GB2527681A - A method of using a surface jet pump to mitigate severe slugging in pipes and risers - Google Patents
A method of using a surface jet pump to mitigate severe slugging in pipes and risers Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- GB2527681A GB2527681A GB1511847.4A GB201511847A GB2527681A GB 2527681 A GB2527681 A GB 2527681A GB 201511847 A GB201511847 A GB 201511847A GB 2527681 A GB2527681 A GB 2527681A
- Authority
- GB
- United Kingdom
- Prior art keywords
- riser
- gas
- jet pump
- surface jet
- separator
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Granted
Links
- 238000009491 slugging Methods 0.000 title description 17
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 title description 5
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 29
- 230000000116 mitigating effect Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 13
- 238000011143 downstream manufacturing Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 5
- 239000007788 liquid Substances 0.000 claims description 25
- 238000011144 upstream manufacturing Methods 0.000 claims description 6
- 230000008859 change Effects 0.000 abstract description 4
- 230000009467 reduction Effects 0.000 description 8
- 230000008901 benefit Effects 0.000 description 7
- 230000003068 static effect Effects 0.000 description 6
- 238000013459 approach Methods 0.000 description 5
- 239000000203 mixture Substances 0.000 description 5
- 239000012530 fluid Substances 0.000 description 4
- 230000005484 gravity Effects 0.000 description 4
- 238000002347 injection Methods 0.000 description 3
- 239000007924 injection Substances 0.000 description 3
- 230000008569 process Effects 0.000 description 3
- 239000003638 chemical reducing agent Substances 0.000 description 2
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 description 2
- 230000010355 oscillation Effects 0.000 description 2
- 230000009471 action Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000002349 favourable effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000007791 liquid phase Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000003129 oil well Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000012071 phase Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000011176 pooling Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000000926 separation method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000003019 stabilising effect Effects 0.000 description 1
Classifications
-
- E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
- E21—EARTH DRILLING; MINING
- E21B—EARTH DRILLING, e.g. DEEP DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
- E21B43/00—Methods or apparatus for obtaining oil, gas, water, soluble or meltable materials or a slurry of minerals from wells
- E21B43/01—Methods or apparatus for obtaining oil, gas, water, soluble or meltable materials or a slurry of minerals from wells specially adapted for obtaining from underwater installations
-
- E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
- E21—EARTH DRILLING; MINING
- E21B—EARTH DRILLING, e.g. DEEP DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
- E21B17/00—Drilling rods or pipes; Flexible drill strings; Kellies; Drill collars; Sucker rods; Cables; Casings; Tubings
- E21B17/01—Risers
-
- E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
- E21—EARTH DRILLING; MINING
- E21B—EARTH DRILLING, e.g. DEEP DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
- E21B43/00—Methods or apparatus for obtaining oil, gas, water, soluble or meltable materials or a slurry of minerals from wells
- E21B43/12—Methods or apparatus for controlling the flow of the obtained fluid to or in wells
- E21B43/121—Lifting well fluids
- E21B43/124—Adaptation of jet-pump systems
-
- E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
- E21—EARTH DRILLING; MINING
- E21B—EARTH DRILLING, e.g. DEEP DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
- E21B43/00—Methods or apparatus for obtaining oil, gas, water, soluble or meltable materials or a slurry of minerals from wells
- E21B43/34—Arrangements for separating materials produced by the well
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
- F16L—PIPES; JOINTS OR FITTINGS FOR PIPES; SUPPORTS FOR PIPES, CABLES OR PROTECTIVE TUBING; MEANS FOR THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
- F16L55/00—Devices or appurtenances for use in, or in connection with, pipes or pipe systems
- F16L55/04—Devices damping pulsations or vibrations in fluids
Abstract
A slug mitigation system for subsea pipelines includes a riser and a surface jet pump (SJP) located at the upper topside level of the pipeline. The surface jet pump is located downstream of an in-line separator (I-SEP) on a gas outlet using high pressure gas from a downstream process or compressor in order to reduce back pressure to change flow regime in the riser and also to gain production from wells. The use of SJP with I-SEP is said to enhance severe slug mitigation capability.
