TOPICS OF INTEREST
FLOW ASSURANCE
Modeling Liquid Holdup in Pseudoslugs
The complete paper develops a plausible physical model of the experimentally observed pseudoslug liquid-holdup phenomenon and models physical and hydrodynamic behavior using a dimensional regression modeling approach.
Large-Scale Experiments Examine Slug-Length Evolution in Long Pipes
The complete paper presents a set of two- and three-phase slug-flow experiments conducted in a 766-m-long, 8-in. pipe at 45-bara pressure.
Flow Assurance
The recurring long-term mitigation of slugging and various flow-assurance phenomena are challenging issues that demand attention and considerable technical effort. The three papers outlined here discuss slightly different issues and approaches to slug-flow phenomena and flow assurance.
Machine-Learning-Assisted Approach Analyzes Slug-Flow Root Cause
The complete paper discusses the successful application of a data-driven approach to analyze production data and identify root causes of slugging in a subsea production system on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
Firm That Transforms Surface Properties With Lasers Wins Top Prize at ATCE Startup Village
FLITE Material Sciences says that its unique lasering process can be used on just about any type of material to make it either repel or attract water and oil. For an industry that deals with a lot of both, the technology has many potential use cases.
Environmentally Preferable Smart Chemicals Improve Production, Performance
This paper describes studies that confirm that enzyme-based, environmentally preferable chemistries can be used to break polymers and mitigate H2S in various systems.
Flow-Assurance Strategy Manages Subsea Asset Without Continuous MEG Injection
The paper describes options for hydrate and integrity management and the required modifications to both subsea and topside facilities to enable an operational philosophy change.
Application of Multizone Water Injection Downhole Flow Control Completions With Fiber-Optic Surveillance
A multizone water-injection project has ultimately proved a method of using intelligent completion interval-control valves in place of traditional sand-control completions in soft sand reservoirs.
Autonomous Valve Controls Excess Water, Gas Production To Increase Oil Recovery
Autonomous Inflow Control Valve technology demonstrates significant benefits within first year.
Asphaltenes: A Complex and Challenging Flow Assurance Issue To Measure and Quantify Risk
Researchers use novel methodology to measure the thermo-electric properties of native crude.
Study Correlates Hydrate Blockage Risk and Gas/Liquid Flow Pattern in Horizontal Pipelines
This paper analyzes the risk of hydrate formation and blockage, aiming at various gas/liquid flow patterns and considering the phase distribution and interface distribution characteristics of different flow patterns.
Technique Overcomes Scarcity of Solubility Data in Scale Prediction for HP/HT Conditions
The complete paper describes the generation of additional fundamental solubility data under HP/HT conditions and comparison of the obtained values with several existing models.
Tullow Oil CEO, Exploration Director Resign Amid Lower Production Outlook
The resignations come as the company makes downward revisions to its production guidance after a disappointing performance from its TEN and Jubilee fields offshore Ghana.
Surface Treatment Improves Flow Assurance and Throughput in Corroded Pipe
This paper describes a material designed to interact specifically with highly corroded and weathered pipe to enable in-place application and refurbishment.
Software System Enables Effective Flow-Assurance Management
This paper describes a smart management system used for retrieving and evaluating all flow-assurance-related data for more than 700 of the operator’s onshore and offshore wells.
Predicting Severe Slugging in Toe-Down Horizontal Wells
This paper presents the results of an experimental and modeling study that demonstrates the existence of severe slugging in systems with upward-inclined lateral flow paths, such as a toe-down well.
Flow Assurance
The papers presented here, including the additional reading papers on the potential novel applications of subsea tieback technology, focus on developing new analytical tools and new materials while providing safe, cost-effective, and reliable operations for flow assurance.
For Subsea Technology, “Necessity is the Mother of Invention”
Subsea advancements in the works include longer tiebacks, an underwater drone that lives on the seafloor, and a robotic manifold capable of actuating dozens of valves. Do these new capabilities, born of necessity, signal a sea change in industrywide technology development?
Benefits of Low-Dosage Hydrate Inhibitors
This paper summarizes historical advancements in low-dosage hydrate inhibitors (LDHIs) over the past 2 decades, discusses their advantages and limitations, and their selection criteria.
Study Evaluates Hydrate Antiagglomerants
A common hydrate-management strategy involves the use of large volumes of thermodynamic inhibitors (THIs) to operate outside the hydrate-stability region.
Locally Sourced, Ecofriendly Hydrate Inhibitor Effective in Simulated Offshore Environment
The complete paper investigates gas-hydrate inhibition in a simulated offshore environment using a plant extract (PE) as a local inhibitor.
New Technology Enables Development of Norwegian Sea Field
A new enabling technology known as electrically heat-traced flowline (EHTF) will be used to enable system startup and shutdown and to maintain production fluids outside of the hydrate envelope during steady-state operation.
