Page 186 - Handbook Of Multiphase Flow Assurance

182 5. Flow restrictions and blockages in operations

The complexity of interactions is potentially as intricate as a game of chess. In chess, there
are 32 pieces which may interact at certain conditions. The objective of a game of chess is to
foresee these interactions. In flow assurance, the phases and processes are as numerous:
Water phase/ice.
Gas phase.
Hydrocarbon phases and batch flow.
Hydraulic performance.
Thermal performance.
Emulsions.
Foam.
Subsea or topsides separation.
Water treatment.
Water or gas injection performance.
Hydrate.
Wax and gels.
Scale.
Sand.
Sulfur deposition.
Naphthenate.
Asphaltene.
Heavy oil.
Viscous oil.
Bacterial growth in process systems/reservoir souring.
Corrosion.
H 2 S CO 2 sour gases.
Mercury & organomercury, arsenic selenium/heavy metals.
Blockage monitoring/flow monitoring & optimization.
Blockage remediation.
Subsea and riser considerations.
Field layout/wellbore trajectory optimization.
Commingled production from various producing zones.
Cross-flow between wellbores through manifold.
Fracture gradient of injection wells and rock consolidation.
Materials erosion properties.
It does not mean that an engineer skilled in flow assurance will be good at playing chess.
Nonetheless, the complexity of possible interactions and their consequences is not too dis-
similar. Fortunately, most fields in development do not possess all of the above issues at the
same time. However, some assets like in Paleogene possess many. We will try to outline some
of the possible interactions.
Hydrate
Gas hydrates interaction may come from one or more of the following effects:
‐ Hydrates create a flow restriction; it may alter pressure and temperature distribution in a
flowing system leading to changes in stability of other flow assurance phases.