Advances in rheology and flow assurance studies of waxy crude

Flow assurance is one of the core issues in safe and economical operation of waxy crude pipelines.Its essence lies in flow and heat transfer of the crude.In the past 10 years,the authors＇ team has achieved a lot of innovative results in aspects of waxy crude rheology,flow assurance assessment,and pipelining technologies on the basis of decades of studies.The rheological characteristics of waxy crude are much better understood,and a method for quantitatively simulating the effect of flow shear was developed based on some theoretical breakthroughs.Studies of the mechanism of waxy crude rheology have been deepened to the quantitative level.After successful development of efficient numericalalgorithms,accurate simulations have been achieved for various complex flow and heat transfer situations in waxy crude pipelining,and a reliability-based approach to flow assurance assessment has been set up.New pipelining technologies have been developed such as batching pour-point depressant-（PPD-） treated multiple-waxy-crudes,intermittent transport of waxy crudes through long-distance pipelines,and batching hot and cold crudes.By their application,a series of problems hindering safe,efficient and flexible operation of waxy crude pipelines were tackled,demonstrating that transportation technologies for waxy crude have advanced to a new and high level.

Numerical modeling and parametric sensitivity analysis of heat transfer and two-phase oil and water flow characteristics in horizontal and inclined flowlines using OpenFOAM

Estimating the oil-water temperatures in flowlines is challenging especially in deepwater and ultra-deepwater offshore applications where issues of flow assurance and dramatic heat transfer are likely to occur due to the temperature difference between the fluids and the surroundings. Heat transfer analysis is very important for the prediction and prevention of deposits in oil and water flowlines, which could impede the flow and give rise to huge financial losses. Therefore, a 3D mathematical model of oil-water Newtonian flow under non-isothermal conditions is established to explore the complex mechanisms of the two-phase oil-water transportation and heat transfer in different flowline inclinations. In this work, a non-isothermal two-phase flow model is first modified and then implemented in the InterFoam solver by introducing the energy equation using OpenFOAM® code. The Low Reynolds Number (LRN) k-ε turbulence model is utilized to resolve the turbulence phenomena within the oil and water mixtures. The flow patterns and the local heat transfer coefficients (HTC) for two-phase oil-water flow at different flowlines inclinations (0°, +4°, +7°) are validated by the experimental literature results and the relative errors are also compared. Global sensitivity analysis is then conducted to determine the effect of the different parameters on the performance of the produced two-phase hydrocarbon systems for effective subsea fluid transportation. Thereafter, HTC and flow patterns for oil-water flows at downward inclinations of 4°, and 7° can be predicted by the models. The velocity distribution, pressure gradient, liquid holdup, and temperature variation at the flowline cross-sections are simulated and analyzed in detail. Consequently, the numerical model can be generally applied to compute the global properties of the fluid and other operating parameters that are beneficial in the management of two-phase oil-water transportation.

Hydrate Prevention Strategies and the Associated Cost in the Gulf of Mexico

With the petroleum industry endeavoring to develop promising oil and gas in deeper water, gas hydrates prevention is a serious concern for oil and gas producing companies producing at conditions in the hydrate region. This paper details lessons learned from the successful field deployment of AA LDHI and proper implementation strategies used for 3 different practical fields as case studies in the Gulf of Mexico. From the 3 field experiences, the AA LDHI has been used to replace the conventional thermodynamic hydrate inhibitor due to its numerous benefits during steady state operations and transition operations where AA LDHI is injected prior to extended shut in and restart for fields producing at low water cut. However, the strategy to develop a cost effective chemical management of hydrates for fields producing at high water cut is by pumping methanol or diesel to push down the wellbore fluid below the mud line during planned and unplanned shut-ins to delay water production, it also secures the riser with non hydrate fluids. This illustrates how the AA LDHIs are used in conjunction with more conventional hydrate management approaches to reach an optimal cost effective field hydrate management solution. However, this shows that the key to overall success of hydrate prevention is a full integration of a good front end design, a comprehensive deployment and an effective down hole monitoring system.

