Asset Integrity Monitoring for Sand Erosion on an Offshore Gas Production Platform

Abstract

Abstract Abrasive sand in the produced fluid can eat away at metal at an astonishing rate and monitoring pipe wall thickness in high risk areas and adjusting the flow of gas to minimise erosion can make a tremendous difference in preserving the integrity of the asset whilst maximising production rates. Typically, acoustic sand detectors are used to detect periods of high sand production and production is throttled to avoid erosion of pipework during these periods. However, this approach does not directly measure the erosion impact - loss of metal and resulting loss of integrity of the piping systems. An integrity monitoring system is introduced that ensures that accurate and up-to-date information about the impact of sand production on metalwork is available. The monitoring system brings significant benefits in cost reduction, production maximisation, safety and reliability – all ultimately improving the profitability of the production asset. In the case study presented, the producer was able to increase production of an unmanned platform in the Caribbean Sea by 12% resulting in a payback period of several days. The data is used to detect and optimise control of erosion issues early. Non-intrusive, battery-operated, wireless integrity monitoring systems are ideal for inaccessible locations such as offshore assets, where the costs and safety risks of access to the fixed equipment for any kind of manual inspection are high.