Gas Hydrate Mobile Application

Determining the formation of gas hydrate is critical due to the fact that it could reduce the production level in pipelines due to the blockage form by hydrates. In the long run it could then damage those pipelines. However, most current software could not support real time analysis of hydrate formation. Therefore, this research project develops a mobile application to determine the occurrence of gas hydrate formation in offshore pipelines.
The mobile application is available for android users including engineers and researchers. The mobile application determines the gas hydrate formation based on four types of natural gas which are methane, propane, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. These are the four most frequent gases that lead to formation of hydrate and have established fixed equilibrium graph. Based on the integration of those various phase equilibrium graphs gathered (Roberts et al (1940); Makagon and Sloan (1994); Deaton and Frost (1946); Nakamura et al (2000)) hydrate and non-hydrate situation are determined in the form of graphs.
Rapid prototyping methodology was followed in designing and creating the mobile apps. The five phases started with planning, quick analysis and design, prototype cycle, implementation and testing were conducted with assistance from expert users. In assuring the accuracy of the gas hydrates formation, interview with expert users has been conducted. The introduction of this mobile application will be a breakthrough in oil and gas industry, where the occurrence of gas hydrate could be determined in real time and at any time and from anywhere. This would reduce the time taken for decision making and thus mitigation plans for gas hydrate removal could be taken as soonest.