Topside Pipeline Design for Slug Attenuation and Increased Oil Production
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Date
2016
Authors
Ehinmowo, A.B
Ogunbiyi, A.T
Onuh, C.Y
Orodu, O.O
Denloye, A.O
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Research India Publications
Abstract
In oil and gas production system, slugging is frequently encountered when gas-liquid mixtures are transported through a common pipeline-riser system. This phenomenon usually manifests in significant fluctuation of flow and pressure which can impact the production system negatively. Topside choking is usually employed as a mitigation technique but with its attendant reduction in production capacity. The objective of this study therefore is to investigate the optimisation of topside pipeline diameter and choking for effective slug attenuation and optimised oil production. In this paper, a new method for slug flow attenuation has been
proposed. The potential of using effective topside pipelinediameter design for slug flow attenuation was theoretically shown. Numerical studies were also done to show that the concept can indeed be adapted for effective slug attenuation using an industrial software. Experimental studies were conducted in a 4” pipeline-riser system to validate the numerical and theoretical studies.The results showed that the optimised design of topside pipe diameter has potential for slug flow attenuation at larger valve opening which effectively translates to lower pressure and increased oil production. For the case studied, up to 49% reduction in the pressure drop across the topside choke valve was reported which practically implied increased flow
capacity. An optimum volume which satisfied size, system stability and production constraints was obtained.
Description
Staff Publications
Keywords
Severe slugging , Optimised pipeline diameter , Slug attenuation , Increased production
Citation
Ehinmowo, A.B [Et...al] Topside Pipeline Design for Slug Attenuation and Increased Oil Production. International Journal of Applied Engineering Research, Vol.11 (22)pp. 10782-10793.