Ya - Today's Top 30 Flow Assurance Technologies - Where Do They Stand

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Today's Top 30 Flow Assurance Technologies: Where Do They Stand?

Phaneendra Kondapi, FMC Technologies, Houston, Texas, USA
Randi Moe, FMC Technologies, Asker, Norway

Copyright 2013, Offshore Technology Conference

This paper was prepared for presentation at the Offshore Technology Conference held in Houston, Texas, USA, 69 May 2013.

This paper was selected for presentation by an OTC program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
reviewed by the Offshore Technology Conference and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the Offshore Technology Conference, its
officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of the Offshore Technology Conference is prohibited. Permission to
reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of OTC copyright.

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to provide conclusions from an extensive evaluation of all known state-of-the art flow assurance
methodologies. The various technologies were assessed by maturity level (i.e. embryonic, emerging, matured or aging),
applicability, solution type and their effectivity. Effectivity is a function of ease of application, probability of success and
cost effectiveness. Within this study, the solutions were classified into thermal, chemical, hardware, operating and software
technologies.

Thirty different existing and developing flow assurance technologies were considered for this study with the aim to
summarize the current state of technology and identify potential areas for improvement. The selected technologies are
regarded as major enhancers and perceived to have a great impact on both cost effectiveness and production.

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Flow Assurance Technology Areas & Solution Types

Thirty flow assurance technologies considered in this study are categorized into five different solution types such as
1. Thermal
2. Chemical
3. Hardware
4. Operating and
5. Software technologies.

These are provided in the following table:

Table 1: Various Flow Assurance Technology Areas and Solution Types

Thermal Chemical
1. Thermal Insulation
2. Direct Electric Heating (DEH)
3. Electrically Heated Pipe-In-Pipe
4. Cold Flow
5. Phase Changing Materials
1. Thermodynamic Hydrate Inhibitors (TDI)
2. Low Dosage Hydrate Inhibitors (LDHI)
3. Defoamers
4. Asphaltene Inhibitors
5. Paraffin Inhibitors
6. Scale Inhibitors
7. H
2
S Scavengers
8. Chemical Demulsifiers
9. Drag Reducing Agents
Hardware Operating
1. Subsea Separation
2. Subsea Boosting
3. Subsea Compression
4. Subsea Coolers
5. Pipe-In-Pipe
6. Bundles
7. Coiled-Tubing Tractor
8. Desander
9. Erosion Probe
10. ASD - Acoustic Sand Detector
11. Acoustic Leak Detection
1. Dead Oil / Hot Oil Flushing
2. Pigging
3. Depressurization
4. Gas Sweeping

Software
1. Real-Time Flow Assurance Advice Software

Technology Maturity Levels

The flow assurance technologies have been assessed into four different maturity levels and these levels, in order from least to
most developed, are:
1. Embryonic
2. Emerging
3. Matured
4. Aging

Embryonic technologies are relatively new and still in the experimental or qualification stage. These embryonic flow
assurance technologies are considered to be in research and development stage. They have not been validated at the industry
scale and need to be qualified before being tested for a commercial application.

Emerging technologies are those that are growing and yet going though some developments. These technologies are under
tremendous growth and either currently being applied in industry or going through qualification testing process. Some of
these emerging technologies are facing some challenges and need to be extensively tested under broader applications.

Matured technologies are well established technologies and have been around for a decade or longer in the fields. These
technologies are considered standard for most field applications and are widely available in the market from several
suppliers. Some of the technologies still have opportunity to go through incremental improvements and some have room to
be developed and optimized further into enhanced environmental, reduced exposure and other better processes.
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Aging technologies have been around for decades and most likely could have reached a limitation in use for some
applications. These technologies have little scope for advancement and some of them are in the process of being replaced by
newer or other technologies that are either more economical or environmentally friendly. These aging technologies may be
facing restrictions posed by new environment regulations and also have less appeal because challenging offshore conditions
are rendering this technology less effective. Research and development efforts are not being focused on these areas and some
hazardous elements are also driving the reduction of their use.

Summary of Flow Assurance Technologies Review

Table 2 summarizes review of various flow assurance technologies studied in this paper based on applicability, maturity level
and solution type.

