Development of cleaning methods complex of industrial gas pipelines based on the analysis of their hydraulic efficiency

Abstract

The majority of gas and gas condensate fields of Ukraine are developed by pressure depletion, which makes it possible to stabilize production only in conditions of low working pressures at the wellhead. In turn, the working pressure values significantly depend on the pressure at the inlet to the gas gathering stations and pressure loss in the gas gathering and transportation process. Consequently, their reduction will lead to an increase in natural gas production from depleted fields. The main idea of the work is to offer continuous monitoring of the gas gathering system in order to detect changes in the thermobaric operation mode. Such changes can signal the high probability of liquid accumulation, which will produce additional friction. The results of monitoring changes in pressure, temperature, dew points and natural gas composition allow carrying out their complex analysis and evaluating the possibility of liquid mass formation in certain areas of the gas pipeline system with an acceptable accuracy, which at once excludes a more detailed recording of their presence by means of instrument equipment and human resources, as well as reduces the time of non-response to a problem. The works may be fully executed by the operations technician or the dispatch service. After detecting potentially hazardous places, they are analyzed for confirmation of the presence of liquid and the decision to clean them with one of the proposed methods is made. This approach will be very interesting to large international companies, since natural gas reserves are constantly exhausted, and withdrawal of the remaining gas from depleted fields is an attractive target for producing companies. In addition, the use of simple pigging methods based on the analysis of the hydraulic efficiency of pipelines can significantly reduce both time and material resources.