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Increasing demand for energy, along 8. Slugging liver the hydrocarbon from the wells to
with fluctuations in oil and natural gas 9. Materials-related issues. the processing facility with minimum
prices, require a review of existing pro- The obstacles of flow may differ ac- pressure drop. Pressure drop in a multi-
duction, transportation and storage tech- cording to whether the hydrocarbon be- phase flow is a function of the flow pat-
nologies for oil and gas. New technologies ing produced is oil or gas, but they coin- tern and liquid holdup. Determining the
have been introduced for oil and gas well cide in some aspects. For example, wax flow pattern and the liquid holdup in
development that enhance production and asphaltene deposits are obstacles pipelines is essential to accurately predict
economics and efficiency. These tech- encountered in oil production, while hy- pressure drop.
nologies are showing success for drilling drates formation is a key obstacle found in Slug flow occasionally occurs in mul-
and production operations. However, a gas production. tiphase flow, especially in offshore pro-
major obstacle has arisen as companies As Egypt enters the world of deepwa- duction facilities, which include a seabed
dig deeper underwater and underground: ter gas production, flow obstacles must be pipeline and a riser to the processing
How to economically deliver valuable hy- avoided. The Zohr and Atol discoveries platform. Accurate prediction of slug fre-
drocarbon resources from the reservoir to are considered the future of gas produc- quency is essential for proper processing
the end user. To this end, oil and gas pro- tion in Egypt, and much of Egypt’s gas facility design, including the sizing of slug
ducers and scientists have coined a new output will come from them. Any distur- catchers and separators.
term: flow assurance. bances in the production of these fields The presence of free water in gas pro-
Flow assurance refers to the success- will not only affect the oil and gas sector, duction pipelines aids the formation of
ful and economical flow of hydrocarbon but also the power and industrial sectors. hydrates under certain pressure and tem-
streams from the reservoir to the point of perature conditions. Hydrates formation
sale. By definition, flow assurance focus- Obstacles to flow assurance and how will partially or fully block the fluid flow
es on the entire engineering and produc- to mitigate them. During production in pipes, which results in backpressure on
tion lifecycle, from the reservoir through from a gas condensate reservoir, the first the wellhead and reduced well produc-
processing and refining, to ensure that obstacle that may be faced is how to de- tion. In the worst-case scenario, hydrates
hydrocarbons can be moved from the
reservoir to the refinery smoothly and
without interruption.
Flow assurance is a diverse field, en-
compassing many discrete and special-
ized subjects, and bridging the full series
of engineering disciplines. Financial loss-
es from production interruption or asset
damage due to flow assurance mishaps
can be astronomical.
According to the American Petroleum
Institute (API), the term flow assurance
can be used to cover a wide range of flow-
related issues,1 including:
1. Hydrates formation
2. Wax formation
3. Asphaltene formation
4. Emulsions
5. Foaming
6. Scale formation
FIG. 1. WASCO field pipeline gathering system.
7. Sand production
Gas Processing & LNG | MAY/JUNE 2018 21
SPECIAL FOCUS: PIPELINES AND TRANSPORTATION
formation will kill the well. The predic- in pipelines and the ability of processing accumulated water in pipes will increase
tion of hydrates formation in pipelines facilities to handle the anticipated slugs. the corrosion rate of the pipes. This liq-
helps evaluate the problem and select the These slugs cannot be estimated without uid accumulation should be regularly re-
proper solution for solving it. considering the time factor. moved from the pipe, using a pig.
Producing a solids-free fluid may cause The design engineer must consider A solid sphere with a diameter slightly
erosion to the pipeline if the fluid flow ve- the maximum allowable working pres- less than the pipe diameter is inserted
locity exceeds a specific value. The deter- sure (MAWP) of the pipelines while into the pipe and pushed, by some pres-
mination of this value is important for the designing the network. The network sure source, to sweep the liquid ahead of
proper sizing of flow lines and the correct MAWP can be reached and exceeded it. The swept liquid should be accurately
selection of an erosion rate for the pipes. in case of the emergency closure of net- estimated to decide whether the existing
The change in network parameters, work delivery points to the downstream facilities can handle the slug flow from the
such as pressure, holdup or rates with processing facility. Considering this case pig, or if an external handling facility is re-
time, is referred to as the transient state. in design is crucial, as it may cause pipe quired to process and store the slug.
Considering time as a parameter itself is blowing that leads to fire and explosions. The timing of a pigging operation is
important, as it affects the design of the a crucial parameter in the process, and
pipeline in the network and/or the pro- Pipeline pigging. Accumulated liquid is used to anticipate the pig reaching the
cessing facilities. Ramping up the exist- in pipelines will cause an increase in pres- end of the pipeline. If the predetermined
ing wells or introducing new wells to the sure drop. This drop can be translated as a time is exceeded, then the pig is expected
network requires design consideration loss in energy. This loss must be compen- to be stuck in the pipeline, and other pro-
of the expected amount of liquid holdup sated, resulting in higher cost. Moreover, cedures must be taken to retrieve it.
