Flow Assurance

Overview
Flow assurance is a structured engineering approach to maximising the availability of a pipeline transportation system throughout its lifetime. Applicable from the production sand-face to the point of sale, flow assurance is increasingly being recognised as being central to the production process, from the conceptual study phase through to the project operational phase.

The most common sources of lost availability arise through liquid surges due to upset conditions within the flowline (slugging, ramp up, start-up), or through deposition of solids within the flowline (wax, scale, sand, hydrates etc.). Through consideration of the fluid properties, a new system can be designed, or an existing system can be operated, such that the risk of lost availability is minimised. Xodus engineers are experts in analysis and mitigation of these types of issues, having worked for many years on studies in these areas, both in design environments and in operational support roles.

An increasing number of new developments are being undertaken in more challenging environments, such as deep water, where the static pressure associated with fluid in the riser contributes significantly to the flow resistance and constrains the ability to depressurise during a shutdown. Such systems need more advanced operational philosophies than were previously necessary in the shallower water of the North Sea. Further challenges are presented by high-pressure/high temperature fields, where limitations imposed by materials of construction can necessitate the incorporation of mitigation measures, e.g. fluid pre-conditioning spools, chemical inhibitors and/or HIPPS. While the new developments in deepwater progress into more challenging environments, flow assurance strives to deliver solutions needed for success.

Xodus offer an integrated approach to flow assurance, providing a vital cross-disciplinary link with materials specialists, pipeline and structural designers and topside process engineering, with whom we can offer superlative dynamic modelling capabilities. Our seamless subsea and topside dynamic modelling capability is exemplified in our leading-edge e-field production monitoring software, XPLORE.

The Xodus Flow Assurance Team are people who have made positive contributions to a wealth of subsea projects which have ranged from water depths of 30m to 3000m and has a variety of experience in all stages of project development, from feasibility and FEED studies to detail design and operational support.

For more information contact:
Steve Hamilton, Director – Technology Division
Tel: +44 (0)1224 628307 Email: