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Developing new and proactive approaches

to flow assurance

Daniel Atzori, PhD

Flow assurance is vital to maintain subsea asset integrity and to keep the pipeline network functioning at optimal levels. Since the continuing flow of hydrocarbons constitutes the main source of revenues for oil companies, it is essential to prevent common problems such as equipment corrosion and the formation of organic and inorganic solids in wells, flowlines and pipelines. The present study provides the outcomes of a series of in-depth interviews conducted with leading personalities of the industry, with the goal of understanding the key challenges associated with flow assurance. A multidisciplinary approach Within the industry, there is a wide perception that the term flow assurance is misused, since it can mean different things to different people. There is a still a debate on whether flow assurance can be considered a discipline in itself or whether it consists of a series of overlapping issues which need to be dealt with by professionals possessing different backgrounds and areas of expertise. As pointed out by an operations engineering manager of a leading oil and gas operator, flow assurance is not an independent discipline, it is dependent on what others do. Indeed, flow assurance experts work with a wide range of specialists, such as facilities engineers, subsea engineers, production engineers and production chemists. Moreover, flow assurance issues may be very expensive to fix, both in terms of direct costs and downtime. In deepwater, these problems are exacerbated by extreme pressure and temperature, making access and intervention much more difficult and costly. Fortunately, the industry is coming up with inventive solutions to flow assurance challenges. Astro Technology, with the support of NASA, took the lead on the monitoring of deepwater systems in the Clear Gulf project. In their solution, fiber-optic and other sensors allow precise measurements along the flow-line. Subsea processing and low dosage hydrate inhibitors are also important R&D areas.

In this regard, Fluor is currently looking into new options, such as a new approach to determine the critical velocity required to transport hydrates in slurries.

Excessive reliance on chemistry Overall, while the industry moved into deepwater environments, technology had a hard time catching up with associated challenges. For example, there is a growing awareness that production chemistry cannot solve alone flow assurance problems, which need to be better prevented and managed during the design phase. Furthermore, the industry is concerned that software solutions employed to predict and detect common issues, such as the formation of hydrates and corrosion, are not always accurate nor reliable. Lets look specifically at hydrates formations. Hydrates are crystalline compounds formed when natural gas and water combine at low temperature and high pressure. By blocking pipelines, they are considered one of the main challenges for subsea oil and gas production. They are also one of the most expensive issues to deal with, due to the costs of the insulation material required to mitigate hydrates. Hydrate remediation through chemical injection tends to be expensive and carries risk of water contamination and environmental impact. We have relied on chemicals for a long period of time, but we are slowly discovering that chemicals may not necessarily answer all the issues we may have, said the operations engineering manager of a leading oil and gas operator. This may due to an insufficient development of production chemistry, but also to a lack of adequate detection systems to identify problems before they arise and to the general unreliability of existing software. We find that some of these products actually dont work, said the flow assurance engineer of a leading oil and gas exploration company with regard to the use of inhibitors for preventing the formation and deposition of paraffin, asphaltene and hydrates. Concerning asphaltene in the wellbore, as we go into hotter reservoirs, we cannot use the normal inhibitors available in the industry. We need to find better options or to improve what is available, he continued.

Improving chemical injection practices There is also a strong need of improving chemical injection practices. We have to be sure that the water we are dumping is not contaminated by the chemicals that we are injecting and that it is within the industry approved standards, continued the flow assurance engineer. Im sure we can find a way to optimize the chemicals that we are injecting into the pipelines, he added. Some chemicals that are injected have adverse effects, causing emulsion issues and therefore problems in the separators of the platforms. Thus, there is the need to use these inhibitors as little as possible, reducing their dosage rate. Since they are injected throughout the field life, expenses for chemicals tend to be very high. Experts point out that this overreliance on chemicals can be avoided through better design. Besides, the rate of the chemicals injected in the flowlines could be reduced by using different chemicals. Overall, improvements in chemistry solutions are seen as vital. Subsea operations Subsea separation, by processing fluids directly on the seabed, promises to enhance flow assurance. This makes production complicated and expensive, but those are the real challenges out there, said a flow assurance engineer. One of the main issues is to maintain suitable pressure to continue production along a period of time, maximizing production over the field life. However, subsea separation is expected to lead to substantial savings. Enhancing accuracy and reliability Dissatisfaction with current systems is also evident in another common flow assurance issue, corrosion. Corrosion is a big deal for subsea integrity, so we have to make sure that corrosion is handled accurately and properly, said a flow assurance engineer at an oil and gas exploration company.