Description
A method of using a Surface Jet Pump to mitigate Severe Slugging in pipes and risers The present invention relates to improved arrangements for slug mitigation in subsea pipelines, such as risers, as used in the oil and gas industry and particularly, according to the invention, utilising a surface jet pump (SiP) apparatus in such arrangements. It is also hoped the invention will boost production.
Most of the new discoveries of oil and gas reserves are being found further offshore, causing operators to delve further and deeper into the seabed. The transportation of production fluids to offshore platforms (for processing and further export) requires subsea pipelines followed by a vertical pipe to the platform; also known as a riser-pipeline system.
The combination of such pipe configurations invariably cause a low-point', which encourages an undesired multiphase flow regime known as Severe Slugging (55). From the flow assurance point of view, this pressure oscillation phenomenon is of particular concern for mature well/fields which have a declining operating pressure. This phenomenon also upsets top side operation of process facilities and introduces vibration in the riser piping system, leading to a possible mechanical failure.
There are a number of approaches being developed/deployed to mitigate severe slugging
issues. For example:
On the top side of the platform * Installing a control valve at the top of riser to impose back pressure * Making a gravity separator bigger during the initial stage of design * Installing a large liquid slug catcher upstream of existing production separator (another gravity separator) Bottom of riser (Subsea): * Inject gas at the bottom of the riser to lighten static head * Install an additional riser and send flow through both risers * Perform subsea separation and use two risers for sending gas and liquids The present invention seeks to find a system that mitigates a severe slugging regime in a passive way without the need of active control whilst reducing the imposed back pressure on the wells (through process equipment, riser and connecting piping) also resulting in a higher production for the operator. A broad aspect of the invention is defined by claim 1.
The current invention looks at the process role and location of a Surface Jet pump in the following way: * To gain additional production/pressure boost, and also to drive weak backed out low pressure (hereinafter "LP") wells in production mode * As an added advantage, mitigate severe slugging in risers * Changing the flow regime in the piping system to be more favourable and creating a mixture flow of lower design (than an all liquid case) * Stabilising production * Minimise flow oscillation and vibration in the riser * Expanding gas reduces the static head imposed by vertical liquid column in the riser * Improve the severe slugging stabilised operating region * Minimise liquid dropout pooling in the low points in the pipeline (due to increase gas velocity and sweep velocity) * Effective use of injection gas, which is currently used for liquid static head lightening Surface jet pumps (SiPs) are generally known in the art. Drawing on the experience gained in the use of an SiP on a wellhead and separators, i.e. in how reducing back pressure helps increase the flow through a well, even for gas lifted oil wells (refer to patent application W02013124625A2), the current invention is suggested for reducing severe slugging.
SJP Applications to reduce severe slugging: Figure 1: An SiP is located on the top of the riser at the platform. The SiP can be powered by an available high pressure fluid source -either liquid phase or gas phase. The SJP will lower the backpressure (arrival pressure) at the top of the riser which will in turn reduce the back pressure in the riser, allowing gas to expand in the riser/pipe lines. This action will change the operating flow regime and minimise the severe slugging region within riser. The back pressure reduction will also allow the LP wells to produce more (based on their flow and pressure relationships), which is a benefit to the operator. If production is mainly from gas wells with some liquids then the SiP can be powered by the high pressure (hereinafter "HP") gas stream. If LP well production is from mainly liquid wells, then the SiP can be powered by HP liquids. The outlet of SiP can go to an export line directly or to a downstream production separator.
Figure 2: An SiP is located on the top of the riser at the platform on the gas outlet of the production separator. The SiP is powered by the HP gas available from the export compressor outlet or from its recycled gas stream. The SiP will lower the production separator pressure which will allow backpressure reduction and change of flow regime in the riser and piping. Additional benefit would be backpressure reduction on the production manifold, leading to increase production on the same well. This increased production also adds in shifting severe slugging region towards a stabilised flowrate. In this application regardless of the type of production (gas dominated or liquid dominated), the gas driven SiP will be applicable to ease of severe slugging issues and allow additional production too.
