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Marlim 3 Phase Subsea Separation System - Challenges and Innovative Solutions for Flow Assurance and Hydrate Prevention Strategy
Duarte, Daniel Greco (Petrobras) | De Melo, Alysson Vinicius (Petrobras) | Cardoso, Carlos A.B.R. (Petroleos Brasileiro S.A.) | Vianna, Flávio (Petrobras) | Irmann-Jacobsen, Tine (FMC Technologies) | McClimans, Ole Thomas (FMC Technologies) | Barta, Pavel (FMC Technologies) | Elamin, Zabia (FMC Technologies) | Moe, Randi (FMC Technologies) | Machado, Paulo (FMC Technologies)
Abstract This paper presents hydrate design premises established to reach the finaldesign and operational philosophy for the 3 phase subsea separation system, also known as Marlim SSAO. The main purpose of this pilot station is toseparate the produced water and reinject it into reservoir for pressure supportwhile routing the oil and gas to topside. Since the subsea process station handles multiphase flow where gas and freewater are present, and the system is exposed to low temperatures by the ambientcold sea water, a good strategy to avoid hydrate formation is necessary. Thehydrate strategy must be incorporated as a part of the total system design andshall handle all critical operational scenarios as shut-down and start-ups. Thehydrate strategy is closely linked to the temperature control and theevaluation of need for thermal insulation of the system. Temperature control isalso important in the system because of high sensitivity in fluid properties. General thermal insulation verification analysis and detailed studies of coldspots are required. Real fluid testing was included in order to better evaluatethe hydrate potential. The Marlim SSAO, as an integrated part of a field system from subsea wells totopside, is divided into several parts for the facilitation of the flowassurance and the hydrate prevention strategy: Multiphase lines, water linesand water injection system. The hydrate prevention is very challenging becauseof several open connections between the multiphase lines and the water lines. Hence, usual means as MEG inhibition and thermal insulation have not beenenough to ensure the hydrate prevention strategy and new strategies have beendeveloped. It has been necessary to challenge the strategies in every part ofthe system. The results of the work methodology and the analysis executed indicated thatMarlim SSAO is a safe system to operate from a flow assurance and hydrateprevention point of view. The material presented in here intends to establish akey reference for preservation design of 3 phase subsea separation systems. Itapplies for future generations of these kinds of equipments. Introduction The Marlim SSAO is a subsea processing pilot station which has been installedin the Campos Basin off the coast of Brazil. The objective is to separate mostof the water from the production stream and re-inject it into the reservoir forpressure support while transporting the oil and gas to topside. The SSAO isinstalled at a water depth of 876 m, 341 m from the production wellhead and2100 m from the injection wellhead. The hydrocarbons will be sent to thetopside facilities 2400 m (riser and flowline length) from the SSAO. This paper describes the challenges and innovative solutions on flow assuranceand hydrate prevention strategy for the Marlim SSAO. This includes the mainphilosophy, the preservation of the station in different operational modes, evaluations of identified risks, and calculations and analysis performed tosupport the strategy.