Corrosion to me is the most important issue, because it really has to do with the asset integrity. If something goes wrong with your system, and you have a leakage, that is a serious issue, he added. Corrosion is often identified as a vital issue, since it concerns asset integrity. System leakage caused by corrosion can provoke failure as well as serious environmental damage. Thus, accurately predicting and detecting corrosion is of crucial importance for the industry. There are many software solutions employed by the industry to predict corrosion but I have found out that none of them alone are completely accurate, said a leading flow assurance advisor. Each one of them has certain limitations. They predict completely different answers, although you are using exactly the same input data, he continued. Metal corrosion in the presence of water has a major impact on subsea integrity, since it damages the assets and may even lead to catastrophic failure. Development of this software is important, so we can have something which is recognized by the industry and proven by fieldwork information. The solution is to do more benchmarking against the field data, he added. Conventional monitoring, as well as conventional inspection methods, are indeed often inadequate to accurately assess corrosion rates. Lacking these crucial information, it is difficult to devise effective risk management strategies. We use three different contractors to do exactly the same calculations for us and they come back with three different answers, said a flow assurance engineer at oil and gas exploration company. We choose the most conservative one and we end up paying more money because of that. Each solution has its limitations, he added. Towards a proactive approach Over the last five years, there have been extraordinary increases in the reliability and accuracy of monitoring systems.

Overall, reliable data analysis is contributing to devising effective measures to accurately monitor deepwater subsea assets in order to preserve their integrity. A closer integration with analytics is, therefore, helping to devise proactive strategies to flow assurance. For example, new equipment for corrosion monitoring are being developed. By comparing predicted and actual corrosion rates, these new solutions help to implement better strategies to prevent and mitigate risks. The same is true for software used to predict and avoid the appearance of paraffin wax, hydrates and asphaltene. Fluid analysis software can indeed assess the conditions of gas-to-liquid formation, with or without inhibitors. However, in order for monitoring tools to be reliable, the location and the number of sensors to be installed need to be very carefully identified and planned. Ideally, sensors should be positioned there in advance, but there are effective strategies to apply them also if the system is already in place. A big challenge is to be able to couple the sensors to the pipe, so that the measurements you are obtaining are precise. Part of the work we have been successful with, in our collaboration with NASA, has been in two very strong areas of coupling, said David Brower, founder and president of Astro Technology. One of them is subsea bonding with subsea adhesives. The other is through the development of friction clamps, with sensors embedded. Both of them have shown to work out very well, he continued. Early assessment of flow assurance issues helps to develop preventive and mitigation strategies, by suggesting customized maintenance schedules. By and large, the growing applications of software solutions and the need to optimize production is remarkably improving flow assurance practices, promoting more holistic and technology-savvy approaches.

Concluding remarks Managing risk associated with flow assurance is a very pressing problem for the industry, as it involves both integrity and the free flow of hydrocarbons. A very conservative stance, which gives protection to all kind of risks, will indeed make a system completely inoperable. In fact, different operators have different levels of risk they are prepared to accept.

The biggest challenge that operators face is striking a balance between mitigating risks and mitigating costs, said Adam Minkley, a Senior Analyst at Upstream Intelligence. Overall, new technologies and proactive solutions are promoting a shift from response-driven approaches to long-term prevention of flow assurance issues.

The general consensus amongst flow assurance engineers is that hydrates, wax, scale and asphaltenes remain the biggest challenge to date. Many Flow Assurance experts Ive spoken to have said there has been a significant lack of real innovation in preventing, mitigating and remediating those issues In the last twenty years, the industry has made many leaps forward, but there is still a gap in knowledge that operators are closing through R&D work, particularly for deepwater fields, which demand new architectures, new technologies and new Flow Assurance approaches to improve their economic viability. Collaborating and sharing lessons learned will be a key driver for improving flow assurance practices. Understanding how actual operating experiences compare to the operating guidelines set out during early phases of development planning will play a critical role in closing the knowledge gap early on.

