Hydrate Control in Subsea Natural Gas Production

Abstract

One of the most significant technological challenges that this industry faces today is securing the production flow in deep water exploration. Intense conditions of high pressure and low temperatures will favor the formation of the hydrates which could restrict or block the pathway to the extent that there can be a humungous financial loss. This research was devoted to hydrate control in subsea natural gas production using results from water concentration estimation for reservoir, wellhead and onshore receiving terminal conditions. For illustration, a natural gas stream from the Niger Delta was selected where the transportation medium is a pipeline. Further implementation as part of the hydrate formation assessment input was done on the temperature and pressure profile along this pipeline. A hydrate inhibition strategy based on monoethylene glycol (MEG) is under consideration. It is revealed that in the case if a temperature falls below 20°C and pressure will increase above 100 bar, then it would be met with a flow configuration in a region where hydrates are formed. Estimation of water concentration thus suffices to give useful information as possible prevention methods to hydrate formation while the gas flow is going on in the pipeline. The actual thermodynamic conditions required for the hydrate formation can also be deduced from the temperature and pressure data.