Flow assurance is a relatively new term in

oil and gas industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The largest ...

. It refers to ensuring successful and economical flow of

hydrocarbon In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and hydrophobic, and their odors are usually weak or ...

stream from

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including control ...

to the point of sale. The term was coined by Petrobras in the early 1990s ahead of a DeepStar Program meeting, in Portuguese as ''Garantia do Escoamento'' ( :pt::Garantia do Escoamento), meaning literally “Guarantee of Flow”, or Flow Assurance. Flow assurance is extremely diverse, encompassing many discrete and specialized subjects and bridging across the full gamut of

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

disciplines. Besides network modeling and transient multiphase simulation, flow assurance involves effectively handling many solid deposits, such as, gas hydrates,

asphaltene Asphaltenes are molecular substances that are found in crude oil, along with resins, aromatic hydrocarbons, and saturates (i.e. saturated hydrocarbons such as alkanes). The word "asphaltene" was coined by Boussingault in 1837 when he noticed that ...

, wax, scale, and

naphthenate Naphthenic acids (NAs) are a mixture of several cyclopentyl and cyclohexyl carboxylic acids with molecular weight of 120 to well over 700 atomic mass units. The main fraction are carboxylic acids with a carbon backbone of 9 to 20 carbons. McKee ...

s. Flow assurance is the most critical task during deep water

energy production Energy development is the field of activities focused on obtaining sources of energy from natural resources. These activities include production of renewable, nuclear, and fossil fuel derived sources of energy, and for the recovery and reus ...

because of the high pressures and low temperature (~4 degree Celsius) involved. The financial loss from production interruption or asset damage due to flow assurance mishap can be astronomical. What compounds the flow assurance task even further is that these solid deposits can interact with each other, and can cause catastrophic blockage formation in pipelines and result in flow assurance failure. Flow assurance includes thermal investigation of pipelines, making sure the temperature is above the hydrate's formation temperature. Other important aspects of flow assurance are the estimation of stable production limits, and evaluation of erosion due to sand and corrosion in pipelines and equipment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flow Assurance Petroleum technology Natural gas technology Oilfield terminology