Table 2: Thirty Different Flow Assurance Technology Areas - Review

No
Flow Assurance
Technology Areas
Applicability
Maturity Level
Solution
Type
Embryonic Emerging Matured Aging
1 Thermal Insulation Hydrates prevention x X x Thermal
Wax prevention X
2 Direct Electric Heating Hydrates prevention x X Thermal
Wax prevention X
Plug removal X
3
Electrically Heated Pipe-in-
Pipe
Hydrates/Wax prevention X Thermal
4 Cold Flow Hydrates/Wax prevention X Thermal
5 Phase Changing Materials Hydrates prevention X Thermal
6 TDI Chemicals Chemical
Methanol
Hydrate prevention
Plug removal
X
Ethanol Hydrate prevention X

Mono Ethylene Glycol
(MEG)
Hydrate prevention
Plug removal
X
7 LDHI Chemicals Hydrate prevention Chemical

Kinetic Hydrate Inhibitors
(KHIs)
X

Anti Agglomerants
(AAs)
X
8 Defoamers Foaming X Chemical
9 Asphaltene inhibitors Asphaltenes X Chemical
10 Paraffin inhibitors Paraffins/wax X Chemical
11 Scale Inhibitors Scaling X Chemical
12 H2S Scavenging Corrosion X Chemical
13 Chemical Demulsifiers To avoid stable emulsions X Chemical
14 Drag Reducing Agents Pressure drop X Chemical
15 Subsea Separation
Hydrate prevention
Slug prevention
Increased Oil Recovery
Hardware
Gas-Liquid X
Water removal X
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16 Boosting
Pressure drop
Slugging
X Hardware
17 Compression
Minimum Flow
Improved production
X Hardware
18 Subsea Coolers
Corrosion
Hydrate prevention
X Hardware
19 Pipe-in-Pipe Hydrates/Wax prevention X Hardware
20 Bundles Flow Assurance Issues X Hardware
21 Coiled-tubing Tractor Hydrate remediation X Hardware
22 Desander
Erosion
Prevent sand accumulation
X Hardware
23 Erosion probe Erosion rate measurement X Hardware
24
ASD - acoustic sand
detector
Measuring sand production X Hardware
25 Accoustic Detection Leak Detection X X Hardware
26 Dead oil/Hot oil flushing Hydrate prevention X Operating
27 Pigging
Wax removal
Slugging
X Operating
28 Depressurization
Hydrate prevention
Plug removal
X Operating
29 Gas Sweeping Hydrate prevention X Operating
30 Real-time FAS software FA issues warnings X Software

Analysis of Some Key Flow Assurance Technologies

A few selected flow assurance technology areas have been described in detail below.

Thermal Insulation

Technology Maturity: Matured

The technology is matured yet industry is looking for high performance insulation materials that can withstand deep water
conditions. Materials that may have been sufficient at 3,000 to 4,000 ft water depths are not necessarily suitable for deeper
water depths and failures could be magnified. Some applications have been used for many years and are regarded as field
proven. Yet new technologies are still growing in search of better ways to prevent hydrate and wax formations.

Application of Technology

Thermal Insulation has been used in many offshore operations throughout the world and has been supplied by various
suppliers around the world. The use of foamed polypropylene as a subsea insulation system was developed in the mid
eighties. The system has since then been used as thermal insulation on major projects in the North Sea and Gulf of Mexico
(Ref 1). Many of the Gulf of Mexico projects developed in 2,000-7,600 ft water depth have subsea equipment encased with
epoxy-based syntactic insulation and silicone-based syntactic insulation (Ref 2).

Figure 1. Silicone-based Syntactic Insulation
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Impact on Cost Effectiveness, Exploration and Production Activities
Maintains temperature of a production stream to prevent the formation of gas hydrates
Extends cool down period after shutdown by delaying hydrate formation and allows time for remediation
Reduces or mitigates wax deposits in the flow lines

Direct Electric Heating (DEH) Technology

Technology Maturity: Matured/Growing

DEH technology is matured for shallow water applications and pipelines that are shorter than 50 km but for risers it is still a
growing technology. This technology is still a challenge for plug removal as it is being currently investigated for risk factors
such as local pressure buildup and pipe rupture. The technology needs to be extensively tested for deep water applications
and longer pipelines, risers and manifolds.