Experimental study on flow characteristics of tetrahydrofuran hydrate slurry in pipelines

Tetrahydrofuran（THF） was selected as the substitute to study the flow behaviors and the mechanism of the hydrates blockage in pipelines.The slurrylike hydrates and slushlike hydrates are observed with the formation of hydrates in pipeline.There is a critical hydrate volume concentration of 50.6% for THF slurries and pipeline will be free of hydrate blockage while the hydrate volume concentration is lower than the critical volume concentration;otherwise,pipeline will be easy to be blocked.Fully turbulent flow occurs and friction factors tend to be constant when the velocity reaches 1.5 m/s.And then,constant values of friction factors that depend on the volume concentrations in the slurry were regressed to estimate the pressure drops of THF hydrate slurry at large mean velocity.Finally,a safe region,defined according to the critical hydrate volume concentration,was proposed for THF hydrate slurry,which may provide some insight for further studying the natural gas hydrate slurries and judge whether the pipeline can be run safely or not.

A study of hydrate plug formation in a subsea natural gas pipeline using a novel high-pressure flow loop

The natural gas pipeline from Platform QKI8-1 in the southwest of Bohai Bay to the onshore processing facility is a subsea wet gas pipeline exposed to high pressure and low temperature for a long distance. Blockages in the pipeline occur occasionally. To maintain the natural gas flow in the pipeline, we proposed a method for analyzing blockages and ascribed them to the hydrate formation and agglomeration. A new high-pressure flow loop was developed to investigate hydrate plug formation and hydrate particle size, using a mixture of diesel oil, water, and natural gas as experimental fluids. The influences of pressure and initial flow rate were also studied. Experimental results indicated that when the flow rate was below 850 kg/h, gas hydrates would form and then plug the pipeline, even at a low water content （10%） of a water/oil emulsion. Furthermore, some practical suggestions were made for daily management of the subsea pipeline.

Investigation on synergistic deposition of wax and hydrates in waxy water-in-oil(W/O) flow systems

Elucidating the synergistic effect of wax and hydrates, involving formation, aggregation and deposition,is imperative to the operation and transportation safety for offshore petroleum fields. To understand the characteristics and mechanism of synergistic deposition of wax and hydrates, flow and deposition experiments of systems with different wax contents(0-2.89 wt%), initial flow rates, pressures and temperatures were conducted in a high pressure visual flow loop. According to the flow rate and pressure drop data as well as the visual window observation, four different types of plugging scenarios of waxhydrate coexisting systems with different flow properties and wall deposition state were summarized,including rapid plugging, transition plugging, gradual plugging type I and gradual plugging type II.Compared with the wax-free system after hydrate formation, even with the addition of anti-agglomerant(AA) with the same concentration, wax-hydrate coexisting systems could not reach stable hydrate slurry flow state, indicating that the existence of wax deteriorated the performance of AA. Aside from the influence of wax crystals on hydrate agglomeration, it was found that wax deposition layer would alter the adhesion and bedding of hydrates, resulting in the variation of flow properties and wall deposition state.For low wax content systems(0.75 wt%) where rapid plugging occurred, the synergistic effect between wax and hydrates promoted the formation of wax-hydrate coupling aggregates, resulting in severe local deposition when the coupling aggregates attained critical deposition size and consequently decreasing flow rate, forming a vicious circle of decreasing transportability. Since bedding of coupling aggregates was hindered by the uniformly coated wax deposition layer on pipe wall, gradual plugging rather than rapid plugging occurred in medium wax content systems(1-1.25 wt%), predominately caused by the gradual increment in viscosity of waxy hydrate slurry. For relatively high wax content systems(2.89 wt%), hydrate formation and plugging did not occur, due to the insulation effect of wax deposition layer. A physical model for the synergistic deposition of wax and hydrates was also presented, which was meaningful to the development of a mathematical model for the prediction of blockage formation and risk analysis.

Status and challenges of Chinese deepwater oil and gas development

There have been nearly 33 oil and gas fields with billions bbl resources found in deepwater areas all over the world since 1970,so deepwater areas are of prime importance for petroleum exploration and development.With the achievements of a series of deepwater petroleum exploration technology projects in the USA,Europe and Brazil,the GOM,Brazil and West Africa are becoming the focus of deepwater oil and gas exploration.The oil productivity derived from deepwater areas exceeds that of shallow water areas in GOM and Brazil since 2001.Deepwater is becoming very important for petroleum industries and the top area of technology innovations.On the basis of analyses of world deepwater technological innovations,this paper briefly introduces the history of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation （CNOOC）,and then presents the status and challenges of Chinese deepwater oil and gas development.

