DeepStar Flow Assurance Committee
As many of you are aware, DeepStar has been negotiating contracts with Tulsa University and the TUHFP
JIP to co-fund two Phase XI CTRs (11202 – Hydrate Formation in Late Life Conditions; and 11204
Monitoring of Hydrates in Pipelines). Unfortunately, Tulsa has elected to withdraw their DeepStar work
proposals for these two projects and will not perform this work.
Following some discussion, the following is a recommended path forward.
CTR 11204 – Monitoring of Hydrates in Pipelines
($450,000) – This work is to identify viable sensor systems capable of monitoring hydrate build-up in
producing flowlines. The CTR 11204 (copy attached) is phased ultimately ending with a sensor concept
demonstration on a flowloop or other facility with the capability of forming hydrates with model
components where hydrate conditions may be separately (visually) monitored. As far as we are aware,
few organizations have 100% of the resources to perform this entire project. Thus, we propose to bid
this work, encouraging the various organizations to form alliances (if required) to meet the work plan
needs of this project. We do not feel this will conflict with the TUHFP sensor efforts, and in fact, may
offer a useful and productive approach to the monitoring of hydrate formation. The goal will be to
secure the proposals for this project within the near term (next 3 weeks, if possible).
CTR 11202 – Hydrate Formation in Late Field Life Conditions
($400,000) This project is being transitioned to the TUHFP JIP as there does not seem to be a good
reason to duplicate the work within DeepStar. When this project was selected last fall, there were two
other highly rated CTRs that were next in line for funding. These projects are:
CTR H – Transient Simulation for HIPPS System Design - $225,000.
CTR O - Kinetic Hydrate Inhibitor (KHI) Recovery from Aqueous Solutions Containing MEG $206,000
Copies of these two CTRs are attached. Another potential high value CTR is a continuation of CTR 10205
at Colorado School of Mines.
CTR 10205 Next Phase - Controlled Hydrate Slurry Transport
Further, CSM in Project 10205 has been studying the impact of THIs and AAs on hydrates in under
inhibited systems (graphically illustrated in the attached). This first phase of the 10205 project is
nearing its end and further funds may be used to continue this line of research by looking at the impact
of natural surfactants on hydrate inhibitors.
Recommended Path Forward
CTR 11204 – Hydrate Instrumentation – Bid the project to other organizations.
CTR 11202 – Use funds for other high value projects.
We propose to discuss the three existing CTRs and any new CTR that someone is willing to develop and
champion before the September 13, 2012 Technical Committee Meeting. Following the TC Meeting, the
voting members will electronically ballot to recommend project(s) to the Management Committee.
If you wish to submit a FA CTR for consideration, please send JimChitwood@Chevron.com an e-mail of
your intention. We request that your proposed project information be put into the DeepStar Phase XI
CTR Template (attached). Please submit any new CTRs to JimChitwood@Chevron.com by September 5,
2012 so that a Meeting Pre-Read Package may be prepared.
Maintaining the timeline is important as the schedule is becoming short. Funds that are not repurposed and ranked will revert to the Management Committee without a recommendation from the
Technical Committee for its use.
DeepStar Phase XI CTR Project Proposal
CTR No.:
CTR Title:
11204
Monitoring of hydrates in pipelines
Submitted by: (include name, company, phone & email)
Michael Volk, University of Tulsa, 918-6315127, michael-volk@utulsa.edu
Technical Champion: (name, company, phone, E-mail)
Sivakumar Subramanian, Chevron,
sisu@chevron.com
Technical Committee: (Geosciences, Regulatory, Flow
Flow Assurance
Assurance, Subsea Sys., Floating Sys., Drilling &
Completion, Reservoir Eng., Metocean, or Systems Eng.)
Est. Duration of CTR Given in Months:
24 months
PROJECT ABSTRACT/OBJECTIVE:
The purpose of this project is to identify current technologies that can be implemented, modified or
developed to provide monitoring technologies for hydrates in flow lines.