As Exciting as Watching Scale Grow: Real-Time Observations Generate New Control Ideas
The chemical reactions creating buildups of scale that can clog a well can be replicated in a chemical lab, but researchers are finding many more variables on the surfaces of pipes that need to be considered.
Reynolds Number Is Important in Understanding Wax Deposition
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.
Flow Regime Affects Erosion Prediction in Multiphase Flow
Erosion caused by fine solid particles presents one of the greatest threats to oil and gas flow assurance, consequently affecting material selection and wall-thickness design.
Offshore Production and Flow Assurance
Offshore production assurance continues to drive new production technology applications and approaches. The three papers highlighted here focus on developing analytical tools and performing root-cause analyses while providing safe, cost-effective, and reliable operations.
Root-Cause Analysis of Offshore Pipeline Failures
This paper evaluates potential causes of failure for nine pipelines operating in shallow waters (8 to 14 m) in the Gulf of Guinea. The authors develop an analytical method to identify root causes and provide recommendations for pipeline design and placement.
Reassessing Operational Strategies for Wax Management Reduces Expenses
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.
Enhanced-Gel-Strength Concept Optimizes Chemical Use in Pipeline for Waxy Crude
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.
Novel Polymer Modifications Lead to Next-Generation Pour-Point Depressants
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.
Is the Permian Barreling Toward a Breaking Point?
Permian oil output is growing fast, pipeline capacity is full with little relief in sight, truck drivers are in short supply, and the value of basin-produced crude is sinking. Is a drop off in activity—including drilling and production—becoming inevitable?
Developing an Influx-Management Envelope for a Deepwater MPD Operation
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.
Wax-Deposition Experiments Decouple Hydrodynamic Parameters To Aid Scaleup
In this study, the effects of the hydrodynamic parameters are decoupled with specially designed flow-loop experiments. The results enhance understanding of the deposition behavior at various hydrodynamic conditions and aid in scaling up from laboratory to field conditions.
Offshore Production and Flow Assurance
Mitigation of flow-assurance problems continues to drive new production-technology applications and approaches. The three papers highlighted here focus on minimizing costs while providing safe, effective, and reliable operations.
Low-Adhesion Coatings Provide Novel Gas-Hydrate-Mitigation Strategy
In this study, two coatings were produced and evaluated to determine their effect on hydrate adhesion onto carbon-steel surfaces.
Transient Simulation for Hydrate Mitigation Aims for Optimal Production in Kuwait Fields
This paper presents the traditional methods of hydrate mitigation used in the NKJ fields and the way in which a transient model was initially built and continuously improved.
Monitoring and Mitigating Asphaltene Issues in a Deepwater Production System
This paper presents an integrated approach to evaluate the key elements of asphaltene risk for deepwater projects, the strategy to manage the issues during production implementation, and aspects to be considered in the mitigation of asphaltene in the field-development plan.
Laboratory Testing and Prediction of Asphaltene Deposition in Production Wells
This paper presents a methodology that begins by determining the ADE in the laboratory. Moreover, asphaltene-deposition rates for the tubing conditions can be measured using high-pressure/high-temperature coaxial-cylinder technology.
Cointerpretation of Distributed Acoustic and Temperature Sensing for Inflow Profiling
With the availability of more-complex smart-well instrumentation, immediate evaluation of the well response is possible as changes in the reservoir or well occur.
Efficient Optimization Strategies for Developing Intelligent-Well Business Cases
The complete paper evaluates optimization techniques to develop, or support, business cases for intelligent or smart wells.
Squeeze Treatments Combat Scale Deposition
At the 2017 SPE Oilfield Chemistry Conference, an assistant professor from Heriot-Watt University discusses the optimization of squeeze treatments delivered by diving support vessels.
Offshore Production and Flow Assurance
Subsea tieback of a new field to an existing offshore production facility is one option to minimize development costs.
Direct Electrical Heating of a Flexible Pipe
This paper describes a new direct electrical heating method in flexible-pipe systems. The method effectively expands the operational envelope of flexible unbonded pipes with greater control of hydrate plugs and wax precipitation by distributed heating along the entire pipe length,
Flow-Assurance Methods Enabled by Medium-Voltage Heating Technology
Medium-voltage electric heating systems offer reduced installation cost and increasing efficiency for multimegawatt oil and gas heating applications compared with low-voltage systems. For offshore applications, the systems offer the added benefit of both space and weight reductions.
Thermoplastic-Composite-Pipe Flowline Helps Reduce Project and Life-Cycle Costs
Thermoplastic composite pipe (TCP) is a spoolable, fully bonded pipe with glass or carbon-fiber reinforcements. While most often used in deep water, the combination of a solid wall, spoolability, and corrosion resistance makes TCP attractive for production-flowlines in shallow water also.
The Importance of Scale-Inhibitor Analysis—A State-of-the-Art Overview
This paper presents a state-of-the-art review of scale-inhibitor-analysis techniques and describes how these techniques can be used to provide cost-effective scale management.
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