Slug flow control using topside measurements: A review

Nnabuife, Somtochukwu Godfrey; Tandoh, Henry; Whidborne, James F.

doi:10.1016/j.ceja.2021.100204

Cited by 18 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Slug catcher design also requires information on the slug flow characteristic parameters to achieve optimal gas–liquid separation [ 39 ]. Topside slugging control for a riser system requires real-time slug flow monitoring that is automated with the control valve systems [ 40 ]. Moreover, slug flow can accelerate corrosion and erosion due to their high translational velocities and the highly turbulent zoom at the slug front that could possibly lead to cavitation [ 41 , 42 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of Gas–Liquid Two-Phase Slug Flow Using Distributed Acoustic Sensing in Horizontal Pipes

Ali,

Jin,

Fan

2024

Sensors

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This article discusses the use of distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) for monitoring gas–liquid two-phase slug flow in horizontal pipes, using standard telecommunication fiber optics connected to a DAS integrator for data acquisition. The experiments were performed in a 14 m long, 5 cm diameter transparent PVC pipe with a fiber cable helically wrapped around the pipe. Using mineral oil and compressed air, the system captured various flow rates and gas–oil ratios. New algorithms were developed to characterize slug flow using DAS data, including slug frequency, translational velocity, and the lengths of slug body, slug unit, and the liquid film region that had never been discussed previously. This study employed a high-speed camera next to the fiber cable sensing section for validation purposes and achieved a good correlation among the measurements under all conditions tested. Compared to traditional multiphase flow sensors, this technology is non-intrusive and offers continuous, real-time measurement across long distances and in harsh environments, such as subsurface or downhole conditions. It is cost-effective, particularly where multiple measurement points are required. Characterizing slug flow in real time is crucial to many industries that suffer slug-flow-related issues. This research demonstrated the DAS’s potential to characterize slug flow quantitively. It will offer the industry a more optimal solution for facility design and operation and ensure safer operational practices.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of Gas–Liquid Two-Phase Slug Flow Using Distributed Acoustic Sensing in Horizontal Pipes

Ali,

Jin,

Fan

2024

Sensors

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“…It consists of about 300 sensors and actuators, including some advanced sensing instruments, such as different online OiW monitors. The data used in this paper are generated from this pilot plant subject to conditions emulating changes in production due to, e.g., slugging [33]. The different separation systems of the pilot plant are seen in Figure 4, as well as the industrial hydrocyclone liners and the installed OiW monitors.…”

Section: Experimental Set-up and Experiments Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hammerstein–Wiener Model Identification for Oil-in-Water Separation Dynamics in a De-Oiling Hydrocyclone System

Jespersen,

Yang,

Hansen

et al. 2023

Energies

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To reduce the environmental impact of offshore oil and gas, the hydrocarbon discharge regulations tend to become more stringent. One way to reduce the oil discharge is to improve the control systems by introducing new oil-in-water (OiW) sensing technologies and advanced control. De-oiling hydrocyclones are commonly used in offshore facilities for produced water treatment (PWT), but obtaining valid control-oriented models of hydrocyclones has proven challenging. Existing control-oriented models are often based on droplet trajectory analysis. While it has been demonstrated that these models can fit steady-state separation efficiency data, the dynamics of these models have either not been validated experimentally or only describe part of the dynamics. In addition to the inlet OiW concentration, they require the droplet size distribution to be measured, which complicates model validation as well as implementation. This work presents an approach to obtain validated nonlinear models of the discharge concentration, separation efficiency, and discharge rate, which do not require the droplet size distribution to be measured. An exhaustive search approach is used to identify control-oriented polynomial-type Hammerstein–Wiener (HW) models of de-oiling hydrocyclones based on concentration measurements from online OiW monitors. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this modeling approach, a PI controller is designed using the Skogestad internal model control (SIMC) tuning rules to control the discharge OiW concentration directly. The identification experiment emulates an offshore PWT system with installed OiW monitors, which is realistic with the legislative incentive to include online OiW discharge measurements. The proposed approach could enable the application of OiW-based control on existing offshore PWT facilities, resulting in improved de-oiling performance and reduced oil discharge.

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“…A bifurcation analysis (manual choking) was done to identify the stability point of the different slugging conditions chosen for further investigation work. From the flow regime map produced, three flow conditions within the slug regime were identified and investigated using the bifurcation analysis [20].…”

Section: Procedures For Flow Stability In Open Loopmentioning

confidence: 99%