Facility Design Flow Assurance Study

Objective:

A Facility Design Flow Assurance Study involves the development of a PARA (Paraffin-Aromatic-Resin-Asphaltene) EOS (Equation of State) fluid characterization that is used to design accurately the subsurface and surface production facilities. It is especially suitable for tieback well systems. It is used to determine accurately the required tubing and flowline size for a desired production rate. It is also used to evaluate the need for insulation and hydrate inhibitor treatments.

Description

A Facility Design Flow Assurance Study involves a sequence of tests and computer simulation leading to accurate sizing and design of oil and gas production facilities for a given set of design conditions. The flowcharts below give a summary of the steps required to:

• Obtain representative bottom-hole fluid samples

• Perform PARA (Paraffin-Aromatic-Resin-Asphaltene) Analysis, PVT Study, and Flow Assurance Diagnostic Study

• Develop a PVT-tuned PARA EOS fluid characterization

• Simulate the fluid's P-T Diagram

• Simulate the fluid's Hydrate Envelope (HE)

• Obtain or define expected production system layout.

• Simulate hydraulic, thermal, and compositional profiles with NODEModelR.

• Simulate impact of additional production on existing pipeline network, if necessary.

Pipeline Network