Current DEH applications focus on hydrates. DEH can keep fluid temperatures above the hydrate formation temperature and
above the Wax Appearance Temperature (WAT). DEH has been mostly applied in North Sea fields. The fields that have
been using DEH open loop technology are Statoil Asgard, Huldra, Kristin, Urd, Tyrihans, Alve, Ormen Lange, Morvin, BP
Idun and Skarv. Other fields using closed loop technology are Shell Serrano and Oregano, Nakika and Habanero.

Active control of flowline operating temperatures
Eliminate or reduce inhibitor consumption rates
Potential tool for hydrate remediation (field-specific)
Supplement or replace other hydrate management strategies: depressurization, dead oil circulation, etc.
Allow for quick restart after a shutdown, no need for remediation actions; depressurization, dead oil circulation,
etc.
Reduce capital expenses (CAPEX) by use of single flowline
High reliability leading to reduced maintenance costs

Low Dosage Hydrate Inhibitors (LDHI)


This technology was established as a breakthrough when LDHI chemicals came available as a substitute for methanol. First
LDHI product was marketed in 1998 and these products have been used in over 100 projects worldwide however some
countries do not allow the use of these chemicals due to toxicity, e.g. Norwegian section of the North Sea. Although now a
prevalent chemical technology, LDHIs are currently under further development to address some areas such as offshore
regulations, corrosion, temperature, water cut, and other factors.


LDHIs have been used to mitigate hydrates for many offshore operations throughout the world. Some of the fields that have
used LDHI around the world are in Argentina, France, South-Pars fields in Iran, Dolphin in offshore Qatar, some oil fields in
Gulf of Guinea, and some gas/condensate fields in Persian Gulf and in North Sea.


Requires lower dosage rates than thermodynamic hydrate inhibitors such as methanol and MEG. Lower
dosage rates decrease the chemical usage volume and operating expenses (OPEX) from lower chemical
costs.
Allows for higher production rates where methanol or MEG injection rate is limited by pumping capacity
Enables faster start-up times for systems with many tiebacks
Avoids excessive methanol content in the oil and its problems that methanol poses to refining operations
Reduces chemical storage of methanol or MEG at processing facility, especially for offshore platforms
Uses smaller pumps and chemical injection line capacities than with thermodynamic hydrate inhibitors
such as methanol and MEG
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Reduces flammability risk associated with methanol storage
Anti-agglomerate chemistries can eliminate the need for methanol or MEG injection prior to an extended
shut-in
Kinetic hydrate inhibitor chemistries can reduce the methanol / MEG injection rate when used together,
reducing OPEX costs
LDHI can reduce the insulation requirement and save CAPEX costs

Defoamers


Different types of defoamers have been developed over a long period to cater to various operational scenarios. Work is being
done to advance the capability of defoamer chemicals to increase their effectiveness at lower injection rates, implementation
of control loops in gas processing plants that automatically increase the defoamer injection rate when differential pressures in
amine contact towers exceed a threshold, defoamer development needs to focus on limiting the reduction in efficiency of
mass transfer with amine solutions used in contact towers such as methyl diethanolamine, develop defoamer chemistries that
do not easily adsorb onto activated carbon and develop defoamer products that do not adsorb onto iron sulfide particles so to
prevent the plugging of activated carbon beds and mechanical filters (Ref 3).


Defoamers have been used for onshore operations in the U.S. and Canada along with offshore applications. A crude oil
antifoam product developed for BC-10 in Brasil is the first in the industry that is qualified for a deepwater project which
utilizes both subsea separation and boosting (Ref 4). Defoamers have demonstrated effective chemical performance and cost
savings with chemical programs using other treatments such as LDHIs and wax inhibitors.

Impacts to Cost Effectiveness, Exploration and Production Activities

Reduces oil or gas condensate droplets in the gas stream
Makes the separator operate more efficiently
Increases oil and gas production rates
Decreased deposit formation and hence less downtime and less cleaning costs
Prevents interrupted operations and unplanned shut-downs
Reduces pump cavitations

Asphaltene Inhibitors


Asphaltene inhibitor products have been developed to improve effectiveness in offshore applications and with wide range of
asphaltene contents from less than 1% to 5% by weight. Also improvements needed for deepwater umbilical deployment that
have very low viscosities, low pour points, high flash pour points, long-term hot and cold temperature stabilities without
formation of insoluble fines. Asphaltene inhibitor products are being developed with solvents that are less hazardous to the
environment such as xylene and toluene. Asphaltene inhibitor chemistries are also being developed to be more biodegradable
(Ref 5).