The Next Steps In conjunction with this article, Upstream Intelligence will hold its inaugural Flow Assurance & Operability Conference, May 26-27, 2015, in Houston, Texas. Over a dozen world-renowned FA experts will share best practices and engage with the audience in exploring new ways to prevent or mitigate FA phenomena, including:

Operating experiences versus design expectations, how to overcome unexpected Flow Assurance challenges and how to manage operational challenges as they arise

Hydrates, asphaltenes, wax and scale deposition, prediction, prevention and mitigation remediation techniques and novel methods for removing blockages

Life-of-field Flow Assurance Strategy and reservoir depletion planning for maximum production including successful EOR/IOR techniques and case histories

Improving intervention access and capability in deep and ultra-deep water through better design, to reduce cost, prevent downtime and improve turnaround time

Long Tie Backs to improve the economic viability of deepwater satellite fields how to safely and efficiently operate long tie backs over life of the field to guarantee safe, reliable and economic production throughout design life

Planning Flow Assurance Strategies for future deepwater developments and developing operational strategies to effectively manage the known and unknown operational risks and rising intervention costs

All conference attendees will benefit from the following opportunities:

Network with 150+ Senior Flow Assurance Decision Makers, Engineers, Operations and Technology Managers involved in Flow Assurance, Production and Operations

Pinpoint the gaps in flow assurance strategies, enhance subsea systems architecture and improve overall production economics and uptime

Learn how Operators are dealing with Flow Assurance issues and the practical solutions for Hydrate, Wax, Asphaltene, Scale, Sand mitigation, Prevention and Remediation

Enhance operations strategies and increase uptime, avoiding disastrous Flow Assurance issues that could shut in wells, pipelines and flowlines

Make sure you keep up with the exciting new developments in Subsea

Flow Assurance by downloading the brochure here http://1.upstreamintel.com/LP=1246

http://1.upstreamintel.com/LP=1246

Enhance flow assurance strategies and operating systems architecture to guarantee flow, reduce OPEX and maximize production economics

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Flow Assurance and Operability Conference 2015May 26-27, 2015 | Greenway Plaza DoubleTree by Hilton, Houston, Texas

The Flow Assurance and Operability Conference 2015 unites the leading operators, service providers and industry experts to share real world case studies and practical solutions to ensure you create a comprehensive and cost effective flow assurance strategy:

Get exclusive insight into operating experiences versus design expectations, and establish how you can overcome unexpected flow assurance challenges

Build robust hydrates, asphaltenes, wax and scale deposition, prediction, prevention, mitigation and remediation techniques and explore novel methods for removing blockages

Update your life-of-field flow assurance strategy and begin reservoir depletion planning for maximum production to ensure successful EOR/IOR techniques

Improve intervention access and capability in deep and ultra-deep water through better design, to reduce cost, prevent downtime and improve turnarounds

Discover new Subsea Processing technologies and new applications to enhance flow assurance and increase greenfield and brownfield recovery

1. HEAR EXPERT SPEAKERS FROM THE LEADING NAMES including ENI, Shell, Total, Hess, Genesis, Fluor, Oceaneering, GATE, Technip and many more, allowing you to pinpoint the limits of existing flow assurance strategies and improve your production operations and uptime

2. MEET 150+ LEADING GLOBAL FLOW ASSURANCE EXPERTS AND SERVICE PROVIDERS face to face so you can Identify new architectures, new technologies and new flow assurance approaches to improve the economic viability of deepwater fields

3 reasons why Flow Assurance and Operability Conference is the must-attend event of 2015

3. GET THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE FUTURE OF SUBSEA PROCESSING and the implications on your flow assurance strategy in a series of exclusive keynotes from industry gurus

EXPERT FLOW ASSURANCE INSIGHT:

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