13-10-2014, 03:49 PM
With the advent of petroleum products, it becomes essential to study the exploration technology in a well managed & economic way. In this context, comes the discussion of a rapidly emerging technology i.e. Multiphase pumping.
Multi phase flow in the pipe is defined as the concurrent movement of free gases (like Natural gas, CO2, H2S etc) and liquids (i.e. oil and water along with some sediment) in the pipe. The gas & liquid may exist as a homogenous mixture, or the liquid may be in slugs with the gas pushing behind it. One possibility may also exist that oil & water can be in the form of emulsion.The pumping of such unprocessed fluid from a well head platform to a process platform can be termed asMulti phase pumping.The multi phase mixture coming out of well consists of oil, water, sediments, salts & natural gas. The most prevalent technology used at present is separating oil, gas, water in a separator & pump the oil & water for further treatment & gas for compression.Multi phase pumping does not require the separation of crude oil into oil, gas and water phase. It does not require separate pipelines, intermediate storage tanks & other surface facilities for transportation from gathering station to central utilities. It can be beneficially installed in remote onshore locations at a cost of 70% that of the conventional method.Multi phase pumping is essentially a means of adding energy to the unprocessed fluid which enables gas liquid mixture to be transported over longer distances without need for prior separation. This also enables wells to produce at lower well head pressure (WHFP) and so consequently-
1. The production from ageing fields increases.
2. Ultimate recovery increases.
3. Life of a field can be extended.
4. Development costs are reduced.