OS6C-7：NATURAL GAS HYDRATE FORMATION AND FLOW IN PIPELINE

Cuiping TANG, Xiangyong ZHAO, Deqing LIANG
Centre for Gas Hydrate Research, Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences, CHINA
    
    Hydrates are ice-like crystalline compounds and are likely to form in offshore condensate pipeline running at high pressure and relative low temperature, which is one of the important problems to the oil and gas production and transportation industry. In order to keep the pipeline in the safe region, it is important to study gas hydrate formation and flow in pipeline.
   
    A pilot size flowloop for gas hydrate formation and flow behavior study is conducted in GIEC, which can be used to test the gas hydrate flow assurance conditions and low dosage hydrate inhibitors (LDHIs). This loop system consists of a 1 inch diameter, 50 meters long, 3 meters long standpipe and 6 meters bypass equipped with some measurement elements of humidity, temperature, pressure, flow rate, resistivity, viscosity, and gas composition testing system. Different pipe types are contained like a horizontal pipe, risers, elbows and other pipelines to simulate gas hydrate behavior during the complex gas or oil transportation. In this work the flowloop is described in details and gas/water flow in loop are recorded. Temperature, pressure change and hydrate morphology are investigated. Some preliminary results are obtained, which can provide the theoretical basis and technical guidance for gas hydrate development and oil and gas safe transportation.