The peculiar nature of the offshore environment has necessitated the need for the Oil and Gas industry to develop durable subsea technologies and better hydrate inhibitors to prevent hydrate formation and assure flow. This paper discusses the design, fabrication and validation of a laboratory flow loop for hydrate studies. The laboratory loop is a closed loop of 12meters, fabricated using 0.5inch 316 stainless steel pipe enclosed in an insulated 4inch Polyvinylchloride (PVC) pipe. The skid mounted loop was fitted with pumps, temperature gauges, pressure gauges, differential pressure transmitters, a gas mixing vessel, an inhibitor mixing vessel, and a Natural Gas cylinder. Hydrate formed in the loop when natural gas was contacted with water under suitable hydrate forming temperature and pressure conditions and was indicated by an increased loop temperature, an increased differential pressure and a decreased loop pressure. Loop Validation was done by flowing a single phase fluid of water, a single phase fluid of gas and a 2 phase fluid of gas and water in three different experimental runs respectively. Each experimental run lasted 2 hours during which temperatures and pressures around the loop were recorded every minute. Hydrate formation was observed in the experimental run conducted with the two phase fluid (gas and water) and the experimental run conducted with gas alone due to water condensing out of gas during cooling. Hydrate did not form in the experimental run conducted with single phase fluid of water. The laboratory flow loop adequately predicts hydrate formation and has been used in screening and selection of Kinetic Hydrate Inhibitors (KHI).
Published in |
American Journal of Chemical Engineering (Volume 5, Issue 3-1)
This article belongs to the Special Issue Oil Field Chemicals and Petrochemicals |
DOI | 10.11648/j.ajche.s.2017050301.14 |
Page(s) | 28-41 |
Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2017. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Gas Hydrate Equipment, Flow Assurance, Hydrate Loop Validation
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APA Style
Odutola T. O., Ajienka J. A., Onyekonwu M. O., Ikiensikimama S. S. (2017). Design, Fabrication and Validation of a Laboratory Flow Loop for Hydrate Studies. American Journal of Chemical Engineering, 5(3-1), 28-41. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajche.s.2017050301.14
ACS Style
Odutola T. O.; Ajienka J. A.; Onyekonwu M. O.; Ikiensikimama S. S. Design, Fabrication and Validation of a Laboratory Flow Loop for Hydrate Studies. Am. J. Chem. Eng. 2017, 5(3-1), 28-41. doi: 10.11648/j.ajche.s.2017050301.14
@article{10.11648/j.ajche.s.2017050301.14, author = {Odutola T. O. and Ajienka J. A. and Onyekonwu M. O. and Ikiensikimama S. S.}, title = {Design, Fabrication and Validation of a Laboratory Flow Loop for Hydrate Studies}, journal = {American Journal of Chemical Engineering}, volume = {5}, number = {3-1}, pages = {28-41}, doi = {10.11648/j.ajche.s.2017050301.14}, url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajche.s.2017050301.14}, eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajche.s.2017050301.14}, abstract = {The peculiar nature of the offshore environment has necessitated the need for the Oil and Gas industry to develop durable subsea technologies and better hydrate inhibitors to prevent hydrate formation and assure flow. This paper discusses the design, fabrication and validation of a laboratory flow loop for hydrate studies. The laboratory loop is a closed loop of 12meters, fabricated using 0.5inch 316 stainless steel pipe enclosed in an insulated 4inch Polyvinylchloride (PVC) pipe. The skid mounted loop was fitted with pumps, temperature gauges, pressure gauges, differential pressure transmitters, a gas mixing vessel, an inhibitor mixing vessel, and a Natural Gas cylinder. Hydrate formed in the loop when natural gas was contacted with water under suitable hydrate forming temperature and pressure conditions and was indicated by an increased loop temperature, an increased differential pressure and a decreased loop pressure. Loop Validation was done by flowing a single phase fluid of water, a single phase fluid of gas and a 2 phase fluid of gas and water in three different experimental runs respectively. Each experimental run lasted 2 hours during which temperatures and pressures around the loop were recorded every minute. Hydrate formation was observed in the experimental run conducted with the two phase fluid (gas and water) and the experimental run conducted with gas alone due to water condensing out of gas during cooling. Hydrate did not form in the experimental run conducted with single phase fluid of water. The laboratory flow loop adequately predicts hydrate formation and has been used in screening and selection of Kinetic Hydrate Inhibitors (KHI).}, year = {2017} }
TY - JOUR T1 - Design, Fabrication and Validation of a Laboratory Flow Loop for Hydrate Studies AU - Odutola T. O. AU - Ajienka J. A. AU - Onyekonwu M. O. AU - Ikiensikimama S. S. Y1 - 2017/04/27 PY - 2017 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajche.s.2017050301.14 DO - 10.11648/j.ajche.s.2017050301.14 T2 - American Journal of Chemical Engineering JF - American Journal of Chemical Engineering JO - American Journal of Chemical Engineering SP - 28 EP - 41 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2330-8613 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajche.s.2017050301.14 AB - The peculiar nature of the offshore environment has necessitated the need for the Oil and Gas industry to develop durable subsea technologies and better hydrate inhibitors to prevent hydrate formation and assure flow. This paper discusses the design, fabrication and validation of a laboratory flow loop for hydrate studies. The laboratory loop is a closed loop of 12meters, fabricated using 0.5inch 316 stainless steel pipe enclosed in an insulated 4inch Polyvinylchloride (PVC) pipe. The skid mounted loop was fitted with pumps, temperature gauges, pressure gauges, differential pressure transmitters, a gas mixing vessel, an inhibitor mixing vessel, and a Natural Gas cylinder. Hydrate formed in the loop when natural gas was contacted with water under suitable hydrate forming temperature and pressure conditions and was indicated by an increased loop temperature, an increased differential pressure and a decreased loop pressure. Loop Validation was done by flowing a single phase fluid of water, a single phase fluid of gas and a 2 phase fluid of gas and water in three different experimental runs respectively. Each experimental run lasted 2 hours during which temperatures and pressures around the loop were recorded every minute. Hydrate formation was observed in the experimental run conducted with the two phase fluid (gas and water) and the experimental run conducted with gas alone due to water condensing out of gas during cooling. Hydrate did not form in the experimental run conducted with single phase fluid of water. The laboratory flow loop adequately predicts hydrate formation and has been used in screening and selection of Kinetic Hydrate Inhibitors (KHI). VL - 5 IS - 3-1 ER -