Oil and Gas
Oil and Gas | Production Engineering
Surface Flow Assurance for Large Scale Pad Development in Unconventional Plays
Flow assurance addresses prediction, prevention and remediation of any phenomenon that hinders the fluid flow through oil and gas production and transportation systems. Understanding of flow assurance is of vital importance for the design and operation of the surface facilities. This course provides a basic introductory and practical understanding of flow assurance issues encountered in the production, transportation and processing of oil and gas, in turn, enabling participants to better design and operate production systems potentially resulting in more efficient and cost effective operations.
Schedule
Duration and Training Method
A five-day classroom course will make the participants familiar with the basics of flow assurance issues using practical examples and field applications. Design practical examples will be hands-on using a commercial software. Students will be working on a capstone design project, and will present and discuss their findings.
Course Overview
Learning Outcomes
Participants will learn to:
- Identify most commonly encountered flow assurance problems in surface operations such as slugging (regular and severe), emulsions and foams, paraffin precipitation, deposition and gelation, sand, erosion, corrosion, scales, hydrates, and asphaltenes precipitation and deposition.
- Determine mitigation and remediation techniques of the above mentioned flow assurance problems in surface operations.
- Analyze a given system to find optimum operating conditions.
Course Content
The course will help participants understand the surface flow assurance problems and learn about the state-of-the-art solution methods and practices. The course will start with a description of the basics of flow assurance and continue with descriptions of each of the specific flow assurance issues covering the prediction, mitigation and remediation aspects. Practical hands on in class problem solving exercises will be performed. Students will work on a Capstone Design Project utilizing a commercial simulator.
- Introduction to Flow Assurance (1 hour)
- Networks (1 hour)
- Well to Well and Pad to Pad Interactions
- Bottleneck Identification and Solution
- Fluid Flow Basics (3 hours)
- Single-phase flow in pipes
- Multiphase flow in pipes (Gas-Oil and Gas-Oil-Water)
- Slugging (3 hours)
- Basics of Slugging
- Slugging Prediction: Natural, Severe and Pigging
- Slug Prevention and Mitigation: Slug Catchers, Types and Design
- Surface Facilities (2 hours)
- Introduction to Oil and Gas Field Processing
- Separators
- Water Handling
- Emulsions and Foams (2 hours)
- Dispersions and Emulsions: Formation, Prevention and Remediation
- Foams: Formation, Prevention and Remediation
- Hydrates (2 hours)
- Basics of Hydrates: Definition and Formation Conditions
- Control and Remediation
- Paraffins (3 hours)
- Basics of Paraffins: Definition
- Paraffin Problems: Precipitation, Deposition, Gellation, and Settling
- Control and Remediation
- Asphaltenes (2 hours)
- Basics of Asphaltenes: Definition
- Asphaltene Related Problems: Precipitation, and Deposition
- Control and Remediation
- Scales (2 hours)
- Produced Water Chemistry and Scale Types
- Location and Common Scaling Scenarios
- Remediation and Mitigation
- Sand (1 hour)
- Surface Sand Problems
- Remediation and Mitigation
- Corrosion and Erosion (2 hours)
- Corrosion: Mechanism and Influencing Factors, Fundamentals of Corrosion Prevention
- Erosion
- Effect of Multiphase Flow over Erosion and Corrosion
- Software Introduction (4 hours)
- Basic training for the software
- Training will continue through the execution of the design project
- Capstone Design Project (12 hours)
- Example Project(s) Involving Multi well and Multi Pad Systems will be Studied
- Presentation and Discussions of the Project Results among Participants
- Instructor’s Solution
Who Should Attend and Prerequisites
Facilities Engineers, Production Engineers, Flow Assurance Engineers, Operations Engineers, System Engineers, Process Engineers, Reservoir Engineers, Petroleum Engineers, Technical Consultants, etc.
Instructors
Eduardo Pereyra
Background
Eduardo started his career at the R&D center of the Venezuelan oil company PDVSA-Intevep in 2000. He also worked for Multiphase System Integration (MSI) and at Chevron’s Advanced Production Technology Unit as a Research Scientist Intern. Eduardo became research associate of Tulsa University Fluid Flow Projects (TUFFP) in 2011.