Asphaltene inhibitors have been applied throughout the world in onshore and offshore producing fields. Applications
include wells with 17% asphaltene content in oil, wells with incompatible crude oil commingled, wells which have
experienced sharp productivity decline caused by formation damage (Ref 6).


Keeps tubing and pipelines free of asphaltene blockages, allowing for full production capacity
Can reduce asphaltene deposition when two incompatible oils are mixed
Can reduce asphaltene flocculation in mixture of crude oil and injected gas
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Can eliminate the formation of emulsions because asphaltenes act as emulsifying solids that accumulate at
the oil and water interface
Asphaltene squeezes can prevent formation damage from asphaltene deposits and this can increase the
productivity index of the reservoir
Reduces costly interventions associated with removal of asphaltene deposits through mechanical or solvent
soaking techniques
Reduces the use of large xylene or toluene volumes for dissolving asphaltene deposits and hence reduces
remediation costs

Paraffin Inhibitors


Paraffin inhibitor products have been used since at least the early 1990s (Ref 7). The chemical technology associated with
paraffin inhibitor products is still being developed to improve products with lower pour points so that the paraffin inhibitors
can be stored in colder regions such as the arctic, lower product viscosities at high pressures and lower temperatures for lower
pumping or umbilical transport requirements in ultra deepwater and arctic applications, improve solution phase stability of
paraffin inhibitor products so that umbilical line failures can be prevented at high pressures and low temperatures (Ref 8),
improve effectiveness for crude oils with high wax contents (>10% wax) and improve environmental friendliness of paraffin
inhibitor chemistries.


Paraffin inhibitors have been applied throughout the world in onshore and offshore producing pipelines. Paraffin inhibitor
was applied to a field in offshore Norway with three wells to effectively treat the produced well with wax deposition as well
as to meet the environmental requirements set forth by Norwegian Pollution Control Authority. The paraffin inhibitor
inhibited 95% of the wax and reduced the pour point down to 30F in successfully treating two gas-condensate wells in
offshore Gulf of Mexico.


Keeps pipelines and tubing strings clear of wax plugs that reduce production flowrates
Prevents higher pressure drops that result from wax deposits
Reduces the frequency that the pipeline needs to be pigged to remove wax
Reduces the frequency of wax removal interventions such as coiled tubing, mechanical removal / scraping,
and solvent soaks. Reduces occurrences of interventions means lower OPEX.
Reduces wax deposition for lower flowrate operations and can extend production life
Eliminating wax deposits along the pipeline can reduce the severity of corrosion and scale because the
precipitated wax provides a surface for bacteria bio-films and mineral scale to adhere to
Reduces pad layers of waxy solids that accumulate at the oil and water interface in separator vessels
May reduce basic sediment and water (BS&W) and separations issues associated with settled wax solids
and wax-induced emulsions. Reducing the BS&W may enable an unsalable crude oil to meet its contract
requirements so that it can be sold.
Enables cold static oil to resume flow easier during restart because the pour point and gel yield strength
will be reduced
Reduces oil viscosities for waxy crudes flowing at low temperatures
Prevents the oil from gelling during shutdown
Save OPEX by not having to inject diluents (xylene, diesel, kerosene, etc.) to keep the crude oil above the
pour point

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Scale Inhibitors


Scale inhibitor chemistry is a matured technology but their treatment applications are still evolving. For instance, scale
inhibitors can now be applied in solid form with proppant solids during hydraulic fracturing processes (Ref 9). The scale
inhibitor delivery system combines a scale inhibitor treatment with the hydraulic fracturing fluid during the fracturing
process. The retention and release performance of scale inhibitors for down-hole formation squeezes is still being improved
to maximize treatment lifetimes (Ref 9). Another late development is an on-line monitoring system that allows operators to
determine where scale deposition is occurring in the system.

