3.8.1.3.2.

3 Design of Injection Systems Proper design of an inhibitor

injection system is a complex task that involves optimum inhibitor selection,
determination of the necessary injection rates, pump sizing, and
pipeline diameters. Inhibitors for a subsea gas transmission system are
selected before gas production is started on the facility. This makes
inhibitor selection difficult, as a large number of factors, including brine
composition, temperature, and pressure, that affect the performance of
inhibitors are unknown (Ramachandran et al., 2000). Therefore, at this
stage, an appropriate multiphase flow simulation package must be used to
calculate some of the unknown necessary variables, which are required
for injection systems design.
To determine the appropriate injection rate, it is preferable to determine
inhibitor requirements by field testing. The inhibitor-dosing requirements
are used later to determine the requirements for inhibitor storage, pumping
capacities, and number of inhibitor lines in order to ensure that the
inhibitor can be delivered at the required rates for treating wells and
flow lines during start-up and shut-in operations. In addition, points of
injection should be chosen to provide maximum benefit in the pipeline
system. The most effective position for injection is generally at the center
of the pipe in the direction of the product flow. However, the injection
rate and the location of injection points are a function of flow geometry,
fluid properties, and pressuretemperature relationships that are encountered
in the actual field application. For instance, hydrate inhibitors for a
deepwater production system are often pumped through long umbilicals
that are one-half to one-fourth inch in diameter. The injection pump is a
positive displacement metering pump (Kumar, 1987) capable of generating
sufficient injection line pressure (normally between 3000 and 4000
psi) to overcome the line operating pressure. Ideally the injection pressure
should be 100 psi above line pressure. However, varied injection rates can
be achieved by changing the pressure differential. Note that Ramachandran
et al. (2000) provide a discussion on the proper design of deepwater
injection systems and predicting systems behavior.