Thermal management of flow assurance challenges in offshore fields-a review

Abstract

Hydrocarbon transport system in oil and gas industry faces major challenges of flow blockage resulting from hydrates formation and wax depositions. To ensure efficient and economical hydrocarbons transport from wellhead to processing facilities, flow assurance is important in planning and designing of flow transport system. Flow assurance challenges in offshores increase with water-depth because of the surrounding low temperature. Flow assurance thermal management techniques include insulation, pipe burial, electrical heating, and hot fluid circulation. A survey on thermal management techniques employed in oil and gas industry with their various comparative advantages and disadvantages focused on achieving economic pipeline design was conducted. The review showed that the most cost effective method of thermal management technique is pipeline burial and thermal insulation but less effective down deepwater. Electrical heating is effective at all length and at various ambient conditions but expensive. Hot fluid circulation is economical and maintenance friendly with less technical risk but less effective when compared with electrical heating.