Issued: September '95

BP Research
Institut Français du Pétrole, with the Eve partners

The Sponsors

BP Exploration
Elf Enterprise Caledonia
British Gas plc
Conoco (UK) Ltd
Health & Safety Executive
Texaco Britain Ltd
Total Oil Marine plc

Research Providers

Institut Français du Pétrole, with the EvE Partners
BP Research
Westport Technology
Center International (IITRI)
Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine

Project Costs

£1,400,000

EvE programme: £750,000
U. K. programme: £550,000
Project Management: £100,000

Participation

£200,000 per sponsor over 4 years. Additional participants welcome.

* EvE is the designation of a joint R & D Project on Multiphase Transportation between IFP, Total and Elf.

The Requirements

Project EUCHARIS, a joint industry project researching into gas hydrates, has been commissioned by six oil companies and the UK Health & Safety Executive to provide solutions to the problem of hydrates formation in oil and gas production operations, particularly offshore. Prediction and prevention of the formation of hydrates will allow design and operation of offshore facilities to be engineered with greater confidence than is presently the case, with a marked reduction in associated costs and with significant improvements in safety.

The project's objectives are:-

(i) to demonstrate the feasibility of new low-dose additives to control crystal growth kinetics and/or to avoid agglomeration, so allowing hydrates to flow in suspension without plugging production lines or facilities.

(ii) to develop design tools, which would enable the most effective form of hydrate control for flowing systems to be identified.

Synopsis

The programme of research combines investigations into understanding the kinetics of hydrate formation with the development and testing of chemical additives.

Laboratory studies are being carried out into hydrate nucleation modelling, including static cell studies; deployment; flow across a restriction; and demonstration of the feasibility of new low dose additives, including laboratory flow loop validation.

Pilot testing to validate the results will follow. Tests will be carried out at large scale using a pilot loop which has been specially designed for hydrates purposes at the IFP Research Centre at Solaize (France). Tests will be undertaken without and then with additives on dry gas, gas with condensate and crude oil. Design rules and field implementation will be established.

Deliverables

1) Individual reports for each experimental programme

2) Half yearly progress reports

3) Design tool to analyse potential hydrate forming systems to identify effective control solutions

4) Laboratory Studies report to demonstrate efficiency of new additives to control hydrate formation at laboratory tests

5) PilotTesting report to indicate rheological and hydrodynamic properties of wellhead streams without and with additives when placed under pressure and temperature conditions leading to hydrate development

6) Concluding report providing information on and recommendation for use of additives in field applications

7) Additives deployment study

Successful results will add value by

Cost reduction in design and operation of offshore facilities

Improvements in offshore safety

Increased confidence in engineering of multiphase systems for satellite field production

About the research providers

IFP: Dr Alexandre Rojey, Thierry Palermo, Georges Bouix, Pierre Rol(EvE)

BP: Brian Oswald, Dr Stephen Goodwin, Jonathan Boughey

ICSTM: Dr Stephen Richardson, Dr Graham Saville, David Mestres-Ridge

IITRI: Majeed Yousif