Some of the technology gaps are that scale inhibitor squeeze applications must be designed to minimize the change in
formation wettability so that the squeeze treatments can be more effective for longer periods of time, develop scale inhibitor
products that are capable of treating multiple types of scale that co-precipitate, develop scale inhibitor products that are
compatible in produced waters having relatively higher concentrations of dissolved solids such as calcium and develop scale
inhibitor products that work well when co-injected down-hole with other chemical products such as corrosion inhibitor,
LDHI, foamer, etc. This would reduce CAPEX by eliminating the need to have a single down-hole chemical injection line
dedicated to scale inhibitor injection.


Scale inhibitors can be applied onshore and offshore, and in cold and warm environments. The liquid scale inhibitor is
compatible with the hydraulic fracturing fluid and has been proven successful in various field applications such as: North
Slope in Alaska, North Sea, and Permian Basin. Scale inhibitors have been used in Western Siberia and West Africa.

Impacts on Cost Effectiveness, Exploration and Production Activities

Threshold scale inhibitors can save on treatment costs over basic dilution methods such as fresh water
dilution because they are effective at low concentrations
Scale inhibitors save on OPEX because they reduce scale deposition rates and these will reduce the
intervention occurrences that involve tubing retrieval or acid soaks.
Scale inhibitors can lessen the impact of other flow assurance issues by minimizing the pipe surface
deposits available for waxes, hydrate, and asphaltenes to adhere to.
Continuous down-hole injection or formation squeezing of scale inhibitor can protect down-hole
equipment, such as ESPs, that are downstream of large pressure differentials. Large pressure drops in the
well stimulate scale precipitation.
Scale inhibitor treatments can be applied with fracture stimulation techniques to ensure that scale
precipitation is prevented from occurring in the propped fractures within the formation

H
2
S Scavenger


Hydrogen sulfide scavengers have been used for many years. During recent years, hydrogen sulfide scavenger technology has
expanded with many new materials coming on the market and others being discontinued. Heightened concerns about safety
and environmental impact associated with spent material disposal have prompted the introduction and use of many new
scavenger technologies. As environmental regulations have become stricter, a keen interest in identifying better and more
environmentally-acceptable H
2
S scavengers has emerged, generating a need for information on the application and
performance of these technologies (Ref 10).


H
2
S scavengers have been used for onshore and offshore operations in many fields. Some of the applications include the BP
Rhum field in North Sea where the produced gas has an H2S content of 10-20ppm and a CO2 content of 4-8.5%, and as such
is classified as both sour and corrosive.

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Improves the safety of facility personnel by reducing H
2
S concentrations down to safe levels
Helps prevent sour corrosion related to H
2
S pitting and sulfide stress cracking in system piping, vessels,
and equipment
Reduces risk of iron sulfide plugs
Reduces CAPEX by minimizing hardware replacement caused by metal loss
Lowers risk of well interventions for retrieving damaged hardware
Enables produced oil and gas to meet sales requirements
Reaction products from the H
2
S removal processes are easy to remove from the topside facility, piping and
other hardware
Reduces process equipment demands and OPEX because there will be less H
2
S to handle and remove
H
2
S scavenger products are available in water soluble and oil soluble form

Cold Flow Technology

Technology Maturity: Embryonic

Cold Flow Technology is still in the development stage and yet to be tested for a commercial application. Since the
technology is relatively new and not validated at industry scale, large scale testing and R&D efforts are still needed to bring
qualification of this technology before a field application can be planned. Development target is to implement in a large scale
pilot testing facility and validate technical challenges such as a) long distance transport of high fluid viscosity slurry with
high pressure drops and boosting capacity and b) high heat capacity because of more hydrate formation with high water cuts
and more crystallization heat.

Cold Flow technology (Ref 11-12) has since 2003 been subject to extensive testing in a laboratory program focused on real
oil systems. The project has now entered a demonstration phase, where the goal is to bring qualification of Cold Flow
technology to the position to apply in a field application. Another cold flow technology concept (Ref 13) is currently being
studied in a laboratory flow loop capable of simulating pipeline conditions. This flow loop study is a joint industry project
having confirmed support from four companies.


