1.

1 Overview
The first pipeline was built in the United States in 1859 to transport crude oil (Wolbert,
1952). Through the one-and-a-half century of pipeline operating practice, the petroleum
industry has proven that pipelines are by far the most economical means of large scale
overland transportation for crude oil, natural gas, and their products, clearly superior to
rail and truck transportation over competing routes, given large quantities to be moved on
a regular basis. Transporting petroleum fluids with pipelines is a continuous and reliable
operation. Pipelines have demonstrated an ability to adapt to a wide variety of environments
including remote areas and hostile environments. Because of their superior flexibility
to the alternatives, with very minor exceptions, largely due to local peculiarities, most
refineries are served by one or more pipelines.
Man’s inexorable demand for petroleum products intensified the search for oil in the
offshore regions of the world as early as 1897, when the offshore oil exploration and
production started from the Summerland, California (Leffler et al., 2003). The first
offshore pipeline was born in the Summerland, an idyllic-sounding spot just southeast
of Santa Barbara. Since then the offshore pipeline has become the unique means of
efficiently transporting offshore fluids, i.e., oil, gas, and water.
Offshore pipelines can be classified as follows (Figure 1.1):
. Flowlines transporting oil and/or gas from satellite subsea wells to subsea manifolds;
. Flowlines transporting oil and/or gas from subsea manifolds to production facility
platforms;
. Infield flowlines transporting oil and/or gas between production facility platforms;
. Export pipelines transporting oil and/or gas from production facility platforms to shore;
and
. Flowlines transporting water or chemicals from production facility platforms, through
subsea injection manifolds, to injection wellheads.
The further downstream from the subsea wellhead, as more streams commingle, the
larger the diameter of the pipelines. Of course, the pipelines are sized to handle the
expected pressure and fluid flow. To ensure desired flow rate of product, pipeline size varies
significantly from project to project. To contain the pressures, wall thicknesses of the
pipelines range from 3/8 inch to 11⁄2 inch.
1.2 Pipeline Design
Design of offshore pipelines is usually carried out in three stages: conceptual engineering,
preliminary engineering, and detail engineering. During the conceptual engineering stage,
issues of technical feasibility and constraints on the system design and construction
are addressed. Potential difficulties are revealed and non-viable options are eliminated.
Required information for the forthcoming design and construction are identified. The
outcome of the conceptual engineering allows for scheduling of development and a rough
estimate of associated cost. The preliminary engineering defines system concept (pipeline
size and grade), prepares authority applications, and provides design details sufficient to
order pipeline. In the detail engineering phase, the design is completed in sufficient detail
to define the technical input for all procurement and construction tendering. The
materials covered in this book fit mostly into the preliminary engineering.
A complete pipeline design includes pipeline sizing (diameter and wall thickness) and
material grade selection based on analyses of stress, hydrodynamic stability, span, thermal
insulation, corrosion and stability coating, and riser specification. The following data
establish design basis:

Reservoir performance
. Fluid and water compositions
. Fluid PVT properties
. Sand concentration
. Sand particle distribution
. Geotechnical survey data
. Meteorological and oceanographic data

Table 1.1 shows sizes of some pipelines. This table also gives order of magnitude of typical
diameter/wall thickness ratios (D/t). Smaller diameter pipes are often flowlines with high
design pressure leading to D/t between 15 and 20. For deepwater, transmission lines with
D/t of 25 to 30 are more common. Depending upon types, some pipelines are bundled and
others are thermal- or concrete-coated steel pipes to reduce heat loss and increase stability.

Table 1: sample pipeline sizes

Pipeline Installation
Once design is finalized, pipeline is ordered for pipe construction and coating and/or
insulation fabrication. Upon shipping to the site, pipeline can be installed. There are
several methods for pipeline installation including S-lay, J-lay, reel barge, and tow-in
methods. As depicted in Figure 1.2, the S-lay requires a laying barge to have on its
Pipeline Operations
Pipeline operation starts with pipeline testing and commissioning. Operations to be
carried out include flooding, cleaning, gauging, hydrostatic pressure testing, leak testing,
and commissioning procedures. Daily operations include flow assurance and pigging
operations to maintain the pipeline under good conditions.
Flow assurance is defined as an operation that generates a reliable flow of fluids from the
reservoir to the sales point. The operation deals with formation and depositions of gas
hydrates, paraffin, asphaltenes, and scales that can reduce flow efficiency of oil and gas
pipelines. Because of technical challenges involved, this operation requires the combined
efforts of a multidisciplinary team consisting of scientists, engineers, and field personnel.
Technical challenges in the flow assurance operation include prevention and control of
depositions of gas hydrates, paraffin (wax), asphaltenes, and scales in the oil and gas
production systems. Usually one or two of these problems dominate in a given oil/gas
field.
Natural gas hydrate is formed when methane molecules—the primary component of
natural gas—are trapped in a microscopic cage of water molecules under certain pressure
and temperature conditions (Katz and Lee, 1990). As a rough rule of thumb, methane
hydrate will form in a natural gas system if free water is available at a temperature as high
as 408F and a pressure as low as 170 psig. Decreasing temperature and increasing pressure
are favorable for hydrate formation (Guo et al., 1992). Hydrate forming conditions are
predictable with computer programs. Natural gas hydrate can form within gas pipelines as
a solid or semi-solid mass that can slow or completely block gas flow. Clearing hydrateplugged
pipelines is an expensive and time-consuming task that can take as long as several
weeks. There are five methods for preventing hydrate formation (Makogon, 1997):

