METHODOLOGICAL AND ALGORITHMIC SUPPORT OF AN AUTOMATED EXPERIMENTAL INSTALLATION FOR REMOVING HYDRATES IN A GAS-CONDENSATE FLUID IN A PIPELINE

Abstract

The relevance of the study is caused by the fact that at present the problem of hydrate formation is quite acute in the global oil and gas industry. The accumulation of hydrates in the pipeline section or in certain units of hydrocarbon treatment units can lead to disruption of the technological process, equipment failure, and decrease in the quality of finished products for the consumer. The main task is to timely determine the presence of hydrates in the pipeline cavity or correctly predict its formation and accumulation. There are many methods of combating hydrate formation, but they can be high-cost, ineffective or have a high hazard class. The article discusses a new way to eliminate hydrate formation and suggests a methodology for automating the process. The hardware part is considered as a simulation experimental stand for conducting experiments, checking analytical calculations and automation. The software part presents a technique for automating the determination of zones of possible hydrate formation, which allows better assessment, and a program for the automated operation of a pilot industrial sample in real conditions. Operation algorithms, emergency and normal shutdown algorithms are described. For a more accurate and quick analysis of problem areas of hydrate formation, as well as trouble-free operation of the unit, a rigorous algorithm was developed. The command system of the algorithm includes all emergency situations, possible errors, and limiting operating modes. The operation of all algorithms was tested in a practical way by simulating the system real operation and supplying conditional signals to the input of the installation software module. The main aim of the research is to apply and analyze the operation of algorithmic support for the operation of an experimental plant for removal of hydrates formation from a gas-condensate fluid flow. Object: autonomous modular installation for removing hydrate formation. Methods: theoretical methods for substantiating the regularity of the flow of heat and mass transfer, calculation and analytical method for determining the quality of the developed software, practical methods for conducting experiments. Results. The authors have built the laboratory stand on the basis of the National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, carried out experiments for various gas flows with different thermobaric conditions, developed algorithmic support to automate the installation, tested the system.

Keywords

• hydrate formation
• algorithm
• software package
• accumulation of hydrates
• cyclone