Systems and methods for assessing production and/or injection system startup

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018066501-A1
Application number	US-201615257694-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 6, 2016
Priority date	Sep 6, 2016
Publication date	Mar 8, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method of modeling effects of operational procedures during startup of a fluid production or injection system at a field includes determining initial conditions of the field at a first time based on field measurements of the field. The method also includes simulating startups of the fluid production or injection system based on the initial conditions. The method further includes determining operational procedures for starting up the fluid production or injection system based on the simulated startups. The method also includes determining whether a startup command has been received. The method further includes sending instructions to startup the fluid production or injection system using the operational procedures when the startup command is received.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of modeling effects of operational procedures during startup of a fluid production or injection system at a field, comprising:
determining, via a processor, one or more initial conditions of the field at a first time based on one or more field measurements of the field; simulating, via the processor, one or more startups of the fluid production or injection system based on the one or more initial conditions; determining, via the processor, one or more operational procedures for starting up the fluid production or injection system based on the one or more simulated startups; determining, via the processor, whether a startup command has been received; and sending, via the processor, one or more instructions to startup the fluid production or injection system using the one or more operational procedures when the startup command is received.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the field comprises a fluid reservoir.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the one or more initial conditions comprise one or more productivity indices, one or more pressures at the fluid reservoir, or any combination thereof.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more field measurements comprise one or more flowrates, one or more pressures, or any combination thereof.

5 . The method of claim 2 , where determining, via the processor, the one or more initial conditions of the field at the first time comprises:
generating a network model of a network of wells of the fluid production or injection system; generating a reservoir model of the fluid reservoir; generating an integrated model based on the network model and the reservoir model; and stepping through the integrated model to the first time to determine the initial conditions.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more field measurements are acquired by one or more sensors communicatively coupled to the processor and remotely disposed at the field.

7 . The method of claim 1 , comprising:
determining, via the processor, whether one or more new field measurements of the field at a second time are available; determining, via the processor, one or more new initial conditions of the field at the second time based on the one or more new field measurements of the field; simulating, via the processor, one or more new startups of the fluid production or injection system based on the one or more new initial conditions; and determining, via the processor, one or more new operational procedures for starting up the fluid production or injection system based on the one or more new simulated startups.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein availability of the one or more new field measurements is determined periodically.

9 . A method of adjusting startup of a subsea hydrocarbon production system at a subsea field, comprising:
receiving, via a processor, a first command to startup the subsea hydrocarbon production system; receiving, via the processor, one or more operational procedures for starting up the subsea hydrocarbon production system; sending, via the processor, a first set of instructions to start up the subsea hydrocarbon production system using the one or more operational procedures when the first command is received; simulating, via the processor, the startup of the subsea hydrocarbon production system in real time; determining, via the processor, an error or difference between the simulated startup and the startup of the subsea hydrocarbon production system; generating, via the processor, one or more adjustments to the one or more operational procedures based on the error or difference; receiving, via the processor, a second command to startup the subsea hydrocarbon production system when the subsea hydrocarbon production system is shutdown; and sending, via the processor, a second set of instructions to start up the subsea hydrocarbon production system using the one or more operational procedures and the one or more adjustments when the second command is received.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the one or more operational procedures comprise a first set of startup sequences for one or more wells of the subsea hydrocarbon production system, a second set of startup sequences for one or more drill centers, a third set of startup sequences for one or more of: an amount of chemical injection used to mitigate hydrate formation within the subsea hydrocarbon production system, one or more flow rates per well of the subsea hydrocarbon production system, accumulation of a water, oil, or condensate in a pipeline slugging of the subsea hydrocarbon production system, a size of a slug catcher of the subsea hydrocarbon production system, or any combination thereof.

11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein simulating, via the processor, the startup of the subsea hydrocarbon production system in real time comprises:
generating, via the processor, a field layout design of the subsea field; generating, via the processor, a field development plan of the subsea field; generating, via the processor, valve information of valves of the subsea hydrocarbon production system; generating, via the processor, a dynamic network model based at least in part on the field layout design, the field development plan, and the valve information, wherein the dynamic network model is configured to evaluate of a network of wells of the subsea hydrocarbon production system over time; generating, via the processor, a reservoir model of a hydrocarbon reservoir of the subsea field; generating, via the processor, an integrated dynamic model of the subsea field based at least in part on the dynamic network model and the reservoir model, wherein the integrated dynamic model is configured to evaluate the subsea field over time; and simulating, via the processor, the startup of the subsea hydrocarbon production system using the integrated dynamic model.

12 . The method of claim 11 , comprising identifying, via the processor, deviations or adjustments to the integrated dynamic model by comparing the simulated startup of the subsea hydrocarbon production system and an actual startup of the subsea hydrocarbon production system that is a result of the first set of instructions.

13 . A tangible, non-transitory, machine-readable medium, comprising machine-readable instructions to cause one or more processors to:
determine one or more initial conditions of a subsea field at a first time based on one or more field measurements of the subsea field; simulate one or more startups of a subsea hydrocarbon production system at the subsea field based on the one or more initial conditions; determine one or more operational procedures for starting up the subsea hydrocarbon production system based on the one or more simulated startups; receive a first command to startup the subsea hydrocarbon production system; send a first set of instructions to start up the subsea hydrocarbon production system using the one or more operational procedures when the first command is received; simulate the startup of the subsea hydrocarbon production system in real time; determine an error between the simulated real time startup and the startup of the subsea hydrocarbon production system; generate one or more adjustments to the one or more operational procedures based on the error; receive a second command to startup the subsea hydrocarbon production system when the subsea hydrocarbon production system is shutdown; and send a second set of instructions to start up the subsea hydrocarbon production system using the one or more operational procedures and the one or more adjustments when the second command

Assignees

• Onesubsea Ip Uk Ltd

Inventors

• Chidiac Cedric El
• Kunz Sarah Rae
• Sauve Robert Edward
• Voelkel Tobias
• Sommer Burkhard

Classifications

• E21B41/0007

  for underwater installations (E21B41/005, E21B41/04, E21B41/06, E21B41/08, E21B41/10 take precedence) · CPC title

• G06F30/20 Primary

  Design optimisation, verification or simulation (optimisation, verification or simulation of circuit designs G06F30/30) · CPC title

• E21B43/16 Primary

  Enhanced recovery methods for obtaining hydrocarbons · CPC title

• E21B43/01

  specially adapted for obtaining from underwater installations · CPC title

• E21B41/0092 Primary

  Fixed Constructions · mapped topic