Mathematical Modeling and Simulation of Hydrate Formation Conditions in Nigerian Oil and Gas Pipelines

Abstract

The transportation of production and processing of petroleum fluids in pipelines and other transport lines can be significantly affected by flocculation, deposition and plugging. This problem has tremendously affected Nigerian pipelines for oil and gas transport. In this paper, the flow assurance considered includes the prevention, mitigation and remediation of hydrate. A mathematical model for predicting the equilibrium conditions for hydrate formation is:

and simulations carried out to compare with experimental data. This model would be used to predict the hydrate formation temperature for given operating pressure so as to determine the hydrate inhibition requirement for the pipeline.

Keywords:

• Equilibrium conditions
• flow assurance
• hydrate formation