Subsea Pipeline System
Background
This project was based on a location in the Arabian Gulf, where oil was transported via a 35 Km pipeline from an oil platform to a tank farm. The lowest point of the pipeline is 80 m below the level of the platform. Oil is pumped by a booster/transfer pump and there is an isolation valve at the end of the pipeline.
The engineers needed to investigate what transient pressures might occur when the valve was closed. In this project there were two circumstances that caused particular concern:
1. The pipeline was 25 years old and had suffered some corrosion.
2. There was a high water cut in the oil. This made the fluid less compressible, which in turn would tend to increase the pressure surge.
