Perspectives of Flow Assurance Problems in Oil and Gas Production: A Mini-review
Asheesh Kumar
Abstract
Flow assurance is essential to a sustainable oil and gas production system; if not managed appropriately, it may cause huge CapEx/OpEx and is also a life-threatening phenomenon. Therefore, a systematic investigation of the formation/deposition mechanisms and reliable mitigation/management strategies is vital to control the significant flow assurance problems of gas hydrates deposition/blockage, wax/asphaltenes deposition, multiphase flow, scale formation, sand transport, and corrosion problems. This review aims to deliver rationalized and brief information accumulated in the current state of the art on all kinds of flow assurance issues faced by the oil and gas industries. This review will offer new insights into the fundamental mechanistic steps of deposition and blockage in oil and gas production systems that assist in developing new inhibition chemistries. The innovative techniques utilized to probe the depositions and assess the inhibitor’s performance are also presented along with their advantages and limitations. Overall, this paper will support flow assurance engineers in managing pipeline blockage risk triggered due to the problems mentioned above.