Flow Considerations and Pitfalls in Subsea Equipment Design

In Subsea Production System design, the effect of equipment design on flow and vice versa may not be sufficiently considered by the design engineers. Historically, rules-of-thumb and piping design guidelines have been adopted leading to overly conservative design or conversely poor performance. This paper discusses some of common design practices with regard to equipment sizing, sensor placement and thermal design and attempts to promote a better understanding of the impact of flow on equipment design.