Case Study 4 Thermodynamic Inhibition Canyon Express and Ormen Lange Flowlines

1 Case Study 4 Thermodynamic Inhibition Canyon Express and Ormen Lange Flowlines 

At start-up in September 2002, the Canyon Express development in the Gulf of Mexico was the world s deepest, with the three field locations in 

6500-7200 ft of sea water (Hare and Case, 2003). Due to the extreme depth, large amounts of methanol injection necessitated an unusual distillation methanol recovery. Without methanol recovery, the Canyon Express maximum design of 1000 BPD of water production requires 1 million dollars of methanol injection (at U.S. l/gal methanol) every 16 days. 

The above two examples serve to illustrate that more severe conditions of gas recovery require large expense in thermodynamic inhibitors. The high pressure and high water production at Canyon Express and the steeply upward sloping lines and subfreezing temperatures of Ormen Lange are harbingers of more severe conditions in the future. There are some cases in which the cost of hydrate inhibitors determine the project viability. 

A fair question is, If industry always recovers from infrequent blockages, what is the economic incentive to justify the risk of very infrequent blockages The answer is complex, including technical disciplines, statistics, economics, and risk management. 

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