Flow Assurance

Flow Assurance
THE TERM FLOW ASSURANCE is used to
evaluate the effects of fluid hydrocarbon
solids (i.e., asphaltene, wax, and hydrate)
and their potential to disrupt production
due to depositionin the flow system.

 are high molecular weight aromatic organic

substances soluble in aromatic solvents (e.g.,
toluene, diesel) but precipitated by the addition
of molecular-weight alkenes (e.g., n-heptane/npentane).
The molecular weight of asphaltene ranges from
1000 to several hundreds of thousands with a
microparticles density of approximately 1.2
gm/cc.
Generally , asphaltenes tend to remain in
solution or colloidal suspension under reservoir
temperature and pressure conditions.

 Asphaltenes may start to precipitate once

the stability of the colloidal suspension is
destabilized, which is caused by the
changes in temperature or pressure
during primary depletion.
On the other hand, asphaltenes have been
reported to become unstable as a result of
fluid blending (comingling) of fluid
streams as well as by gas injection during
improved oil recovery (IOR) operations.

 Asphaltene solubility is highly dependent on

the composition of the crude, less
dependent on the pressure, and hardly
dependent on temperature. Asphaltene
solubility is higher when the crude is heavier
and more aromatic, that is, tends to remain
in the crude oil system. A high asphaltene
content of crude does not necessarily mean
that flowing problems will occur during
production; often the contrary is the case

For example,
The Venezuelan Boscan crude, which is
very heavy, containing 17% of
asphaltenes, was produced nearly trouble
free. On the other hand, the Algerian
Hassi-Messaond crude, which is very
light, contains only 0.062% of
asphaltenes, met with difficulties during
production.

crude oil composition

It should be noted that the solubility of the heaviest oil
fraction, the asphaltenes, depends on a delicate balance
between this fraction and the lighter fractions of the
crude oil.
Any unfavorable disturbance in this balance may induce
asphaltene aggregation.
For instance, the addition of light, paraffin components to
an asphaltene containing crude oil lowers the solubility
power with respect to the asphaltenes.
As already stated, resin molecules react to the addition
of the light paraffin components by desorbing from the
asphaltenes in an attempt to reestablish thermodynamic
equilibrium, thus increasing the probability of asphaltene
self aggregation

Pressure effect
Asphaltenes are also known to aggregate by pressure
depletion alone.
By decreasing the pressure, the relative volume fraction
of the light components within the crude oil increases.
This causes an increase in the solubility parameter
difference between the crude oil and the asphaltenes,
reaching a maximum at the bubble-point pressure.
Below the bubble point, asphaltenes are more soluble
again due to evaporation of light crude oil components.
The relative change in asphaltene solubility has been
shown to be highest for light crude oils that are
undersaturated with gas and usually contain only a small
amount of asphaltenes.
This means, somewhat surprisingly, that heavy crudes
usually present fewer problems with asphaltene
aggregation and precipitation, despite their higher

Temperature effect
Temperature has a less pronounced effect on
aggregation than crude oil composition and
pressure, but an increase in temperature
generally affects the aggregation of
asphaltenes by decreasing the solvating
power of the crude oil.
Some authors state that the asphaltene
aggregate size decreases with increasing
temperature, while others state that the
precipitation of asphaltenes increases with
temperature.

Preliminary Screening for

Hydrocarbon Solids
De Boer and Leeriooyer (1992)
compared the properties of some
crude oils in which asphaltene
problems were encountered with those
that operated trouble free. This
comparison is shown in Table 64 for
10 oil systems.

Table 64 shows, in addition to observations by

De Boer and Leeriooyer, several parameters can
be used to identify crudes with the potential to
cause flow assurance problems, these are
1. Light crudes high in C1C3 with relatively low
C7+ content.
2. High bubble-point pressure, pb.
3. Large difference between reservoir pressure,
pr, and bubble-point pressure; that is, under
saturation, p = pi pb, is high.
4. High oil-compressibility coefficient, co.

Additional literature review suggests:

Maximum solids deposit occurs near or at the bubblepoint pressure in the piping system.
Precipitation occurs during gas lift if gas bubbles are
formed.
Asphaltene deposit can occur as a result of exposure
of oil to a low-pH environment
(typically, pH less than 4) during acid treatment of wells.
Reservoir wettability reversal occurs after asphaltene
deposit.
The risk of asphaltene deposit due to gas injection

De Boer and Leeriooyer proposed a plot that can be used as a

first screening tool to identify the potential for the oil to exhibit
solid formation problems. The plot, called a De Boer plot, was
developed based on laboratory data and numerous field
observations. The plot, as shown in Figure 64, defines the
following three regions:
Region with possible severe solid deposit problems.
Region with mild problems.
Region with no solid deposit problems.
Denoting pi and pb as the initial pressure and bubble-point
pressure, respectively,
the boundaries of the three regions are defined by the
undersaturation pressure difference (pi pb) on the y-axis and
the oil density at the initial reservoir pressure on the x-axis.

The colloidal instability

index (CII)
The colloidal instability index (CII) is
another screening criteria, suggested
by Yen, Yin, and Asomaning (2001), that
can be used to identify crude oil
systems with deposit problems. The
colloidal instability index is expressed
as the ratio of the sum of asphaltenes

Oils with a CII below 0.7 are considered stable

while those of above 0.9 are considered very
unstable. A graphical presentation of this
screening approach is shown in Figure 66 as
expressed in terms of (asphaltenes + saturates)
content versus (aromatics + resins) content in the
hydrocarbon system. This graphical relationship
identifies three regions:
Unstable.
Mild problems.
Stable.

stability index
Finally, an asphaltene stability index
developed by Oilphase-Schlumberger
is shown in
Figure 67. The illustration suggests
that, if
(oi ob) > 0.025, system is unstable
(oi ob) < 0.025, system is stable

variety of flow-assurance management

strategies may be tailored to address the specific
problems expected in the system; they include:
Thermal management, such as hot water
circulation electrical heating.
Pressure management, such as pumping,
boosting, blowdown for hydrates.
Chemical treatment.
Routine or periodic remediation processes,
such as pigging, jetting, cutting.