- South America > Brazil (0.68)
- North America > United States > Texas (0.28)
- Europe > Norway > Norwegian Sea (0.24)
- Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)
- Water & Waste Management > Water Management > Lifecycle > Disposal/Injection (0.70)
- South America > Brazil > Campos Basin (0.99)
- South America > Brazil > Rio de Janeiro > South Atlantic Ocean > Campos Basin > Marlim Field > Macae Formation (0.98)
- South America > Brazil > Rio de Janeiro > South Atlantic Ocean > Campos Basin > Marlim Field > Lago Feia Formation (0.98)
- Production and Well Operations > Production Chemistry, Metallurgy and Biology > Inhibition and remediation of hydrates, scale, paraffin / wax and asphaltene (1.00)
- Facilities Design, Construction and Operation > Offshore Facilities and Subsea Systems > Subsea processing (1.00)
- Facilities Design, Construction and Operation > Flow Assurance > Hydrates (1.00)
Marlim 3 Phase Subsea Separation System: Subsea Process Design and Technology Qualification Program
Capela Moraes, Carlos Alberto (Petrobras) | da Silva, Fabricio Soares (Petrobras) | Marins, Luiz Philipe Martinez (Petrobras) | Monteiro, Andre Sampaio (Petrobras) | de Oliveira, Dennis Azevedo (Petrobras) | Pereira, Rafael Merenda (Petrobras) | Pereira, Rogerio da Silva (Petrobras) | Alves, Amadeu (Petrobras) | Raposo, Gelmirez Martins (Petrobras) | Orlowski, Rene (Petrobras) | Figueiredo, Laura | Folhadella, Heloisa (FMC Technologies) | Mikkelsen, Rene (FMC Technologies) | Kolbu, Jolstein (FMC Technologies) | McKenzie, Lachlan (FMC Technologies) | Elamin, Zabia M.F. (FMC Technologies) | McClimans, Ole Thomas (FMC Technologies)
When we look into the conception of Marlim SSAO Pilot System, it is easy to realize that, in spite of the consideration of the sound and well known principles of gravity and cyclonic separation, it makes use of unconventional technologies with no previous operating experience even in topside installations, as is the case of the harp gas-liquid separator and the oil-water pipe-separator. Even the two sets of de-oiling hydrocyclones, at first sight a conventional topside solution, is in fact not conventional, due to the use of stepwise chokes plus ejectors to control the reject flow. Besides the above mentioned considerations, sand management system is also considered an important issue in the project. This is due to two design conditions, the first one is the high amount of sand to be considered in the project (up to 100 mg/l) and the second one is the geometrical configuration of the system that makes use of a long horizontal - large aspect ratio - pipe-separator, mainly when the good engineering practices prescribe vertical and not horizontal separators for handling high sand loads. Taking into consideration the above mentioned conditions of the Marlim SSAO Pilot System, an extensive process Technical Qualification Program was planned and executed in order to increase the reliability of the solutions adopted in the project. The tests were planned so as to represent the actual conditions as accurately as feasible for the operation of the system.
- Europe (0.70)
- South America > Brazil (0.69)
- North America > United States > Texas (0.47)
- Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)
- Water & Waste Management > Water Management > Lifecycle > Treatment (0.47)
- South America > Brazil > Rio de Janeiro > South Atlantic Ocean > Campos Basin > Marlim Field > Macae Formation (0.99)
- South America > Brazil > Rio de Janeiro > South Atlantic Ocean > Campos Basin > Marlim Field > Lago Feia Formation (0.99)
Abstract Ormen Lange Flow Assurance System (FAS) is to date the most advanced real time and simulation support system for operators, flow assurance engineers and management. The system is delivered by FMC Technologies with SPT Group and Prediktor as sub-suppliers. The Ormen Lange field is the largest gas sub-sea development of its kind with onshore processing facilities at the Nyhamna on the west-coast of Norway. Several flow assurance challenges must be taken care of to enable secure and stable production in deep water (down to 1100 m/ 3600 Feet), low temperature (-2°C/ 29F) at the seabed in addition to long distance (120 Km/75 Miles) to shore through rough sub-sea terrain. Such conditions highly expose the production system to potential flow assurance phenomena like hydrate formation, liquid holdup, water breakthrough etc.. Ormen Lange FAS represent a barrier breaking system and play an important role in production monitoring and operator support. The system includes the following modules:Virtual Flow Metering System (VFMS): Model generated values of flow rates (gas, condensate and water) as backup to physical multiphase meters, sensor surveillance and leakage detection. Pipeline Monitoring System (PMS): Model generated values of pipeline flowing conditions and onshore receiving facilities. MEG Injection and Monitoring System (MIMCS): Continuous MEG injection monitoring and optimization. Production Choke Control System (PCCS): Individual well production chokes control for overall field optimization. Formation Water Monitoring System: Monitoring and alarm generation when / if formation water breakthrough is indicated. The system is based on advanced usage of statistical process control. Based on practical experience gained in the period from December 2007 up until now, this paper focus on the systems potential of early detection of flow assurance problems, sensor and metering surveillance and how the system is being used to solve practical day to day operational challenges. During the last years, the status of the Ormen Lange development project has been reported during OTC, as well as in other conferences and in papers, covering a multitude of disciplines and methods in order to finalize such a grand challenge. In 2007 there was a dedicated technical session for the Ormen Lange development as part of the OTC program, /1/, /2/, /3/, /4/, /5/, /6/ and /7/.
