Gas hydrate formation in oil and gas pipelines may cause flow assurance problems, especially in deep water subsea tiebacks. Agglomeration of hydrates may form plugs, thereby halting production. In the last decades, the hydrate control philosophy has shift from "hydrate avoidance" to "hydrate management". The hydrate management approach requires a more robust study of hydrate kinetics to allow hydrate formation in a controlled manner. This work studies multiphase flow and design/operation properties such as water cut, insulation and emulsion stability, to determine their effect on hydrate formation at steady state and transient operations of a condensate subsea tieback.
Natural gas hydrates are solid compounds comprised of small gas molecules and water, which form at low temperatures and high pressures (1). Gas hydrates can cause urgent flow assurance problems in oil and gas pipelines, especially in deep water subsea tiebacks (2–3). Gas hydrate particles may agglomerate and result in hydrate plugs causing production stoppages, and posing large economic and safety concerns in the petroleum industry.
