Hydrate Flow Assurance Modeling — Predicting Hydrate Formation in Oil & Gas Pipelines

Gas hydrate formation in oil and gas pipelines may cause flow assurance problems, especially in deep water subsea tiebacks. Agglomeration and bedding of hydrates particles and its deposition on pipe walls may form blockages that stop production. This presentation will cover the systems approach that we, at the Center for Hydrate Research of the Colorado School of Mines, have followed to design our mathematical models to predict gas hydrate formation in multiphase flow pipelines. First, I present a series of conceptual pictures that describe the main phenomena related to hydrate formation in oil and gas transportation pipelines. These phenomena have been observed in multiscale experiments performed at our laboratory facilities and in other collaborating facilities. An overview of the current models is presented, along with field case examples. The last section of this presentation is related to new physics that we are introducing to improve predictions of hydrate phenomena during transient shut-down and start-up operations. All content contained within this webinar is copyrighted by Luis Zerpa and its use and/or reproduction outside the portal requires express permission from Luis Zerpa.

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