Electrically Heat-Traced Flowline on Aerfugl Phase 2 Project -Performance and Operational Feedbacks

Abstract

AbstractAs part of the Skarv field development strategy, the Ærfugl phase 2 project is a ~13km tie-back requiring an electrical heating flowline to provide reliable and cost-effective hydrate management.This paper will present the results of the in-field performance test and how they compare to the system intended basis of design then evaluate the operational advantages of such technical solution for an Operator.In production since November 2021, the operational feedback on the highly insulated Pipe-in-Pipe associated to the Distributed Temperature monitoring System (DTS) and data gathered during the performance test at first shutdown are used to confirm the system thermal & electrical heating performances as delivered, compare against the intended design basis, validate the operational benefits of the system in both passive and active modes for the Operator and quantify the operational gains during production shutdown.In close collaboration with the operator, the temperature monitoring data have been collected and processed to be correlated with the thermal insulation efficiency to validate the design envelop. In addition, several months of production feedback, it is demonstrated that the combination of the very efficient passive thermal insulation obtained using Izoflex in a reduced-pressure environment and a distributed temperature sensing system leads to reduced production risks and an increased operational flexibilityThe performance test data of the electrical heating system confirming the design prediction is the ultimate demonstration of the readiness of the Electrically Heat-Traced Flowline at a project scale. This is a major achievement for such technology which thanks to its improved maturity level is confirmed as playing an important role in future subsea developments to safely increase production and provide operational flexibility with low carbon emissions.This paper will show for the very first time on a sizable project the actual performance of an electrical heating pipe-in-pipe in conjunction with in-depth operational feedback on the use of a temperature monitoring system in a flowline. The associated operational gains for a particular case study are now demonstrated.