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Abstract
Wax, hydrates, and asphaltenes are the three major threats to
flow assurance that must be assessed by design teams. These
potential problems can dramatically change system selection
and operational procedures. If one of them is discovered after
the system is under construction or worse after first oil then
the whole project may be at risk. Each solid must be well
understood by engineers so they can neutralize the threats to
system uptime that result from poor solids management. This
paper focuses on the problems posed by, and the system
implications of, wax, hydrates, and asphaltenes.
Introduction
Flow assurance in subsea systems focuses on preventing solid
deposits from blocking the flow path. The principle solids of
concern are wax and hydrates.
Sometimes scale and
asphaltenes are also a concern. For a given reservoir fluid
these solids precipitate at certain combinations of pressure and
temperature. Precipitated solids are often carried downstream
slurried in the fluid; however precipitated solids can also
deposit on the walls of the production equipment, which
ultimately causes plugging and flow stoppage. Control of this
blockage is the essence of flow assurance. Solids control
strategies involve keeping the system pressure and
temperature in a region where the solids are unstable
(thermodynamic control) or controlling the conditions of
solids formation so that deposits do not form (kinetic control)
or allowing solids to deposit, then periodically removing them
(mechanical control).
This paper focuses on the thermodynamic and kinetic
behavior of wax, hydrates and asphaltenes in reservoir fluids.
The emphasis is on solids behavior in subsea systems. So, for
each solid we describe the phase envelope, rate of solid
formation and system implications.
We also describe
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dm
dC
= Dm A
dt
dr
(1)
dm
C T
= Dm A
dt
T r
(2)
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P = 4 y
wall
L
D
(3)
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CII =
S + As
R + Ar
(4)
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deposition area
percentage of aromatics in the oil.
percentage of asphaltenes
concentration of wax
colloidal instability index
diameter of the pipe
molecular diffusion constant
length of the pipe
mass of deposit
percentage of resins
radial position
percentage of saturates
pressure drop
density of wax
yield stress
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Baker Petrolite, Shell Deepwater
Development and Petrel Consulting for encouraging this
collaboration and for allowing publication.
References
1
2
3
4
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C 26 - 1 4 .6 3 9
C 27 - 1 5 .2 4 4
C 28 - 1 5 .8 1 4
C 29 - 1 6 .3 7 8
C 30 - 1 6 .9 2 1
C 31 - 1 7 .4 4 3
C 32 - 1 7 .9 5 5
C 33 - 1 8 .4 4 8
C 34 - 1 8 .9 3 0
C 35 - 1 9 .4 1 0
C 36 - 1 9 .8 6 4
C 37 - 2 0 .3 1 2
C 24 - 1 3 .3 7 3
C 25 - 1 4 .0 2 2
C 22 - 1 2 .0 0 9
2 0 .0 0
C 23 - 1 2 .7 0 4
C 20 - 1 0 .5 3 3
C 21 - 1 1 .2 8 5
4 0 .0 0
C 18 - 8 .9 2 4
6 0 .0 0
C 19 - 9 .7 4 8
8 0 .0 0
C 16 - 7 .1 3 6
mV
1 0 0 .0 0
C 17 - 8 .0 5 1
1 2 0 .0 0
C 14 - 5 .1 1 5
1 4 0 .0 0
C 15 - 6 .1 6 2
C 12 - 2 .6 8 1
1 6 0 .0 0
C 13 - 3 .9 6 9
C 10 - 0 .7 1 3
1 8 0 .0 0
C 11 - 1 .3 7 1
S ta cke d C h ro m a to g ra m s
2 0 0 .0 0
0 .0 0
0 .0 0
2 .0 0
4 .0 0
6 .0 0
8 .0 0
1 0 .0 0
1 2 .0 0
1 4 .0 0
1 6 .0 0
1 8 .0 0
2 0 .0 0
2 2 .0 0
2 4 .0 0
2 6 .0 0
2 8 .0 0
3 0 .0 0
M in u te s
Figure 1: Chromatogram of a waxy crude oil (top) and an asphaltic crude (bottom)
7000
Pressure (psia)
6000
5000
4000
Hydrate
Free
Region
Stable Hydrate
Region
3000
2000
1000
0
30
40
50
60
70
Temperature (F)
Figure 2: Hydrate stability curve for a typical GOM gas condensate
80
90
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5000
Methane
5 mol% CO2 in Methane
Pressure (psia)
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
30
40
50
60
70
80
Temperature (F)
Figure 3: Effect of gas composition on hydrate stability
5000
4000
Pressure (psia)
2000
1000
0
30
35
40
45
50
55
Temperature (F)
60
65
70
75
10
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20 wt% NaCl
3000
20 wt% MeOH
Pressure (psia)
20 wt% MEG
20 wt% TEG
2000
No Inhibitor
1000
0
30
40
50
60
Temperature (F)
N
S
OH
N
S
70
80
11
Solubility
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Psat
1000
2000
3000
Pressure (psi)
Ponset
4000
5000
6000