Slugging in Pipelines:

What You NEED to Know

Mona Trick
Advisor – Flow Software
Schlumberger
[email protected]

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)
6
 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

8
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

11
 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

12
 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
13
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

18
 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
19
 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
28
 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
30
 Slugging in Pipelines:
What You NEED to Know
Mona Trick
Advisor – Flow Software
Schlumberger
[email protected]

31