Subsea Oil Spill Flow Assurance

Macondo and Ixtoc were two different large-volume oil-spill events. To improve response to possible future events, the industry is preparing for the broad domain of possible oil spill scenarios–from a first set of spill scenarios for which metal-to-metal, mechanical connection systems are suited to a second set of other scenarios with disparate spill sources not amenable to metal-to-metal seal solutions. For this second set, better insight and scientific understanding of the flow assurance challenges are important in developing robust response and capture systems. This paper discusses some of the flow assurance issues and challenges associated with capture systems for the second set of scenarios.