Hydrate Plug Computer Tool

Abstract

Petroleum transportation pipelines are occasionally plugged by gas hydrate. Such plugs can be very costly because of delayed production and complicated removal procedures. The objective of this work was to develop a prototype computer program, with a collection of calculation modules, that could be useful in connection with the removal of hydrate plugs, and that could be extended in future to a more comprehensive tool. The program presently consists of five calculation modules. Most of the focus of this paper will be on the first of these‐a module that can be used to analyze pressure time series to monitor plug dissociation progress.