Foaming supramolecular surfactants for gas mobility control in naturally fractured carbonate reservoirs at high temperature,salinity,and hardness

Oil production and mainte nance are essential issues in naturally fractured reservoirs because they are the largest and most productive on earth.However,they present early water and gas channeling but could be remediated by using foaming agents to control these phenomena through blocking channeling areas.In Mexico these reservoirs have pressure up to 5,500 psi,high temperature up to 200℃,salinity up to400,000 ppm,and hardness up to 250,000 ppm;due to these thermodynamic conditions,there has been no available technology to form stable enough foams.In this work,a foaming supramolecular surfactant with the capability to chelate Ca^(2+)ions is examined.As a result,surfactant monomers are bridged by captured Ca^(2+)cations leading to the formation of high-molecular-weight oligomers,which significantly increment the viscosity of the solution improving the foam stability,and since at this manner the Ca2+cations are no longer available to precipitate as components of solid salts,the foaming supramolecular surfactant also performs as antiscalant.These observations are explained through quantum theoretical modeling.The foam is stable,effectively blocking the gas channels,whereas in presence of oil the foam is broken leading the oil to pass into the wellbore.The characteristic rheological properties of the foam allow its injection into the formation at a range of flow rates,foam qualities,and shear stress to achieve the flooding and the blocking of a variety of fractured carbonate formations,and the change of the wettability of the matrix,which is a desirable behavior in a huff and puff process,as reported in a previous publication about a successful pilot test of this foam.

A synergistic effect of zinc oxide nanoparticles and polyethylene butene improving the rheology of waxy crude oil

This research examined the use of 75 nm zinc oxide nanoparticles(nano ZnO)and polyethylene butene(PEB)to decrease the viscosity of Nigerian waxy crude oil.The rheology of the crude oil was assessed by measuring the viscosity and shear stress of samples containing PEB at 500,1000,2000,3000,4000 or 5000 ppm and nano ZnO at 1,2,3 or 4 wt% between 10 and 35℃ at shear rates from 1.7 to 1020 s^(-1).Rheological modeling indicated that a power law pseudoplastic model was the best fit for the experimental data,giving a regression coefficient of 0.99.The addition of these inhibitors induced Newtonian fluid behavior in the crude samples such that the shear stress-shear rate relationship plots were linear at all temperatures.The optimum concentrations of the inhibitors in this study were 2000 ppm PEB(providing a 33% viscosity reduction)and 1 wt% nano ZnO(providing a 26% viscosity reduction).A combination of these additives at these concentrations provided a synergistic effect and gave a greater viscosity reduction of 41%.This work demonstrates that a blend of ZnO nanoparticles and PEB can improve the flowability of waxy crude.

Predicting wax deposition using robust machine learning techniques

Accurate prediction of wax deposition is of vital interest in digitalized systems to avoid many issues that interrupt the flow assurance during production of hydrocarbon fluids.The present investigation aims at establishing rigorous intelligent schemes for predicting wax deposition under extensive production conditions.To do so,multilayer perceptron(MLP)optimized with Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm(MLPLMA)and Bayesian Regularization algorithm(MLP-BR)were taught using 88 experimental measurements.These latter were described by some independent variables,namely temperature(in K),specific gravity,and compositions of C1eC3,C4eC7,C8eC15,C16eC22,C23eC29 and C30þ.The obtained results showed that MLP-LMA achieved the best performance with an overall root mean square error of 0.2198 and a coefficient of determination(R2)of 0.9971.The performance comparison revealed that MLP-LMA outperforms the prior approaches in the literature.

A viscosity model of waxy-hydrate slurry

With the exploration and development of oil and gas fileds going towards into deep-water fields,high waxy reservoir has much more flow assurance issues of encourage complex solids depositions in the transportation system,especially hydrates and wax.Applying risk management such as hydrate slurry technology to control hydrate blockage,has much more economic and technical advantages,comparing to the traditional methods.It is significant to understand the viscosity of the waxy-hydrate slurry using hydrate slurry technology in high wax content reservoir.In this work,based on a simplification idea by coupling the wax content effect into the viscosity,volume and density of the water-in-waxy oil emulsion,a new viscosity model of waxy-hydrate slurry is established according to the Einstein effective medium theory,based on the experiments carried out in a high-pressure rheology system with different wax contents ranging from 0.5 wt%~2.0 wt%.The effect of the complex aggregate coupling wax-hydrate-water is considered by function the non-Newtonian coefficient by four dimensionless parameters.Well-fitting results within an improved deviation of±15%indicate the feasibility of this method is feasibility.This work can provide a valuable reference for the application of hydrate slurry technology in deep-water fields with high wax content reservoir.