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TAP-599-Tulsa University Hydrate Flow Projects (TUHFP)

Office/Division Program
TAP
Project Number
599
Research Initiation Date (Award Date)
Research Performing Activity
The University of Tulsa
Research Principal Investigator
Dr. Michael Volk, Jr.
Description

The Scope of Work for this effort will be divided into five (5) sub-projects: (i) Managing Hydrates in Late Field Life Situations; (ii) Under-inhibited Systems; (iii) High Pressure Jumper Design; (iv) Development of Techniques to Monitor Hydrates and/or Characterize Hydrate Slurries; (v) Development of Simulation Tools. The tasks are described as follows: Managing Hydrates in Late Field Life Situations Simulate several late field scenarios with focus on high water cut, emulsified oil, and low gas-oil-ratios. Determine a safe operating window to produce these fields without the use of inhibitors. Under-inhibited Systems Expand on previous experiments which suggest that an under inhibited system may actually increase the risk of plugging. High Pressure Jumper Design Expand existing facilities to include a high-pressure jumper test section. Perform experiments to increase our understanding of: Hydrate slurry performance in vertical risers Effect of fluid warm-up during restart Effect of gas-lift on restart Effect of inhibitor type and injection location. Development of Techniques to Monitor Hydrates and/or Characterize Hydrate Slurries Identify new and/or existing technologies that can be applied to hydrate monitoring. Development of Simulation Tools Develop a tool to properly simulate the hydrate behavior which has been observed in flow loop experiments. Member Companies: Anadarko BG Group BHP Billiton BP CALSEP Chevron Eni MAERSK Marathon Oil Company NALCO Petrobras SPT Group StatoilHydro Total

Latest progress update

The Fall Board meeting was held in Sept 2013. The JIP is still ongoing but BSEE Member Companies: Anadarko has stopped its membership as of Dec 2013.