BACKGROUND AND BUSINESS INCENTIVE TO INVEST:
To date, many hydrate experiments have been conducted in flow loops in order to better understand
and model the behavior of hydrates in flow conditions and enable hydrate slurry flow technology. For
hydrate slurry flow technology to be deployed in the field, ultimate confidence in test data is
imperative. Unfortunately, many conclusions from flow loop experiments remain uncertain because
key parameters cannot be properly monitored. For example, it is often impossible to tell whether
hydrates are dispersed as a slurry and therefore transportable or whether some of these hydrates
manage to accumulate, deposit or attach to the wall. Other critical parameters, such as slurry
viscosity are not measured, making model validation tasks extremely difficult. Furthermore, should
the slurry flow technology pass the pilot stage and make it to the field, proper monitoring
technologies will then become necessary.
SCOPE OF WORK:
This project aims at identifying new and/or existing technologies that can be applicable to hydrate
monitoring and demonstrate their feasibility on a laboratory scale. The first phase of the project will
be dedicated to identifying the applicable technologies, i.e. measurement techniques, applicability to
hydrates under multiphase pipe flow conditions, calibration and deployment issues (both field and
flow loops), cost estimates, readiness level... During this phase, contacts with potential partners will
be made. These potential partners may be equipment manufacturers or other institutions. An
evaluation of each technology will then be made and a few promising technologies will be selected
to advance to the demonstration stage on an experimental setup, along with the selected partner.
To be considered in this study, the technologies must be able to provide information such as hydrate
particle sizes, particle concentrations, particle velocities or hydrate slurry velocity, detection and/or
characterization of hydrate deposits at the wall, slurry characterization (viscosity,…), changes in
particle counts/velocity/size with time… The selected technologies must be able to provide some of
the information above in a pipe flow situation. These technologies should be preferably non-intrusive
and be deployable in a subsea environment with appropriate modifications of designs.
ANTICIPATED DELIVERABLES:
The deliverables of this project will include a review of all technologies that may be applicable for
hydrate detection, monitoring and/or characterization. A thorough assessment of the feasibility of a
selected few technologies will be provided – number and types of technology trials will depend on
cost and partners.
PROJECT VALUE:
The value of this project is to advance potential hydrate detection, monitoring and characterization
technologies for possible deployment on flow lines and existing flow loops.
PROJECT ESTIMATED COST AND SCHEDULE RATIONALE:
The first 6 months of this project will be dedicated to reviewing existing technologies, ranking them
and seeking partners. At this stage, a few technologies and possibly corresponding partners will be
selected to move towards experimental testing. A 6 to 8 months phase will be then be dedicated to
preparing the technologies and experimental setups and designing the test programs. Six months of
experimental testing will be considered in this study. The number of technologies to be tested will be
dependent on their likelihood of success, their cost and availability and the availability of a partner
to move the technology forward.
PROJECT TOTAL ESTIMATED COST IN US$:
$450,000
DeepStar Phase XI CTR Project Proposal
CTR No.:
CTR Title:
CTR H
Transient Simulation for HIPPS System
Design
George Shoup BP
Submitted by: (include name, company, phone & email)
713-501-8263
george.shoup@bp.com
George Shoup BP
Technical Champion: (name, company, phone, E-mail)
713-501-8263
george.shoup@bp.com
Technical Committee: (Geosciences, Regulatory, Flow
Flow Assurance
Assurance, Subsea Sys., Floating Sys., Drilling &
Completion, Reservoir Eng., Metocean, or Systems Eng.)
Est. Duration of CTR Given in Months:
6 months
PROJECT ABSTRACT/OBJECTIVE:
A HIPPS (High Integrity Pressure Protection System) will be an enabler for many subsea
developments with high pressure wells. Paleogene reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM)
will require HIPPS and pose unique challenges for flow simulation modeling. Paleogene
GOM reservoirs are located in deepwater, have high pressure zones at great depth below the
mudline, and are composed of low permeability reservoirs that require fracture stimulation to
achieve acceptable production rates. Even with fracturing, the reservoir responds slowly to
changes in pressure at the sand face. The coupled response of the near wellbore to the
flowline system is required for an efficient and cost effective design of HIPPS.
