Increased Oil Production by Advanced Control of Receiving Facilities

Authors:	Godhavn John-Morten, Statoil ASA, Norway Strand Stig, Statoil ASA, Norway Skofteland Gunleiv, Statoil ASA, Norway
Topic:	6.1 Chemical Process Control
Session:	Control of Networks and Plants
Keywords:	Model Predictive Control, Flow Control, Level Control, Industrial Production Systems

Abstract

Slug flow from wells or multiphase flow lines from subsea satellite fields is one major disturbance at offshore oil and gas processing facilities. Slugging is an undesirable flow pattern with liquid blockages that can occur in multiphase flow lines transporting both gas and liquid. The original contribution in this paper is the successful application of advanced control for the inlet facilities, where active slug control for two 11.7 km long multiphase flow lines is combined with model predictive control to handle slugs entering the inlet separators.