Treatment on oil/water gel deposition behavior in non-heating gathering and transporting process with polymer flooding wells

Against a background of crude oil shortage and low-carbon economy, optimization and simplification of oil–gas gathering and transporting play an indispensable role in efficient development of oilfield. Profit from the high efficient utilization of the produced liquid self-energy, single-pipe non-heating gathering and transporting process has been recognized in polymer flooding wells of Daqing oilfield (China). However, it is also facing the challenges of deposition, partial blockage, high wellhead pressure, production fluctuation and environment management. A field investigation of the application for the non-heating process and the variation of polymer flooding wellhead pressure were recently carried out. The flow patterns of the oil, water and gas mixture in single-pipe process were identified, and the locations where the gel deposition was most likely to occur were estimated. Deposition inhibitions and removal processes were practiced, and the operation parameters under different working conditions were optimized. The results indicated that single-pipe non-heating process could reduce 20% of the investment and 30% of the running cost and could also make the wellhead pressure of some wells exceed the maximum allowable operating pressure of oil gathering pipelines. There appears to be a proportional relationship among water content, flow rate, residual polymer concentration and gel deposition behavior in a certain range of gathering radius. The gel deposition rate of the produced liquid with polymer concentration of higher than 600 mg/L and the water content of 90.5% reached 0.1154 mm/h in the coldest climate under the normal flow rate of 85 t/d, and the theoretical pigging period was <10 days. Gelation nucleation which was related to emulsification was induced by the transition and coexistence of separated flow and dispersed flow in non-heating gathering pipelines. The main deposition located on the beginning of pipelines, manifold, valve and elbow, and wellhead pressure of 350 psi was created in the test period of 20 days. Although using chemical inhibition method could still obtain a drag reduction rate of more than 25% under crude oil gelation temperature, the fact of the centralization disability of wellhead dosing facilities and the potential threat of chemical inhibitors to the environment could not be ignored. The noticeable energy consumption and potential risks of pipeline restarting may be encountered using facilities improvement and sphere pigging operation in gel deposition behavior treatment. A relation schema which could be used to predict deposition rate and extract thermal flush period according to the actual working condition was established. The successful application of the non-heating gathering and transporting process combated the traditional view that heat tracing is essential for maintaining the surface process in extremely cold area. Furthermore, the results contributed to the existing literature in establishing subsurface and surface parts integration idea for a green field development and accelerate further application of non-heating gathering and transporting process.