Figure 3: An SIP is located on the top of the riser at the platform upstream of the production separator on the riser. The SiP is powered by the HP gas available from the export compressor outlet or from its recycled gas stream. The riser flow can be diverted via the SiP in full or in part as per control requirement of the operator. The HP gas mixes with the riser fluid and goes as a low density mixture into the gravity separator. At the same time, the SiP also act as back pressure reducer on the riser to achieve benefits already highlighted for Figures 1 and 2. Depending on the location of the SiP on the riser itself the light density mixture can be created at various heights in the riser (this will also reduce the static head in the riser fluid column) and create stabilised flow within riser.
Figure 4: An SiP is located on the top of the riser at the platform upstream of the production separator on the riser. The SiP is powered by the liquid pump using the part of the produced liquid as the HP source. This approach is also applicable in situations where no spare HP gas is available for the SiP. The riser flow can be diverted via the SiP in full or in part based on the control requirement of the operator. The outlet from the SiP enters as a well mixed gas/liquid mixture into the gravity separator. At the same time, the SiP also act as back pressure reducer on the riser to achieve benefits already highlighted for figure 1 and 2. Due to additional liquid in the piping system the operating pressure of the separator/riser may rise, however, in this situation, the SiP will discharge flow at a higher pressure as required by the downstream process (separator, piping, etc.) while still maintaining the backpressure reduction on the riser to affect the severe slugging and increase production from the existing infrastructure.
Figure 5: This option explores the ability of an in-line separator (1-Sep) to mitigate severe slugging effect in a riser as discussed in detail elsewhere (e.g. our co-pending patent application No. GB 1419947.5). We have suggested using SiP on the gas outlet using HP gas from the downstream process (compressor). The function of SiP would be the same as discussed above, mainly reducing back pressure to change flow regime in the riser and also to gain production from wells. In such case, the main production separator can be by-passed or operated in parallel with the I-SEP/HI-SEP system. The produced gas can go to the gas outlet and produced liquid will join the liquid line upstream of the liquid pump. The use of SiP with I-SEP will enhance the severe slug mitigation capability over the one already discussed in our co-pending patent application using I-SEP for slug mitigation.
Fig 6 (Prior Art):
This shows commonly used approach for severe slug mitigation in subsea environment, in which high pressure gas from the platform is injected at the base of the riser. This serves two main functions, first of all to reduce the mixture density of the liquid column in the riser, hence reduces the backpressure on the production line wells, secondly it changes the flow regime in the riser, so that severe slugging is mitigated. The issues of this approach is that due to extra gas in the system the topside separator pressure increases, which negate some of the back pressure reduction gained by lightening the static liquid head. Also this does not allow additional backpressure reduction on the wells to gain production the way SiP does.
Fig 7: In this concept, we have modified the gas injection approach of Figure 6 at the riser base by introducing a subsea SiP. The SiP will give added benefit of overcoming the incremental pressure rise at the inlet of topside separator (and in the riser) due to addition of HP gas. It will also allow back pressure reduction on the LP wells for maintaining or gaining additional production. It will also minimise any severe slugging effect while reducing the static head in the riser. The HP gas to power the SiP can come from the platform. Again, either part or full production can be diverted through the SiP as needed.
If there is no HP source available at the platform and there is a nearby subsea HP pressure manifold, then using this HP pressure energy additional backpressure reduction on the LP well can also be achieved via the SiP, while still keeping the benefits of severe slugging mitigation in the riser. Gas injection at the bottom of riser does not offer these stated be nefits
S
Claims (3)
- Claims: 1. A slug mitigation system for subsea pipelines including: a riser located between a low sub-sea level and an upper topside level of a pipeline; a surface jet pump located at the upper topside level of the pipeline, downstream of the riser; wherein the surface jet pump is located downstream of an in-line separator on a gas outlet using high pressure gas from a downstream process or compressor.
- 2. The slug mitigation system of claim 1 wherein a main production separator at the top of the riser can be by-passed or operated in parallel with the inline separator and surface jet pump.