- Europe > Norway (1.00)
- North America > United States > Texas > Coleman County (0.24)
- North America > United States > Texas > Harris County > Houston (0.15)
- Europe > Norway > Norwegian Sea > Møre Basin > PL 442 > Block 6305/8 > Ormen Lange Field > Springar Formation (0.99)
- Europe > Norway > Norwegian Sea > Møre Basin > PL 442 > Block 6305/8 > Ormen Lange Field > Egga Formation (0.99)
- Europe > Norway > Norwegian Sea > Møre Basin > PL 442 > Block 6305/6 > Ormen Lange Field > Springar Formation (0.99)
- (21 more...)
Investigation of a Subsea Separation Station Operating Envelope Using Subsurface-to-Topsides Integrated Dynamic Simulations
Costa, David (Total) | Vu, Van Khoi (Total) | Barnay, Gilles Charles (Total) | Larrey, Dominique (Total) | McClimans, Ole Thomas (FMC Technologies) | Sund, Eirik Bjerve (Kongsberg Maritime)
Abstract TOTAL and FMC Technologies have performed a technology evaluation of a possible gas/liquid separation system for West Africa (1500 - 2000 m WD). The production system includes one separator station with combined flow from two fields, the subsea separator/booster station will have a capacity of 110 000 bpd liquid and 2.5 MSm3/d associated gas. A method has been devised by FMC Technologies and Kongberg Maritime (former Fantoft Process Technologies) to check the system response to transient conditions of a subsea gas/liquid separation system for the selected field. An integrated dynamic model including wells, flowlines, subsea separation unit and risers have allowed investigating the system response to a wide range of operating conditions such as: well flow variations, pressure variations, slugging, shut-down followed by the depressurization and liquid evacuation, start-up, accidental stop of one pump, gas blocked outlet and gas blow by. This approach is a first as in previous projects the flowlines, subsea separation and risers were simulated independently for transient conditions and did not take into account any potential interactions between the wells, flowlines, separator/booster and risers. The design of the subsea separator/booster station has been validated as well as its ability to handle a whole range of transient operating conditions and the operability of the subsea gas/liquid separation has been checked. This methodology is easily transferable to other deep or ultra-deep fields with subsea equipment including control loops in interaction with the flowlines and/or the risers. Introduction Subsea gas/liquid separation is an attractive and economical solution to develop deep offshore fields producing fluid without wax and for which gas lift alone is neither not suitable nor sufficient for activation. Such scheme allows the following: - To simplify the gathering system (one flowline only instead of the classical loop to collect well effluent, hydrate risk during shut down being mitigated by depressurisation), - To increase the production rate in low energy reservoir by adding subsea liquid pumping, simplifying also topsides (no gas lift). Subsea separation after many years of development and pilot testing is today entering into a more commercial product phase since the award of the Tordis Subsea Separation Boosting and Injection (SSBI) contract in 2005 [1] to be installed at 200 meters water depth in 2007. For other types / enhanced performances of subsea separation system and for applications into deeper waters (eg 1500 - 2000m), there is no fully field proven system existing. Hence, it is necessary to have a robust design in order to enhance the availability compared to surface systems and to reduce to the minimum manu al remote intervention from topsides (to limit wear on equipment). During the Girassol (Angola) deep offshore project [2], operated by TOTAL, with conventional subsea production loops (no subsea processing), OLGA dynamic multiphase flow simulator was used.
- Africa (0.88)
- North America > United States > Texas (0.46)
- North America > Canada > Alberta > Woodlands County (0.24)