Some offshore production fields require transporting of production fluids through very long submarines pipelines without a previous separation process. In the case of gas production, condensate will appear in the pipeline due to the pressure losses and low temperatures. For some production conditions a slug flow pattern may then develop in the pipeline, and because of the irregular sea bottom profile, there may be pipe unsupported spans of even hundreds of meters long. Therefore, slugs traveling in the pipeline will act as moving loads for the unsupported pipe, producing a dynamic response that in some cases might reduce the fatigue life of the pipeline. In this work, a finite element (FE) model of a pipeline transporting slugs has been developed and used to assess the fatigue life of a horizontal pipeline. Slug hydrodynamic characteristics have been obtained using Taitel & Barnea’s model. The structural FE model is based in Bernoulli beam elements where slugs, once they have been geometrically characterized, are input as moving loads traveling in the pipeline. The system dynamic response was calculated for different spans conditions and slugs characteristics corresponding to different gas-liquid ratios typical from gas field production conditions. Once a steady state condition was obtained in the dynamic response, mean and alternating stress levels were obtained for each analyzed case and introduced in fatigue formulae to obtain the fatigue life of the pipeline. Results show that for some production conditions and free span longitudes, fatigue life of pipeline may experience important reductions due to slug flow. These free spans are obviously most likely to happen in extra long submarines pipelines.
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ASME 2008 27th International Conference on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering
June 15–20, 2008
Estoril, Portugal
Conference Sponsors:
- Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering Division
ISBN:
978-0-7918-4820-3
PROCEEDINGS PAPER
Fatigue Life Prediction Due to Slug Flow in Extra Long Submarine Gas Pipelines Available to Purchase
Rabih Kansao,
Rabih Kansao
Universidad Simo´n Boli´var, Caracas, Venezuela
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Euro Casanova,
Euro Casanova
Universidad Simo´n Boli´var, Caracas, Venezuela
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Armando Blanco,
Armando Blanco
Universidad Simo´n Boli´var, Caracas, Venezuela
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Frank Kenyery,
Frank Kenyery
Universidad Simo´n Boli´var, Caracas, Venezuela
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Mayela Rivero
Mayela Rivero
CSIRO Petroleum, Perth, WA, Australia
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Rabih Kansao
Universidad Simo´n Boli´var, Caracas, Venezuela
Euro Casanova
Universidad Simo´n Boli´var, Caracas, Venezuela
Armando Blanco
Universidad Simo´n Boli´var, Caracas, Venezuela
Frank Kenyery
Universidad Simo´n Boli´var, Caracas, Venezuela
Mayela Rivero
CSIRO Petroleum, Perth, WA, Australia
Paper No:
OMAE2008-58005, pp. 685-692; 8 pages
Published Online:
July 27, 2009
Citation
Kansao, R, Casanova, E, Blanco, A, Kenyery, F, & Rivero, M. "Fatigue Life Prediction Due to Slug Flow in Extra Long Submarine Gas Pipelines." Proceedings of the ASME 2008 27th International Conference on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering. Volume 3: Pipeline and Riser Technology; Ocean Space Utilization. Estoril, Portugal. June 15–20, 2008. pp. 685-692. ASME. https://doi.org/10.1115/OMAE2008-58005
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