Balancing Chemical Solutions and Engineering Solutions: A Holistic Approach to Flow Assurance Risk Management

On the one hand, although chemical additives are widely applied to prevent or manage flow assurance risks, it is not uncommon that 1) the applied chemicals fail to achieve the desired outcomes, or worse, 2) chemicals themselves have created additional production problems and/or risks to asset integrity or operation efficiency. On the other hand, there are instances that 1) engineering (i.e. non-chemical) solutions are simply preferred over chemical solutions, even though the latter may offer significant savings especially in capital expenditure (CAPEX), or 2) a production system was inadequately designed to allow effective chemical applications when a flow assurance problem has become apparent and a chemical solution becomes necessary.

This presentation attempts to strike a balanced view, where both the value of chemical solutions to flow assurance and its necessity in certain operating environments are duly recognized, but improvement of chemical applications and alternate options are also highlighted. The presenter believes that a holistic approach to flow assurance risk management will help reduce, if not eliminate, some missteps that may result in a flawed flow assurance strategy. This approach would recommend the following practices:

• Form a multi-disciplinary team covering a range of technical backgrounds and expertise, including both non-chemical and chemical subject matter experts (SME’s), drawn from operator, design/engineering firm and chemical service company
• Identify and assess all the potential flow assurance risks that may occur in the early field life but also understand the evolving nature of flow assurance risks during the entire field life cycle
• Identify alternates (mechanical, thermal, electrical, operational and chemical) to prevent/manage the flow assurance risks
• Develop the preferred alternate which may be engineering solution only, or chemical solution only, or a combination of both
• Ensure proper documentation of decision rationales and knowledge -gained from development phase and its transition to the operating staff
• Allow flexibility in the production system to accommodate future, new chemical applications, if needed

In addition, this presenter will highlight several key obstacles/challenges that have been hindering a wider acceptance of chemical applications in the flow assurance area.