BACKGROUND AND BUSINESS INCENTIVE TO INVEST:
HIPPS is recognized an important tool for future deepwater GOM developments by the BOEM.
HIPPS has its own API guideline, API 17O, which does not address how to simulate HIPPS
transients. The BOEM commissioned a study with Granherne (File Reference J5920-MMS-RTU-007 Rev D) that does provide general simulations guidelines, but the reservoir boundaries
are simple constant PI pressure conditions.
The incentive to invest is to develop and qualify methods for accurate HIPPS simulations for
systems with Paleogene wells, or similar well behavior. Current methods are too
conservative and lead to:



Faster than necessary short-duration HIPPS valve response times
Longer than necessary fully rated sections upstream of HIPPS
Longer than necessary reinforced sections downstream of HIPPS to protect against
hydrate plug risk
 Inaccurate setting of HIPPS trigger pressure and MAOP of the flowline downstream
of HIPPS
This can lead to HIPPS systems that are not fit for purpose and not cost efficient.
SCOPE OF WORK:
1. With DeepStar Participants, agree on HIPPS architecture for study. This will likely
include 2 identical wells with identical reservoir models, a fracture definition in the
near wellbore region, wells co-mingled to a single flowline, flowline and SCR to a
floater.
2. With DeepStar Participants, agree on the design basis for the study, including
reservoir properties, fluid properties, fracture properties, flow rates, pressures, sizes
and target MAOP of elements in the system, etc.
3. With DeepStar Participants, agree on a detailed work scope and table of contents for
the final report. Develop a final cost estimate and schedule for the work.
4. Perform steady state and dynamic simulation of the system. Recommend best HIPPS
location, HIPPS trigger pressure, MAOP of flowlines, length of reinforced section.
5. Compare results with the high-fidelity rock model with simple reservoir boundary
condition methods.
6. Develop high-level guidelines for HIPPS modeling for Paleogene wells.
7. With Technical Champion, manage project, call for working sessions as required.
Prepare quarterly updates for the Flow Assurance Committee.
ANTICIPATED DELIVERABLES:
Final report which includes:
 Technical package explaining simulations and results
 OLGA models
 HIPPS guidelines
 Recommendation for additional work
PROJECT VALUE:



Cost reduction on the order of millions of dollars per HIPPS system
Increased production through more efficient design with less downtime
Improved reliability and uncertainty reduction. This is very important for a safety
critical system
PROJECT ESTIMATED COST AND SCHEDULE RATIONALE:
The project is estimated to take 5 man-months of effort executed over a period of 6 months.
A high level cost breakdown is as follows:
1)
2)
3)
4)
Develop design basis, architecture, and detailed scope
Build OLGA and Near-Wellbore ROCX models
Run Cases, interpret results, and develop guidelines
Project management, attend meetings, presentations
$40K
$40K
$80K
$25K
5) Write a detailed report, summarizing the findings
PROJECT TOTAL ESTIMATED COST IN US$:
$40K
$225K
$225,000
DeepStar Phase XI CTR Project Proposal
CTR No.:
CTR Title:
CTR O
Kinetic Hydrate Inhibitor (KHI) Recovery
from Aqueous Solutions Containing MEG
Ross Anderson
Hydrafact Ltd.
+44(0) 131 449 7472
Submitted by: (include name, company, phone & email)
Ross. Anderson@hydrafact.com
Ross Anderson
Hydrafact Ltd.
+44(0) 131 449 7472
Technical Champion: (name, company, phone, E-mail)
Ross. Anderson@hydrafact.com
Technical Committee: (Geosciences, Regulatory, Flow
Flow Assurance
Assurance, Subsea Sys., Floating Sys., Drilling &
Completion, Reservoir Eng., Metocean, or Systems Eng.)
