Successful Metal Loss and Choke Health Simulation and Predictions Save Time and Cost - Case Study

Abstract

Abstract The current practices in oil & Gas industry lack digitalization in the field of Sand Management. A recently developed simulator was identified and employed to conduct a pilot study and hence compare the metal loss and choke health data with the real field thickness sensor and choke inspection data. The objective of the Study was to carry out an analysis of the current challenges in the Sand Management portfolio of the organization and to present solutions via the software. The challenges included: Identifying the Total Metal Loss & Deposition hotspots for entire field.Development of a robust strategy to manage production chokes.Study of corrosion effects on erosion due to sand.The obtained results to be in accordance with the actual field conditions.Provide recommendations for efficient sand management and cost savings. A thorough Sand Management study inclusive of Total Metal Loss (Erosion + Corrosion), Depositional and Handling risks related to the Well and Facility were studied using the software's advanced sand travel logics, unique features & multi-level sensitivity analysis. The main Outputs from the study were: Metal Loss Hotspots & their values for all the facility pipelines were identified, calibrated and Validated.The study provided road maps to answer the uncertainties related to the incoming Particle Size Distribution (PSD), incoming and surface Sand Concentration through work-flows and sensitivity analysis.A Choke Management workflow was displayed which not only simulates the current condition of the choke but can also predicts future failures and help in optimizing choke for longevity.Component Life & Minimum Allowable wall thickness calculations. At the end of this phase, the results were presented & validated by the Petronas Technical team. As a result of the above study, the benefits of the software's accurate predictions were: Cost & Time Saving: the frequency of sand sensor data collection can be increased. Also, since the hotspots have already been pin-pointed by the simulator, there is no need to conduct the metal loss sensor survey for the entire pipeline, it can be focused to the hotspots only.Carbon Footprint Reduction: Higher frequency would result in lower human intervention.The metal Loss and health data can be visualized on a real-time basis hence a more pro-active approach can be applied to tackle the integrity issues. Substantial increase in revenue and reduction in expenditure can be done by predicting and mitigating the sand related risks. This Simulator can cover the entire cradle to grave period of a field & this new outlook of sand management would be highly beneficial to industry.