FLOW ASSURANCE

Download the flow assurance solutions poster as published in the
November, 2002, issue of Offshore Magazine.

To cost-effectively develop subsea fields, Mentor Subsea has developed extensive analytical capabilities in multiphase flow design. Multiphase flow and flow assurance analysis are key ingredients to the success of a subsea system.

Mentor Subsea's multiphase flow analytical capabilities are applied to the design of the "total system" from the wellbore perforations, manifolds, trees, flowlines, risers, topsides and through the export lines to the market. The design objective is to optimize and properly size the downhole completions, tubing, flowlines and pipelines to maximum system deliverability over the life of the field. Our analytical capabilities include both steady-state and transient, multiphase flow analyses which enables us to optimize subsea system and to develop safe, cost-effective operating strategies.

Mentor Subsea utilizes software which is widely accepted by the oil and gas industry today. MULTIFLASH, PIPESIM, OLGA, PROFES, HYSIS, TLNET and TGNET programs are just some of the analytical tools we are proficient at operating.

Flow assurance design considers management of challenging issues such as hydrate formation, wax and asphaltene deposition, liquid slugging, scaling, emulsions, corrosion, erosion, foaming, etc. To eliminate and/or mitigate these flow assurance problems, we incorporate design solutions including combination of thermal, mechanical and/or chemical techniques.

Mentor develops operational procedures using the results and conclusions from the transient thermal hydraulic studies for initial system start up, re-starts, shut downs, depressurization, pigging, chemical injection, and others.

Many subsea systems design questions are determined by flow assurance analysis such as:

• What is the criteria for the optimum flowline/riser size?
• Do you really need subsea choking or choking at topside adequate?
• How do you achieve the best subsea thermal performance?
• Is continuous chemical injection practical and feasible?
• What is the optimum shut-in time after a shut down?
• How do you predict the optimum location for the downhole SCSSV
• How do you predict the optimum location of the chemical injection port?
• What is the optimum size for a slug catcher or 1st stage separator?
• How do you formulate an operating philosophy?