Est. Duration of CTR Given in Months:
18 months
PROJECT ABSTRACT/OBJECTIVE:
The main objective of the project is to develop a technique for recovering KHI from aqueous
solutions containing MEG. This will facilitate using a combination of MEG+KHI, reducing the
amount of MEG required and/or extending the production life of a reservoir. The separation
of KHI from MEG stream will allow efficient re-generation and re-use of MEG. The recovered
KHI could also be potentially re-used, at least partially.
BACKGROUND AND BUSINESS INCENTIVE TO INVEST:
Mono-Ethylene-Glycol (MEG) is widely used in the industry for preventing gas hydrate
problems. MEG is generally regenerated in MEG Regeneration Units (MRU) and re-used.
Kinetic Hydrate Inhibitors (KHIs) are also becoming popular. A combination of MEG and KHI
is an option when the degree of subcooling is high and KHI on its own cannot prevent
hydrate formation. It is also known that in many cases 1 wt% KHI can provide inhibition
equivalent to >30 wt% MEG. Therefore, it should be possible to combine KHI and MEG to
reduce the amount of MEG required for high water cut systems, hence extending the life of
the reservoir. However, as MEG is normally re-generated in high temperature reactors, the
presence of high molecular weight polymers in KHI could cause serious problems in MRU.
In this project we will develop a technique for separating KHI from aqueous MEG solutions,
allowing conventional MEG regeneration and potential re-use of part of KHI. This will allow
combining MEG and KHI, hence reducing the volume of inhibitor required significantly and
extending the life of reservoirs as the existing MEG delivery system can cope with higher
water cuts.
SCOPE OF WORK:
1. Developing chemical technique in separating base polymer from aqueous MEG
solutions
2. Simulating MEG regeneration using an existing Ebulliometer, measuring the amount
of polymer deposited
3. Evaluating hydrate inhibition characteristics of recovered KHI
4. Re-combining base polymer and evaluating the hydrate prevention characteristics
5. Applying the above techniques to various commercial KHI formulations
ANTICIPATED DELIVERABLES:
A detailed technical report which documents the results of this work program, in addition to
monthly status reports and quarterly presentations.
PROJECT VALUE:
Cost:
Personnel:
Staff time
$156k
Materials /
Equipment:
Consumable materials, chemicals, parts, etc.
$30k
Facility:
Test facility costs (modifying the existing VLE and other
existing set up to meet the project’s requirements)
$20k
PROJECT ESTIMATED COST AND SCHEDULE RATIONALE:
9 Months:
Developing the technique
3 Months:
Simulating MEG regeneration using an existing Ebulliometer
3 Months:
Evaluating hydrate inhibition characteristics of recovered KHI, Re-combining
base polymer and evaluating the hydrate prevention characteristics
3 Months:
Applying the above techniques to various commercial KHI formulations
Schedule (sequential activities):
PROJECT TOTAL ESTIMATED COST IN US$:
$206,000
CTR 10205 is the first step toward comprehensive
understanding of parameters affecting slurry flow
CTR 10205
Model system 1
Model surface, model oil
Model system 2
Hydrate surface, model oil
Decouple thermodynamic
and surface chemistry effect
Effect of THI’s and AA’s on
hydrates and in underinhibited systems
Goal 1
Effect of THI’s and AA’s on
slurry properties separately
and in combination
Future?
Model system 3
Hydrate surface, complex
model oil (with synthetic
surfactants)
Synergy (?) of THI’s and AA’s
with surfactants for hydrate
surface
Field system
Hydrate surface, crude oil
Goal 2
THI’s and AA’s in presence of
natural surfactants
Effect of THI’s and AA’s on
slurry properties in presence
of natural surfactants
Simulations
Goal 3
Testing and improving
heuristics using CSM-HYK
OLGA
Rules of optimal dosage of
THI’s and AA’s for lowest
costing hydrate slurry flow
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