Remove free water from the system,

. Keep the system operating temperature above the hydrate formation threshold,
. Maintain the system operating pressure below the hydrate formation threshold,
. Inject hydrate inhibitors, such as methanol and glycol, to effectively decrease the hydrate
formation temperature, or delay hydrate crystal growth, and
. Add anti-agglomerates to prevent the aggregation of hydrate crystals.
The choice of which methods to use depends upon system characteristics, technology
availability, and cost considerations.
Paraffin or wax (n-alkane) has a straight chain linear structure composed entirely of
carbon and hydrogen (Becker, 1997). The long-chain paraffin (>C20H42) components
cause deposition or congealing oil in crude oil systems. Paraffin can deposit from the
fractures in the formation rock to the pipelines that deliver oil to the refineries. The
deposits can vary in consistency from rock hard for the highest chain length paraffin to
very soft, mayonnaise-like congealing oil deposits. Paraffin components account for a
significant portion of a majority of crude oils heavier than 208 API. One of the primary
methods of controlling paraffin deposits is to use solvent. Complete success in paraffin
removal has been elusive, depending on the type of deposit being dissolved, its location in
the system, the temperature, and type of application. A number of factors can affect the
removal of paraffin from a production system using solvent. Some of the most important
factors are: types of solvents used, type of paraffin, quantity of paraffin, temperature, and
contact time. Even the best paraffin solvent applied to long-chain paraffin at low temperature
for too short a time will fail to give a clean system. A poor solvent applied to
short-chain paraffin at high temperature in large quantities will clean the system every
time. Different solvents have different abilities to dissolve paraffin. Two general classes of
solvents used in the oilfield to dissolve paraffin are aliphatic and aromatic. Common
aliphatic solvents used in the oilfield are diesel, kerosene, and condensate. Aromatic
solvents used are xylene and toluene. Solvents are frequently chosen based on price per
gallon or price per barrel rather than effectiveness.
Other techniques used for paraffin removal include mechanical scratching and hot fluid
treatments. Magnetic treatment of crude oils has also been reported to reduce paraffin
deposition in wells.
Asphaltenes identified in oil production systems are generally high molecular weight
organic fractions of crude oils that are soluble in toluene, but are insoluble in alkanes
(Becker, 1997). Asphaltene precipitation from crude oils can cause serious problems in
the reservoir, wellbore, and in the production facilities. Asphaltenes remain in solution
under reservoir temperature and pressure conditions. They destabilize and start to precipitate
when pressure and temperature changes occur during primary oil production. The
precipitated asphaltene particles then grow in size and may start to deposit onto the
production string and/or flowlines, causing operational problems. Several factors, including
the oil composition, pressure and temperature, and the properties of asphaltene,
influence asphaltene precipitation from reservoir oil. A variety of models for predicting
the onset of asphaltene precipitation from live crude oil are available in the literature.
These models have been proposed based on different microscopic theories. Each model has
its limitations due to the inherent assumptions built-in. A common practice for remediating
or mitigating well impairment caused by asphaltene deposition consists of periodic treatments with a solvent (i.e.,
washing the tubing and squeezing into the near-wellbore
formation). However, an economical limitation exists because of the transient effect of
such cleanup operations. In addition, solvents in use in the field, such as xylene or
naphtha, did not completely dissolve the asphalt deposits or completely extract asphaltenes
fixed on clay minerals.
Scale deposits of many different chemical compositions are formed as a result of
crystallization and precipitation of minerals from the produced water (Becker, 1998).
The most common scale is formed from calcium carbonate (commonly known as calcite).
These deposits become solids, which cause problems in pipelines and equipment when
they are attached to the walls. This reduces the diameter of the pipes and the crosssectional
area available for flow. Scale is one of the most common and costly problems in
the petroleum industry. This is because it interferes with the production of oil and gas,
resulting in an additional cost for treatment, protection, and removal. Scale also results in a
loss of profit that makes marginal wells uneconomical. Scale deposition can be minimized
using scale inhibition chemicals. Antiscale magnetic treatment methods have been studied
for the past few decades as a new alternative. Acid washing treatments are also used for
removal of scale deposits in wells.
Deepwater exploration and development have become key activities for the majority of
oil and gas exploration and production companies. Development activities in the deepwater
face significant challenges in flow assurance due mainly to high pressure and low
temperature of seawater (Hatton et al., 2002). Of particular concern are the effects of
produced fluid hydrocarbon solids (i.e., asphaltene, wax, and hydrate) and their potential
to disrupt production due to deposition in the production system (Zhang et al., 2002).
It has been noted that the deposition of inorganic solids arising from the aqueous
phase (i.e., scale) also poses a serious threat to flow assurance. Gas hydrate plugging
problems can occur in deepwater drilling, gas production, and gas transportation through
pipelines. The potential for hydrocarbon solid formation and deposition adversely affecting
flow assurance in deepwater production systems is a key risk factor in assessing
deepwater developments. To reduce this risk, a systematic approach to defining and
understanding the thermodynamic and hydrodynamic factors impacting flow assurance
is required.
Flow assurance engineering has been known as an operation that does not directly make
money, but costs a great deal in pipeline operations, if not managed correctly.