product opportunities (for vendors)
Improved energy efficiency and utilisation.

In addition to the application of this technology to heavy crude oils in deeper waters, there
are now clearly perceived applications in more moderate water depths, conventional
medium crude oils, and even on some gas field developments.
The aims are to demonstrate and quantify methods of achieving much greater, efficient
utilisation of available energy, explore areas where greater energy conservation could be
achieved by appropriate use of known, proven techniques. The aims are also to illustrate
the benefits in terms of increased system production performance and energy efficiency
and the possibility of reduced topside equipment, subsea equipment and risers.
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3.5 Elements of Investigation;

3.5.1 Near Well bore / Reservoir Well Interface;
Investigation of energy management effects have indicated that the behaviour of fluids in
the near well bore region gives rise to thermal and phase transition effects which can
modify well performance. Some field trials have demonstrated these effects and
successful methods of removing the actual and pseudo well damage which results from
these effects.
3.5.2 Well Design;
The design of subsea wells currently does not take enough into account the need for
energy conservation. This is becoming an important issue. There are many onshore
operations around the world where heat and energy conservation techniques are very well
developed. It is important to investigate the feasibility and benefit of introducing these
techniques into subsea wells.
3.5.3 Artificial Lift and Boosting Techniques;
Subsea oilfields often require boosting technology to achieve satisfactory performance.
Boosting may be by gas lift, seabed pumping or down hole pumping. Production
performance is directly related to the effective hydraulic "boost" applied. This is a function
of total energy applied and energy conversion efficiency. Typically efficiency will range
between 10 to 40%. The balance of that applied energy, the "system loss" is not fully and
rigorously considered in hydraulic modelling of a boosted subsea production system (eg
subsea ESPs). None of the existing hydraulic modelling software systems takes full
account of all of the low grade heat which is transferred to the produced fluid. However for
certain lift systems, a very high proportion may be available as useful heat, imparted to the
produced fluid. See Figures 31 & 32 for ESP & HSP down hole pumps.
3.5.4 Manifolds and Clusters;
In the North Sea some manifold piping have been insulated. There is also a need to
reduce the length of flowline jumpers in large clusters and develop means of heating if
necessary. See Fig 33.
3.5.5 Subsea Pipeline and Flowline Systems;
Subsea pipeline design practice concentrates on optimised hydraulic performance.
Onshore, there are instances of very clever pipeline design where a broader design brief
has included careful heat and energy management. Introducing these principles to subsea
pipeline design is beneficial. In appropriate circumstances, it may be possible to achieve
higher temperature, lower viscosity fluids, reduced wax deposition and potentially lower
cost flowlines and risers. That type of system optimisation is entirely field specific and
examples of line insulation and riser gas lifting by Doris are illustrated in Figures 34 to 36.
3.5.7 Behaviour of Produced Fluids;
Produced fluids from subsea oilfields, conventional or heavy crudes will tend to become
cold and viscous in subsea systems. The inter-relationship between viscosity and
temperature is such that at sea bed temperatures even one tenth of a degree will have a
substantial impact on fluid behaviour, pipeline and production performance. Indeed, subtle
changes to the optimisation of the energy management of the system may have
considerable impact on production performance, wax deposition, size and number of
flowlines, risers required, and the fluid arrival temperature at the host facility.
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4.0 SYSTEM OPTIMISATION WITH COMPUTER MODELS;

It is vital to have a capability to accurately model and optimise the thermal (as well as
hydraulic) performance of a flow system. Typically this is aimed at improving the thermal /
heat conservation / utilisation characteristics of a flow system. The results will also provide
a real-time investigation tool to permit subtle adjustments to flow system temperature as
fluid characteristics change (eg rising water cut) and flow system thermal limits are
approached. Thus, maximum temperature limitation regarding flexible flowline, wellhead
and tree systems etc. could be preserved by simple low cost, mid field life changes to well
system configuration. Again this option needs to be investigated at SYSTEM DESIGN
stage.
Techniques can be incorporated eg;
-

Monitoring by a distributed and discrete fibre optic based pressure and

temperature measurement along the lines.
Discrete acoustic sensors can detect deposits in the line, when there is
reduction of the flow path and an increase in velocity.
Subsea MPFM in manifolds or on each well are essential to measure and
monitor on-line water cut variations.

