Hydrate Formation in Multiphase Flow in Pipe

Hydrate blockage in pipelines is a serious problem to the oil and gas industries. Hydrate formation occur in pipelines which are under high pressure and fairly low temperature, most frequently encountered in deep sea oil and gas production. Plugged-up pipelines cast impacts on the fluid multiphase flow in pipes such as pressure drop and decreased flow rate. Specifically, this research’s objectives are firstly i) to develop multiphase model of the hydrate formation and deposition inside a multiphase flow pipe and ii) to investigate the effect of different inlet velocity, hydrates particles diameter, interfacial area density and flow viscosity on the hydrate formation and plugging behavior in pipelines. This research had performed modeling on the multiphase flow and hydrate growth using ANSYS CFX. The two objectives were met at the end of the project as a multiphase model which is able to represent the hydrate formation in multiphase flow pipe was developed. Also, the relationship between flow inlet velocity, hydrates particle diameter, interfacial area density and flow viscosity variation and the hydrate formation and plugging behavior in pipelines had been determined. Knowledge obtained from the research serves to further improve the oil and gas industry nowadays by maximizing its profit margin through implementation of hydrate plug-free pipelines.