ABSTRACT:

With the increasing number of deep offshore developments, operators are facing with more and more complex technical challenges. Extreme pressure and temperature conditions encountered at these depths require particular attention during production operations, in particular are favourable for gas hydrates formation. Hydrates are "naturally occurring" solids composed of gas and water (co-produced together with oil and/or gas). Hydrates can form as the fluid cools (at high pressure), resulting in an ice-like structure. Formation of these solid compounds is likely to plug the flowlines and may cause interruption of production. The usual way to determine the thermodynamic conditions of hydrates formation, as a function of hydrocarbon and water composition, is by PVT cell. This technique requires heavy instrumentation and is time expensive. The aim of this work was to set up a rheological methodology in order to evaluate both the kinetics of hydrates formation and their consistency. By this technique different systems (water solution, oil-water emulsion, oil-water separated phases) were characterised without and with additives (kinetic inhibitors and anti-agglomerants) in complex systems (gas-water and gas-water-oil).

This content is only available via PDF.
You can access this article if you purchase or spend a download.