There are no oil and gas production fields that operate with Cold Flow technology at this time. This technology has been
modeled at the laboratory level thus far and companies are looking into combining the cold flow technology with other
subsea technologies such as separation and boosting.


Reduce CAPEX and OPEX on heating system hardware and operation
Reduce CAPEX on pipeline insulation
Reduce CAPEX on pipeline versus dual round trip pigging
Reduce OPEX on production chemical costs by reducing need for chemical injection
Reduce OPEX by reducing MEG regeneration needs
Enabling technology for ultra-long tie-backs
Reduced handling of bulk and specialty harmful chemicals
CAPEX and OPEX for topside processing facilities may be increased to process hydrate and wax slurries
Higher costs for subsea cooling systems and multiphase/liquid pumps may be anticipated

Flow Assurance Applicability

Hydrates:
Reduces risks of hydrate blockages in multiphase pipelines by preventing hydrate agglomeration
Higher salt content in the water reduces the slurry viscosity
Slugging:
Conversion of gas into hydrates reduces density gradient between different phases and this mitigates some
slugging issues
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Wax:
Solid seeds provide wax nucleation site within the flowing liquid phase, rather than the pipeline walls
Hydrate particles in the fast flowing liquid phase can rub against wax deposits along the pipeline

Subsea Separation

Technology Maturity: Emerging

Subsea Separation technology is growing at an increasing rate due to its huge potential to increase recoverable reserves and to
accelerate production. The challenges (Ref 14) that still exist for subsea separation in the further years are:
to achieve liquid-liquid separation and gas-liquid separation from heavy oils
to realize the optimum combination of pump acceptance criteria with respect to gas-liquid separator design
for heavy oil applications
cost and installation challenges and opportunities to reduce bulky and heavy equipment
disposal of the separated water
improving and maturing an efficient compact design


Subsea Separation projects have been installed in North Sea, GoM, West Africa and Brazil with many other subsea field
developments are in the process of considering Subsea Separation systems (Ref 15). The first pilot-separation system was
installed on Troll field in 1999 for liquid-liquid separation and in 2001 for gas-liquid separation. Projects that have been
delivered todate are:
Oil-Water Separation projects: Statoil Tordis and Petrobras Marlim
Gas-Liquid Separation projects: Shell Perdido, Shell BC-10 and Total Pazflor

Figure 2: Petrobras Marlim Subsea Separator Figure 3: Shell Perdio Caisson Separator


Accelerated and/or increased recovery achieved by reducing back-pressure on wells
Reduced risk due to reservoir uncertainty versus multiphase pumping only
Improved flow assurance such as hydrates, wax, slugging, erosion, less chemical injection
Reduced CAPEX on topside processing equipment and number of flowlines and insulation
Harsh Environments

Subsea Coolers


Subsea Cooler technology is getting increased attention primarily due to cost benefits realized by reducing or controlling
temperatures. The simplest and most matured cooling device would be a long uninsulated flowline. However more efficient
multi-pipe cooler units have been developed and qualified for subsea use (Ref 16-17). A multi-pipe solution has been used
subsea in Australia on the Kipper field (Ref 16) and is a required unit for the ongoing development of subsea compression.
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Subsea cooling is often coupled with other subsea processing systems such as subsea separation, subsea multiphase boosting,
subsea compression, or can be used stand-alone in high temperature fields. A cooler unit can be used as a standalone device
in a high temperature field to reduce the temperature below a certain limit. The benefit of temperature control could be to
reduce risk for top of line corrosion in gas fields. Free water will condense by cooling of the gas, but both the reduced
temperature and inhibition of the free water can reduce the corrosion risk. Cooling the production flow will also allow for
cost savings for pipe materials by reducing design temperature downstream the cooler.There would also be a large flow
assurance benefit by using the cooler in combination with separation.


