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Slugging in Pipelines:

What You NEED to Know


Mona Trick
Advisor – Flow Software
Schlumberger
mtrick@slb.com

1
Outline

• Why Worry?
• Hydrodynamic Slugs
• Terrain Induced Slugs
• Turn Up Slugs
• Pigging Slugs
• Slug Modelling: Where Are We?
• Areas Currently Being Researched
• Conclusions
2
Why Worry?
• Damage to facilities

• Separators flooding

• Increased corrosion

• Starving compressors

• High back pressures

3
Hydrodynamic Slugs
Slugs can be created by just flowing

…and there might be lots


of them …
Steady state mechanistic
models will account for
hydrodynamic slugging
(OLGAS, XIAO models)
4
Hydrodynamic Slugs

28 6700

6600
27
Liquid Inlet Pressure
6500
Inventory m3 kPa
26
6400

25 6300
0.0 0.5 1.0
Time hours

5
Superficial Liquid Velocity (ft/sec)
Avoiding Hydrodynamic Slugs

10
Bubble

1
Slug Wave
0.1

0.01
0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Superficial Gas Velocity (ft/sec)
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Terrain Induced Slugs

A Slug can be created by liquid trapped in


the pipeline at low spots

….. Irregular ..….

7
Terrain Induced Slug - Severe
Severe Slugging
Stage 1
Gas blockage can
Gas occur in downward
sloped flow line at
Liquid
riser base

A liquid slug begins


to form in the riser

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Terrain Induced Slug - Severe

Severe Slugging
Stage 2
Riser fills, and
Gas
liquid begins to
Liquid
unload into the
separator

Gas pressure builds


up behind slug!!!

9
Terrain Induced Slug - Severe

Severe Slugging
Stage 3

Gas Gas penetrates


into the riser
Liquid

Liquid begins to
unload rapidly

10
Terrain Induced Slug - Severe

Severe Slugging
Stage 4
Liquid blows through
Gas
with residual fallback
Liquid
Gas blockage
occurs, and cycle
begins again

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Terrain Induced Slug

Steady State Multiphase Software:


• Severe slugging: Fuchs and Pots
correlations give contradictory results but
Pots can give indication of potential severe
slugging
• Cannot predict other terrain induced slugging
• Check for high liquid holdup in low spots and
low liquid velocities

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Terrain Induced Slug

Use a Transient Multiphase Model to


Determine:

• Whether terrain induced slugging will occur


• Length and size of slug
• Transit time of slug
• Frequency of slug
• Separator size required to handle the slug
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Severe Slugging Liquid Flow Rate
2500 7500

2000
7000

1500
Outlet Liquid Inlet Pressure
6500
Rate m3/d kPa
1000

6000
500

0 5500
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
Time hours

14
Separator Size

15
Avoiding Terrain Induced Slugs
In Onshore Pipelines:
• Increase gas flow rates
• Decrease diameter

In Offshore Risers:
• Add riser base gas injection
• Increase backpressure

16
Turn Up Slugs
A Slug can be created by a Flow Rate change
…….

….. but only when it increases ..….


Slug volume = difference between liquid
holdup at 2 flow rates
Use transient model to rigorously model
17
Turn Up Slugs

1200 6900

1000

800 6800
Outlet Liquid Inlet Pressure
600
Rate m3/d kPa
400 6700

200

0 6600
0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0
Time hours

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Pigging Slugs
Slugs can be created by Pigging

.. but typically just one..….


Slug volume = total liquid in pipe minus volume
dumped into the separator during pig transit
Use transient multiphase model to accurately
model pigging slug size and transit time
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Pig Position and Pig Velocity
4

8
3
6
Pig Position km 2 Pig Velocity m/s
4

1
2

0 0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5
Time hours

20
Liquid Inventory from Pigging
70 6700

60 6650
50
6600
Liquid Inventory 40 Inlet Pressure
6550
m3 30 kPaa
6500
20

10 6450

0 6400
0 2 4 6 8 10
Time hours

21
Slug Modelling: Where are We?

22
Slug Modelling: Where are We?

23
Slug Modelling: Where are We?

24
Slug Modelling: Where are We?

25
Slug Modelling: Where are We?

26
Slug Modelling: Where are We?
Mechanistic Models Use the “Unit Cell Model”

• Developed by Taitel in 1980’s


• Liquid picked up from liquid film = liquid shed
• In mechanistic models now (OLGAS, XIAO)
• Accurate pressure gradients and holdup
in fully developed slugs 27
Areas Currently Being Researched

• Flow pattern transition to / from slug flow in


steady state
• More robust models for
• Liquid holdup in liquid slug (gas entrainment)
• Gas velocity in liquid slug (turbulence within
the liquid slug)
• Liquid holdup in elongated bubble
• Liquid slug translational velocity
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Conclusions
• Define what you mean by “slugging”
- hydrodynamic
- terrain induced
- turn up
- pigging
• Transient modelling provides additional
information
• Mechanistic modelling of slug flow
understood but still actively being
researched and improved
29
Acknowledgements
• Dr. Garry Gregory and Dr. Khalid Aziz
• For creating the multiphase video at the
University of Calgary
• For the images for severe slugging and slug
flow
• Pablo Adames
• For updates on the current state of slug
research and parsing the multiphase video
• Schlumberger for sponsoring
• My time to prepare and present this talk
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Slugging in Pipelines:
What You NEED to Know
Mona Trick
Advisor – Flow Software
Schlumberger
mtrick@slb.com

31

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