Background

This industrial full scale field test was successfully fulfilled during October 13 to 19 in 2000. The pipeline belongs to Qinghai oil field in the west of China, constructed in 1990 and the length of the pipeline is about 435km, located in the high altitude area. Initially its throughput was about 20,000bpd, in the near years after stations modification, the throughput capacity was boosted to about 40,000dpd. But with the increased production of the oil field, the throughput is anticipated to reach about 48,000bpd and even higher in near future. And for the sake of operation safety, one DRA was necessary to be used. The purpose of this test is to evaluate the effect of EP-W203H and LP Flow Improver produced by CONOCO Corp, of U.S.A.

Test Conditions

The test conditions are as follows:

  • Pipeline system: HuaTugou-GeErmu
  • Test pipe segment: ZhongZaohuo-TuoLahai
  • Pipe diameter: 261mm
  • Length of tested pipe: 69.1km
  • Elevation change: -53m
  • Basic test conditions: flow rate 250m3/d, Reynolds number 23,000
  • Dosages of DRA
    • EP-W203: 50ppm 75ppm 100ppm
    • LP: 100ppm

Test Results

  Prior to addition EP-W203H 50ppm EP-W203H 75ppm EP-W203H 100ppm LP 100ppm
Discharge Temperature [°C] 69 69 69 69 68
Discharge Pressure [MPa] 4.213 2.715 2.345 1.931 1.823
Suction Temperature [°C] 55 56 54 55 55
Suction Pressure [Mpa] 0.657 0.808 0.687 0.654 0.563
Flow Rate [bpd] 37,286 37,740 37,890 37,135 37,740
Drag Reduction [%] 0 41.28 47.50 57.05 53.78
Throughput Improvement [%] 0 34.45 43.08 59.98 53.59

The change trend of drag reduction with the DRA concentration in oil

The change trend of drag reduction with the DRA concentration in oil

The change curve of the outlet pressure with time

The change curve of the outlet pressure with time

Conclusions

  • The EP-W203H has remarkable drag reducing effect.
  • The performance of EP-W203H is equivalent to the advanced LP Flow Improver of CONOCO Corp. in U.S.A.
  • With low dosage of injection, the EP-W203H can easily satisfy the need of throughput increase and process conditions.