Abstract
The Oil & Gas industry has grown and new discoveries and technologies have risen in order to accommodate the dynamics of such industry. With investments ranging billions of US Dollars is mandatory to create measures to avoid pressure vs temperature related issues during the extraction, transportation and of the crude in order to minimize losses and maximize the profit (Borsani, 2001). Hydrates in oil& gas pipelines poses a very big issue to the industry. Hydrates are normally formed when the adequate conditions (gas, water, compatible pressures and temperature ranges) are present. They are in the market several methodologies to prevent the evolution or emerging of hydrates. An adequate thermal study during the design of the pipeline and its insulation layers, constitutes a greater value on the path to avoid hydrates formation during the pipeline operating life. On This paper the study is dedicated on the impact of thermal analysis in one of the pipelines operating in one of the Angolans Offshore fields. COSMOS Geostar is the tool used for the investigation. The study was conducted in a pipeline considering the thermal conduction through a normal pipe section and the thermal conduction through a field joint. This project has proven the efficiency of COSMOS in assisting on the determination of a proper type, nature and size of insulation to be applied in a certain piping system for crude oil production and/or transport.
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