Flow assurance analysis in Front End Engineering Design (FEED) of Subsea Flowline and Riser
Centre of Excellence in Marine and Offshore Engineering, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Research Article
World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2024, 22(02), 1326–1338
Article DOI: 10.30574/wjarr.2024.22.2.1506
Publication history:
Received on 07 April 2024; revised on 15 May 2024; accepted on 17 May 2024
Abstract:
Innovative subsea production systems (SPS) are required for deep-water oil and gas exploration in order to transport multiphase fluids—a complex mixture of water, gas, and oil—across long distances under challenging conditions. Significant technological challenges confront these systems, such as flow assurance, which ensures continuous fluid flow through pipelines, flowlines, and wells. Flow assurance issues can significantly impact production and incur costly downtime. This paper emphasizes the critical role of flow assurance analysis during the crucial Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) stage of SPS development. By utilizing industry-standard simulation tools like PIPESIM™, engineers can proactively identify and mitigate potential flow assurance problems that could hinder productivity. These analyses are crucial as FEED decisions significantly impact project cost-effectiveness. To illustrate the practical application of flow assurance principles, the paper presents a case study of a subsea architecture design for a specific manifold system. Considering operator requirements, flow assurance simulations were employed to guide critical decisions regarding material selection and optimal sizing of risers and flowlines. This demonstrates how flow assurance considerations during FEED directly influence cost-effective and optimized SPS design.
Keywords:
Flow-Assurance; Subsea; FEED; PIPESIM; Multiphase
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Copyright © 2024 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0