Investigation of Slug Suppression System in Deepwater Scenario

In pipeline-riser systems, pressure fluctuations which result from the formation of large liquid slugs and gas surges due to operational changes or low mass flow rate from production wells and the profile of pipeline-riser systems often lead to trips at the inlet of the separator; and thereby, the problem causes a a loss of the production. In this study, on a sample deep-water oil field off the coast of West Africa is focused. The field lies in water depths greater than 1000 m. Moreover, the wells are connected via a pipeline-riser system to the topside. The slug suppression system (S 3 ) was changed as a control structure on the field case study. S 3 comprises of a mini separator coupled with dynamically controlled valves at the liquid and gas outlets. This control structure was modeled on OLGA, a one-dimensional, and two-fluid equations based commercial multiphase flow simulation tool. In implementing the S 3 , it was transformed into a parallel configuration of two proportional-integral (PI) controllers (the separator level and pressure controllers) which controls the total volumetric flow and liquid flow respectively by subsequent opening of the valves at the outlets while stabilizing the riser base pressure. In addition, separator sizing was based on the volume of multiphase fluid at the riser-top. Also, controller-tuning parameters were obtained from parametric studies with pressure and liquid level set point at 20.5 bar and 0.5 m. Finally, it is found out that S 3 is able to stabilize the riser base pressure and flow rate at the outlet of the mini-separator. Moreover, the comparison of production rates before and after the implementation of the control structure indicated an increase of 12.5% in the production rat

Turbulence modelling and role of compressibility on oil spilling from a damaged double hull tank

The viscosity plays an important role, and a multiphase solver is necessary to numerically simulate the oil spilling from a damaged double hull tank (DHT). However, it is uncertain whether turbulence modelling is necessary, which turbulence model is suitable; and what the role of compressibility of the fluids is. This paper presents experimental and numerical investigations to address these issues for various cases representing different scenarios of the oil spilling, including grounding and collision. In the numerical investigations, various approaches to model the turbulence, including the large eddy simulation (LES), direct numerical simulation and the Reynolds average Navier-Stokes equation (RANS) with different turbulence models, are employed. Based on the investigations, it is suggested that the effective Reynolds numbers corresponding to both oil outflow and water inflow shall be considered when classifying the significance of the turbulence and selecting the appropriate turbulence models. This is confirmed by new lab tests considering the axial offset between the internal and the external holes on two hulls of the DHT. The investigations conclude for numerically simulating oil spilling from a damaged DHT that when the effective Re is smaller the RANS approaches should not be used and LES modelling should be employed; while when the effective Reynolds numbers is large, the RANS models may be used as they can give similar results to LES in terms of the height of the mixture in the ballast tank and discharge but costing much less CPU time. The investigation on the role of the compressibility of the fluid reveals that the compressibility of the fluid may be considerable in a small temporal-spatial scale but plays an insignificant role on macroscopic process of the oil spilling

Oilfield produced water assessment from onshore treatment facilities in Niger Delta: Water quality susceptibility and suitability for soil irrigation

The abundance of natural fossil fuel in the Niger Delta of Nigeria has instituted generation of oilfield produced water (PW) in large volume. This constitutes environmental pollution when discharged outside the permissible limit given by Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC). PW can be used for soil irrigation if its constituents are remediated after treatment. This research assessed the physicochemical properties of untreated and treated samples of oilfield PW from Awoba, Imo River and Kolo creek oil fields of Niger Delta using electrometric, argentometric, colorimetric, titration, atomic absorption spectroscopy, APHA and HACH standard methods. Oil-treatment facilities effectiveness was investigated by comparing laboratory results for treated-PW with the permissible regulatory values of NUPRC. The pH, salinity hazard, sodium hazard, boron, chloride, TDS, carbonate and nitrate of treated-PW were measured to check the suitability of treated-PW quality for soil irrigation. Measured values were compared with the permissible standard of US EPA. Sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) and electric conductivity (EC) were used to determine the level of sodium and salinity hazards respectively. The results indicated that none of the untreated-PW samples complied with NUPRC permissible limit. Physicochemical properties of treated-PW revealed samples to be close to or within approved NUPRC standards except in few cases. All the measured parameters of treated-PW from Awoba and Imo River oil fields conformed to the US EPA standard value except their ECs and SAR of Imo River oil field which measured 2.46 and 2.93 ds m−1, and 2.57 respectively. However, all other parameters measured for treated-PW from Kolo creek oil field did not conform to the standard except pH and nitrate which measured 7.7 and 4.86 mg/L respectively. In conclusion, oil treatment facilities should be more robust to degrade a wide range of recalcitrant compounds in PW pollutants in order to minimize the impacts of toxic compounds in PW on the environment