Produce Confidently While Managing Erosion Risk

Sand hold-up in produced gas poses an integrity risk through erosion. The rate of metal loss depends on gas velocity, level of sand hold-up and particle size:  if hold-up and particle size vary unpredictably the rate of erosion is unpredictable. Erosion is greatest where gas velocity is highest or flow direction changes – directly after the choke, on the outside radius of bends, or just downstream of bends or blind Tees.

For a given level of sand hold-up, erosion rates increase dramatically as production rates are increased. Platform operators may to have to limit production rates to minimise integrity risk. But monitoring is a more cost-effective alternative – by tracking the condition of the complete pipe continuously, it gives warning of any increase in erosion rate in good time to take corrective action, and thus the confidence to produce at higher flow rates.