- 3. The slug mitigation system of claim 1 or 2 wherein produced gas can go to a gas outlet and produced liquid joins the liquid line upstream of a liquid pump.Amended claims have been filed as follows:-Claims: 1. A slug mitigation system for subsea pipelines including: a riser located between a low sub-sea level and an upper topside level of a pipeline; a surface jet pump located at the upper topside level of the pipeline, downstream of the riser; wherein the surface jet pump is located downstream of an in-line separator on a gas outlet using high pressure gas from a downstream process or compressor.2. The slug mitigation system of claim 1 wherein a main production separator at the top of the riser is configured to be by-passed or operated in parallel with the inline separator and surface jet pump. IC)3. The slug mitigation system of claim 1 or 2 wherein produced gas is directed to a gas r outlet and produced liquid joins the liquid line upstream of a liquid pump.C (4
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB1511847.4A GB2527681B (en) | 2014-11-14 | 2014-11-14 | A method of using a surface jet pump to mitigate severe slugging in pipes and risers |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB1511847.4A GB2527681B (en) | 2014-11-14 | 2014-11-14 | A method of using a surface jet pump to mitigate severe slugging in pipes and risers |
| GB1420234.5A GB2529491B (en) | 2014-11-14 | 2014-11-14 | A method of using a surface jet pump to mitigate severe slugging in pipes and risers |
Publications (3)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| GB201511847D0 GB201511847D0 (en) | 2015-08-19 |
| GB2527681A true GB2527681A (en) | 2015-12-30 |
| GB2527681B GB2527681B (en) | 2016-06-08 |
Family
ID=52248337
Family Applications (2)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB1511847.4A Active GB2527681B (en) | 2014-11-14 | 2014-11-14 | A method of using a surface jet pump to mitigate severe slugging in pipes and risers |
| GB1420234.5A Active GB2529491B (en) | 2014-11-14 | 2014-11-14 | A method of using a surface jet pump to mitigate severe slugging in pipes and risers |
Family Applications After (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB1420234.5A Active GB2529491B (en) | 2014-11-14 | 2014-11-14 | A method of using a surface jet pump to mitigate severe slugging in pipes and risers |
Country Status (2)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| US (1) | US20160138372A1 (en) |
| GB (2) | GB2527681B (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WO2017018887A1 (en) * | 2015-07-15 | 2017-02-02 | Jb Services As | Transporting fluid from a well to a processing facility |
Families Citing this family (4)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RU2016105336A (en) * | 2013-08-13 | 2017-09-15 | Пропосеан Ас | STABILIZATION OF A WATER-RELAXING COLUMN |
| CN109138965B (en) * | 2018-10-11 | 2023-11-03 | 中国石油工程建设有限公司 | Slug flow trapping system and method based on low-pressure liquid storage |
| US11428082B2 (en) | 2019-10-17 | 2022-08-30 | Saudi Arabian Oil Company | Boosting production from low pressure or dead wells |
| WO2024058779A1 (en) * | 2022-09-15 | 2024-03-21 | Chevron U.S.A. Inc. | Enhanced subsea production recovery using subsea jet pumps |
Citations (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GB2499473A (en) * | 2012-02-20 | 2013-08-21 | Caltec Ltd | Gas lift system with surface jet pump |
-
2014
- 2014-11-14 GB GB1511847.4A patent/GB2527681B/en active Active
- 2014-11-14 GB GB1420234.5A patent/GB2529491B/en active Active
-
2015
- 2015-11-12 US US14/939,940 patent/US20160138372A1/en not_active Abandoned
Patent Citations (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GB2499473A (en) * | 2012-02-20 | 2013-08-21 | Caltec Ltd | Gas lift system with surface jet pump |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WO2017018887A1 (en) * | 2015-07-15 | 2017-02-02 | Jb Services As | Transporting fluid from a well to a processing facility |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| US20160138372A1 (en) | 2016-05-19 |
| GB201511847D0 (en) | 2015-08-19 |
| GB2527681B (en) | 2016-06-08 |
| GB2529491A (en) | 2016-02-24 |
| GB2529491B (en) | 2020-09-16 |
| GB201420234D0 (en) | 2014-12-31 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 732E | Amendments to the register in respect of changes of name or changes affecting rights (sect. 32/1977) |
Free format text: REGISTERED BETWEEN 20190117 AND 20190123 |