P LNG
GAS PROCESSING LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS
Energy Web Atlas
Existing gas pipelines (solid lines) and proposed gas pipelines (dotted lines) in Egypt. Map courtesy of Energy Web Atlas, www.energywebatlas.com
22 MAY/JUNE 2018 | GasProcessingNews.com
SPECIAL FOCUS: PIPELINES AND TRANSPORTATION
WASCO field production modeling. company used a commercial software from the actual data (up to 40% error).
El-Wastani Petroleum Co. (WASCO) is a program with a transient, multiphase This deflection came from the fact that
JV between Egyptian Natural Gas Hold- flow simulator. The model collects data the model used the PVT data as a cal-
ing Co. (EGAS) and Dana Gas Co. It was from day-to-day activities, production culation base. The PVT samples were
established in 2002 to produce sales gas logs, company archives and manufac- taken during the early production phase
and raw condensate from the El-Wastani turer manuals. The collected data is then of the wells (2006–2010), while the test
field. The company was then expanded sorted and filtered to eliminate irrel- data was gathered in September 2016. To
to produce from several other fields. The evant data. The data used for the study overcome this issue, the model was tuned
production is then gathered to the central are pipeline length and inside diameter using the actual CGR and water cut. A
processing facility (CPF) for gas treatment (ID), well depth and flowrate, CGR, and rerun was performed, giving an error of
and NGL recovery and stabilization. pressure–volume–temperature (PVT) less than 10% from the actual production
The producing fields extend more analysis. The source nodes of the net- data. This means that the model was reli-
than 40 mi through three concessions: work are assumed to be downstream of able and ready for further study.
Menzala, West Menzala and West Qa- the nodal compression stations and the The flow assurance study was per-
ntara. The producing fields include El- separation packages for the high-water- formed on the network for the present
Wastani, Dabayya, Bassant, Sharabas, cut wells. flowing conditions. The parameters stud-
Faraskur, Abu El-Naga, Salma and Bal- Model results. The first run showed ied were pressure drop, flow regimes, liq-
sam. Each field contains between one and a great deflection of the model results uid holdup, slug flow, erosion velocity and
seven producing wells. At present, there
are 32 live, producing wells. The wellhead 950
pressure range is 240 psi (16.5 barg)–
4,750 psi (327.5 barg). The gas flowrate
range is 0.5 MMsft3d–28 MMsft3d, with a 900
condensate-to-gas ratio (CGR) of 4 bbl/
MMsft3–90 bbl/MMsft3 and a water cut
range of 0%–90%. 850
Pressure, psig
TABLE 1. Summary of the simulation results for the existing flow condition
Length, Diameter, DP, Pressure drop gradient, Flow Maximum liquid Max surge Hydrate difference
Flowline EVR
ft in. psi psi/1,000 ft regime holdup, % volume, bbl temperature, °F
24 MAY/JUNE 2018 | GasProcessingNews.com
SPECIAL FOCUS: PIPELINES AND TRANSPORTATION
hydrates formation. The results are sum- ture. Hydrates formation is more likely the excess production.
marized in TABLE 1. to occur in marine fields, where the tem- Several boundaries must not be ig-
From the data in TABLE 1, Flowline 27 perature falls below the hydrates-forming nored when selecting the maximum flow-
(“FL_27”) has the highest pressure drop temperature at operating pressure, as the rate for the network:
gradient. Flowline 27 transports gas with operating pressure is usually high. 1. The pressure in the pipeline must
a high flowrate (27 MMsft3d) and with Scenario simulation. The model can not exceed the MAWP of the pipe
a high CGR (51 bbl/MMsft3), which be used to simulate hypothetical scenarios. material (in this case, 1440 psig).
causes a high pressure drop. Trunkline One scenario is to calculate the maximum 2. The pressure of the network must
3 (“TL_3”) and Trunkline 4 (“TL_4”) capacity of the existing network to deter- not exceed the lowest shut-in
have the highest pressure drop among the mine whether the network is capable of wellhead pressure (SIWHP) of
trunklines, due to the small pipe diam- handling an increase in production, or if the producing well; otherwise, the
eter (6 in.), compared to the flowrate (40 looping the pipelines is required to handle WHP of the wells will equalize
MMsft3d). The pressure profile across
the main trunkline starting from the S- 800 25,000
Faraskur-1 manifold to the CPF manifold Gas production rate
is shown in FIG. 2. 700 Condensate production rate
Water production rate 20,000
The results show that slug flow is ex- 600
pected at the end of some branches. This
is due to the hilly terrain effect of the 500 15,000
Gas rate, MMsft3d
Saima-2 700
902 wells will continue flowing and cause the
600 network pressure to reach the MAWP.
900
This can result in pipeline explosion and
898 500 severe damage to assets, the environment
896 400 and people. The time frame for the net-
work pressure to reach the MAWP must
894
300 be determined to avoid such a scenario.
892 The previous scenario can be modeled
200
0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 to determine when the network pressure
Time, sec reaches the MAWP. It is assumed that the
model will run normally for 120 sec, and
FIG. 7. Effect of pigging operation for trunklines on source node pressure.
then the ESD valve will close in 60 sec.
26 MAY/JUNE 2018 | GasProcessingNews.com
SPECIAL FOCUS: PIPELINES AND TRANSPORTATION
FIG. 5 shows the CPF pressure with time. Also, the network flow velocity is ade- The presented model is reliable and
The MAWP of the network pipeline will quate, and no erosion is expected. ready for use in further flow assurance stud-
be reached after 7,429 sec (124 min). Furthermore, the maximum capacity ies, such as ramp-up scenarios, pipeline de-
Another scenario that requires the of the network is dramatically reduced, pressurizing scenarios and others. GP
transient simulation is the pigging opera- due to expected erosion velocity in the
tion. Pigs are used for the internal clean- main trunkline. During ESD, the time for EMAD EL-DIN M. RABEEA is a
Senior Process Engineer at WASCO
ing of the pipelines to remove rust, sand, the network pipelines to reach MAWP is and a Flow Assurance Researcher at
scale and any solid deposits. Pigs are also 124 min, for the existing flow conditions. the Department of Engineering at
used to sweep out the excess liquid that Using this model, the surge volume ex- Cairo University, where he is
has settled at the bottom section of the pected from each trunkline during pig- pursuing his master’s degree. He
has 9 yr of experience in the oil and
pipes to minimize the pressure drop re- ging operations can be calculated, along gas industry, with seven of them spent in gas
sults from the multiphase flow. with the pigging time and the pig speed. processing engineering at WASCO. Mr. Rabeea has
In this scenario, pigging opera- participated in several projects at WASCO, including
major shutdowns and commissioning of new projects.
tions must be performed for the main Recommendations. Following the study
He has also helped increase company production by
trunklines to remove settled liquid in performed, it is recommended to carry out participating in projects to revive old wells. He holds a
pipes, along with any other solid deposits, regular flow assurance studies with up-to- BSc degree in petroleum engineering from Suez
to minimize the pressure drop. After the date data to assess the existing gathering University and is a NEBOSH IGC-certified engineer.
pigging operation is completed, liquid system and forecast future drawbacks. DR. A. ABDEL-WALY is a
slug is expected. This slug should be cal- The PVT analysis should be updated Professor of Oil and Gas Engineering
culated so that the proper separation and regularly to stay current with the changes at Cairo University in the Petroleum
storage facilities are in place to handle this in composition of the produced fluid and Department. Previously, he worked
as a consultant for OSOCO Co., and
slug at the pig receiving point. its effect on the gathering system. Pig- as an Associate Professor at KSU
FIG. 6 shows an example of pig perfor- ging operations should be performed on a in Saudi Arabia. He holds an MSc
mance, including the position of the pig regular basis to increase the integrity and degree and a PhD in petroleum engineering, both from
Cairo University. Dr. Abdel-Waly has supervised many
and the liquid content in the trunkline readability of the pipeline. Also, network MSc and PhD theses, as well as published several
with time. The liquid content in the branch looping is an option to increase the capac- papers in the field of oil and gas reservoir and
(red line) starts at the original value and ity of the existing gathering system. production engineering.
then declines rapidly as the pig reaches
the end of the line. After the pig reaches
the trap at the end of the line, the liquid
(water and condensate) starts to build up
again in the pipeline. FIG. 6 also shows the
position of the pig in the pipeline (black
line) with time. The effect of pigging op- SUBSCRIBE TODAY AND STAY AHEAD OF THE GAME
erations on pressure drop can be seen in
FIG. 7 from the relationship between the
liquid content and the upstream pressure.
As the CPF pressure is constant, the drop
in upstream pressure is due to the drop in
liquid content in the pipeline. TABLE 2 sum-
marizes the pigging operation of the main
trunklines, including the pig speed, pigging
time and recovered liquid.
Through print, online, e-newsletters and associated
Takeaway. The results show that the events, Gas Processing & LNG covers the latest
highest pressure drop occurred in the
pipeline with the highest gas flowrate and advances in processing technology and equipment
liquid content. The hilly terrain was also developments, market insights and trends in the
found to have affected the flow regime of
global gas processing industry.
most of the pipelines, while the gas veloc-
ity in the pipelines directly affected the
liquid holdup.
Results also indicated that the expect- Sign Up for a Free Trial!
ed surge volumes from the network at the
existing flowrates are relatively small, and Visit GasProcessingNews.com
that the processing facilities can handle
them. No hydrates formation is expected
in the network under the existing flowrate
conditions and the ambient temperature.
Gas Processing & LNG | MAY/JUNE 2018 27