He is currently assistant professor of the McDougall School of Petroleum Engineering. He has been also appointed as associate director of and Tulsa University Horizontal Well Artificial Lift Projects (TUHWALP). He also participates in the TU Center of Research Excellence (TUCoRE) in production systems. Eduardo is one of the TU professors associated with the University of Tulsa North Campus Research Facilities. This campus contains unique facilities and state of the art instrumentation for oil and gas related research. Eduardo is an active researcher in the area of multiphase flow and its applications to pipelines, surface oil and gas facilities, artificial lift, separation and metering systems. He has published 53 peer review papers in recognized journals (SPEJ, SPE Production and Operations, SPE Projects, Facilities and Construction, SPE Oil & Gas Facilities, Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, Energy & Fuels, IJMF, JERT, and AIChE Journal). He has also presented 30 publications in several conferences related with his area of interest. Eduardo has also develop several software in the area of multiphase flow and separation technologies as results of his research efforts.
Affiliations and Accreditation
Ph.D. The University of Tulsa – Petroleum Engineering
MSc. The University of Tulsa – Petroleum Engineering
BSc. The University of Los Andes – Mechanical Engineering and System Engineering
Member of the Society of Petroleum Engineering SPE 2017-2019 Facilities & Construction International Award Committee.
Member of the Society of Petroleum Engineering SPE 2019 Production Facilities and Construction (PF&C) Annual Meeting Sub Program Committee.
Member of Gas Lift Committee at the 2018 SPE North America Artificial Lift Conference & Exhibition.
Technical Advisory Committee Member BHRg Conferences on Multiphase Technology
Courses Taught
N475: Surface Flow Assurance for Large Scale Pad Development in Unconventional Plays
Cem Sarica
Background
Cem started his career as an Assistant Professor of Petroleum Engineering at Istanbul Technical University (ITU) in 1990. After two years of teaching production engineering related courses at ITU, he served as a Research Associate of Tulsa University Fluid Flow Projects (TUFFP) between 1992 and 1998.
Cem joined Pennsylvania State University (PSU) as a member of Petroleum Engineering faculty in 1998 as an Associate Professor. At PSU, he taught courses related to Production Engineering and Multiphase Flow in Pipes and he established a new University/Industry Consortium focusing on Stripper Wells.
In 2001, Cem became an Associate Professor of Petroleum Engineering and the director of two large University/Industry Consortia; namely, TUFFP and Tulsa University Paraffin Deposition Projects (TUPDP) at the University of Tulsa. He was promoted to Full Professor in 2004, and given the F.H. "Mick" Merelli/Cimarex Energy Chair in 2013.
Cem is currently teaching production engineering courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels and serving as the director of three industry supported TUFFP, TUPDP, and Horizontal Well Artificial Lift Projects (TUHWALP), which he established in 2012. His research interests are production engineering, multiphase flow in pipes, flow assurance and horizontal wells.
Cem has taught many industrial short courses in the area of Multiphase Flow in Pipes, Flow Assurance, Production System Analysis and consulted for operators in their specific engineering needs.
Cem has presented and co-authored numerous papers at SPE, BHRg, AIChE, and ASME conferences on multiphase flow in pipes, flow assurance, artificial lift and production engineering areas. He has also published over 150 peer reviewed papers in prestigious journals such as SPEJ, SPE Production and Operations, SPE Projects, Facilities and Construction, SPE Oil & Gas Facilities, Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, Energy & Fuels, IJMF, JERT, and AIChE Journal. His research and technology development efforts have been incorporated in many commercial and in-house production engineering software. Cem’s scholarly contributions have been well recognized by various professional entities as given below.
Affiliations and Accreditation
Ph.D. The University of Tulsa – Petroleum Engineering
MSc. Istanbul Technical University – Petroleum Engineering
BSc. Istanbul Technical University – Petroleum Engineering
Member of SPE Projects, Facilities and Construction Advisory Committee, 2002 – Present.
Chair, Vice Chair and Second Chair of Flow Assurance Technical Section of SPE, 2018, 2017, 2016
Chair of the Steering Committee of SPE’s 2015 Flow Assurance Forum
Organizer of Flow Assurance Panel Session at 2014 SPE ATCE
Chair and Committee Member of SPE ATCE PFC Committee, 2017, 2014-2016
Chair and Member of SPE International Production and Operations Award Committee 2014, 2012-2013
Chair of SPE Projects, Facilities and Construction Award Committee, 2003 – 2006.
Member of Editorial Board of Society of Petroleum Engineers Journal (SPEJ), 1998 – 2006.
Associate Editor of ASME’s Journal of Energy Resources Technology (JERT), 1998 – 2003.
Technical Advisory Committee Member BHRg Conferences on Multiphase Technology
Courses Taught
N475: Surface Flow Assurance for Large Scale Pad Development in Unconventional Plays