Pipeline Displacement

A Flow Assurance engineer may be requested to assist the operation with various pipeline displacement operations. They request details such as what velocities, pressure and duration the displacement operation should be performed. They could also request Flow Assurance to provide guidance on the parameters and the surveillance strategy that the operations must follow. I am noting down the critical aspects we should be mindful of during displacement and purging in this page.

Typical operation events that can be characterised as displacement are

1. Dead oil displacement.
2. Pipeline displacement and purging for commissioning.
3. Pipeline displacement during decommissioning.
4. Batching of fluid for transport in long-distance pipeline.
5. Any operation where a fluid in the pipe is dispalced by another.

Dead oil Displacement

Before you read this section, you would want to read more about what dead oil is. Once you have read and understood what it is, continue reading the rest of the write-up.