In high-temperature applications, the main benefit of coolers is to reduce the temperature to allow for less exotic materials in
downstream pipelines and risers, hence reducing the cost of a field development.
Applying cooler technology introduces one or more of the following potential benefits dependent on the application:
o Reduced CAPEX by allowing low cost materials in pipelines due to
Reduced corrosion risk
o Reduced OPEX through reduced need for hydrate and other chemicals
Reduced design temperature
Enabling tie-in of high temperature fields into existing low design temperature flowlines - utilizing existing
infrastructure in combination with separation reduced hydrate inhibitor cost
Eliminating condensibles from a gas stream through cooling and separation can simplify the design of the gas
receiving facilities by mitigating/eliminating slugs

Subsea Compression


Subsea Gas Compression technology is one of the fast growing technologies for large fields requiring pressure boosting, e.g.
where subsea-to-beach development solutions result in long tie-back distances. It improves the production and recovery from
the reservoir by reducing back pressure on the wells. Subsea gas compression systems can be installed in mature fields to
extend plateau production or green field applications providing initial boosting support for remote fields with long tiebacks.
However the technology has not been field proven as yet. The Statoil Asgard compression project will be the first Subsea
Compresson project (Ref 18) when it is completed in 2015. Also the Ormen Lange gas compression pilot is underway and
will like pave the way for Subsea Compression on Ormen Lange if that option is selected by the Operator (Ref 19).


Gas fields often are developed with subsea wells and multiphase transport to onshore facilities or to offshore processing
platforms. The flow assurance strategy usually gives restriction to the minimum flow rate to avoid severe slug production. A
problem arises when the wellhead pressure declines over time and the pipeline export flowrate decreases to the critical value.
Subsea gas compression can be installed to boost the gas-condensate and increase the flowrate in the export pipelines.


Enables development of gas fields to shore without the need for topsides compression as a cost beneficial alternative
Reduced capital cost and operating costs
Management of flow assurance issues such as slugging, to ensure that production can be maintained to deliver the
full reserves potential of the reservoir
Improved recovery and production rates from the reservoir by reducing backpressure on wells
Maintaining plateau production longer is a distinct benefit to LNG plants which prefer to operate at or near design
loads

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Conclusions

Based on authors' technical assessment, the key technology areas still at embryonic stage are Cold Flow, Subsea Coolers and
Subsea Compression and at emerging stage is Subsea Separation. Cold Flow and Subsea Compression technologies have not
been applied on any field yet but are in the process of developing for qualification. Statoil Asgard gas compression project is
expected to be the first Subsea application when it is completed in 2015. Subsea Separation technology has been applied in
several fields such as Total Pazflor, Shells Perdido and BC-10 (gas-liquid separation), Statoil Tordis and Petrobras Marlim
(water separation). More companies are driving towards utilizing this technology to increase hydrocarbon recovery with
development of challenging and deeper subsea fields.

Most of the Chemical and Operating technologies are fairly established and at matured level with more room for incremental
improvement. The development focus is on product performance optimization, chemical stability in challenging deepwater
and arctic conditions, and environmental friendly chemistries.

Some of the Thermal solutions such as Thermal Insulation and Direct Electric Heating are matured but these technologies
have a lot of room for improvement for deeper water depth, long tie-back applications and other challenges. New
technologies such as Electrically Heated Pipe-in-Pipe, Phase Changing Materials are evolving to control flow assurance
issues generated by heavy oil fields and long tie-back requirements. Electrically Heated Pipe-in-Pipe technology is still at
embryonic stage with Totals Islay being the first field application.

Real-time Online Monitoring and Flow Assurance Advisory systems (FAS) have been around for 15-20 years and are applied
on many fields around the world. These FAS systems alert the operators when there is any flow assurance issue arises
anywhere in the production system. Such tools rely on good model predictions and available sensor readings in the
production system. The FAS software is still a growing technology as these systems are being incorporated with newer
modules that have rigorous and robust models for various flow assurance issues and are customized based on specific field
characteristics.

Subsea Separation technology tops the list as the most targeted technology for rapid development and application due to its
huge potential for cost savings by moving some of the traditional topsides fluid processing to seabed. For maturing fields
subsea processing can contribute to increased earnings, production and recovery, improving and prolonging the use of
existing infrastructure. For new field developments, it can enable cost-efficient and environmentally friendly platform-less
solutions, where the field is tied back directly to an existing offshore facility or directly to shore.

Acknowlegements

Authors would like to thank their colleagues Marco Coronado, Chris Shaw, J anardhan Davalath, Marit Mork, Tine Bauck
Irmann-J acobsen, Mike Robinson and Mike Williams at FMC Technologieis for their contributions, suggestions and
reviewing the paper.

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