REFERENCES;
-

Flow Assurance still Leading Concern Among Producers. N MacKintosh & Z Atakau Offshore - October 2000

Designing for Operability. A Hunt - 19th World Petroleum Congress - Stavanger

Application of Energy Management Techniques to Oil & Gas Field Development. A.

Simpson (Triangle Engineering)

Subsea Water Separation & Injection A Solution for Hydrates. V Alary, F Marchais,
T. Palermo. OTC 12017

A.O.L. Subsea Engineering LEVEL 2 Course, Flowlines design lectures by Nigel

CURSON APAL Paris Ocobre 2004
SUT Flow Assurance ; The Current State of the Art 2009 version.

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Lecture SSA L6 ; FLOW ASSURANCE

LIST OF FIGURES;
Fig 1. Flow Assurance Design
Fig 2. Flow model
Fig 3. Flow patterns
Fig 4. Production uncertainties
Fig 5. Long distance
Fig 6. How long ?
Fig 7. Normal slugging
Fig 8. Severe slugging
Fig 9. Ramp up slugging
Fig 10. Pigging slugging
Fig 11. Water
Fig 12. Hydrates
Fig 13. Hydrates crystals
Fig 14. Blockage mechanism
Fig 15. Hydrates prevention
Fig 16. Thermodynamics inhibitors
Fig 17. Potential hazards
Fig 18A Wax deposition
Fig 18B Mixed phase diagram
Fig 19. Wax prediction
Fig 20. Pigging loop system
Fig 21. Subsea pig launcher
Fig 22. Flow related corrosion
Fig 23. Emulsions
Fig 24. Chemical injections table
Fig 25. Advantages of subsea separation & pumping
Fig 26. Subsea separation extend field life
Fig 27. SUBSIS system
Fig 28. Cold points
Fig 29. Girassol cold points
Fig 30. TACITE
Fig 31. ESP
Fig 32. HSP
Fig 33. Isolation of manifold piping
Fig 34. Isolation of flowlines
Fig 35. Bundles
Fig 36. Riser gas lift
IFP Brochure; Technologies for Flow Assurance and FAMUS Software

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APPENDIX: DEFINITION OF FLOW ASSURANCE

- Flow regimes In all operating modes, in wells, in
horizontal lines and in vertical risers up to the process
system.
- Hydrates - Formation of ice crystals incorporating
methane and other hydrocarbons in low temperatures,
high pressure, wet systems producing gas, condensate
or oil.
- Wax / Asphaltenes - The deposition of solids inside the
flowlines and risers reducing flow capacity and
ultimately blocking the line.
- Slugging - The phenomena caused by the instabilities
of the gas and liquid interfaces and liquid sweep-out by
gas inertial effects.
- Erosion - Wearing of the manifold pipe work and the
flowline walls due to solid particles such as sand or
liquids impingement passing at high velocities.
- Corrosion - Wearing of the pipework and flowline wall
thickness due to chemistry of the produced fluids.
- Emulsions - Oil and water mixtures at approximately
40 to 60% water cut that cause excessive pressure
losses in the wells or the SPS system.
- Scaling - Solids build up, especially onto the well bore
tubing due to the chemistry of the produced water.
- Sand Production - Sand production from the reservoir
causing blockage of system components such as
flowlines.
- Cold Points - Multiple non insulated devices in the
system in contact with the surrounding cold water
acting as fast heat exchangers in particular during well
shut down and other operating modes.

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EFFECTIVE FLOW ASSURANCE MUST ADDRESS ALL

CHEMISTRY ISSUES AND OTHER VARIABLES AT SYSTEMS
DESIGN STAGE, WELL BEFORE PROJECT START-UP, AND
TRY TO PREDICT PERFORMANCE DURING FULL FIELD LIFE.

Orig; JLC C Copyright AZUR OFFSHORE LTD / APA/ SUT- Rev 10- May 2010