Numerical modeling of Slug flows in multiphase pipeline system of lion offshore oil fields

Abstract

Oil and gas transportation by the pipelines among different production wells from one or more reservoirs is one primary part of an oil field development plan. When multiple pipelines transporting oil and gas from different fields are collected on the same Central Processing Platform (CPP) or Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSO), however, the fluid behavior in multiphase flow pipelines become more complicated and often cause slugging problems that badly impact on downstream facility performance. It is, therefore, necessary to investigate the slug flow to control and/or improve flow stability in the pipeline systems. In this paper, the workflow for building and calibrating a multiphase flow model are described. The numerical model is then applied for the pipeline system of Lion oilfields in Cuu Long Basin, Southern Vietnam. Sensitivity analysis have been performed to investigate the influences of various factors on the slug flow in the pipeline system. The results from this work would be useful for tracking and controlling the slugging effect on the separator performance.