A subsea production system is a long, cold pipe carrying a multiphase mixture that is trying to deposit solids, form hydrates and surge. Every design decision, including flowline diameter, insulation, architecture, chemical injection capacity and blowdown capability, either manages those risks or leaves them to operations to handle. That is why flow assurance sits at the centre of subsea field development.

The analysis is mostly thermal and hydraulic. Steady state modelling gives pressure drop, temperature profiles, liquid holdup and the margin to hydrate and wax conditions across the operating envelope. Transient modelling answers the questions that matter most operationally: how long can the system sit after a shutdown before hydrates form, what happens during restart, how big are the slugs on ramp-up, and can the facility handle them.

Operations then has to live within the envelope the design created. Cool-down times, minimum rates, maximum water cuts, inhibitor rates, pigging frequency and restart procedures all come from flow assurance analysis. When production changes, as water cut rises or rates fall, the envelope changes too and the analysis needs revisiting. Systems that fail usually fail because operating conditions moved away from the design basis without anybody rechecking.

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

• Describe the scope of flow assurance across design and operations.
• Model multiphase flow and thermal behaviour in wells and flowlines.
• Assess hydrate, wax, asphaltene and scale risk across the operating envelope.
• Evaluate corrosion and erosion limits in production systems.
• Analyse slugging behaviour and liquid inventory management.
• Specify system architecture, insulation, heating and blowdown for flow assurance.
• Design chemical injection and umbilical requirements.
• Apply steady state and transient modelling to design and operating questions.
• Write operating procedures for start-up, shutdown, cool-down and restart.
• Design flow assurance monitoring and surveillance for producing systems.

Organisations sending participants to this training will:

• Design systems that can be operated safely within a defined envelope.
• Reduce blockages, instability and production losses.
• Optimise insulation, chemical and operating cost against risk.
• Improve start-up, shutdown and restart procedures.
• Keep flow assurance analysis current as field conditions change.

Participants will:

• Understand how the flow assurance risks interact in a production system.
• Be able to assess hydrate, wax, scale and slugging risk.
• Understand insulation, architecture and blowdown design.
• Be able to use and question flow assurance modelling results.
• Be able to write and apply operating procedures based on flow assurance limits.

• Flow assurance engineers
• Production engineers
• Subsea and pipeline engineers
• Facilities and process engineers
• Production chemists
• Field development and project engineers

Upon successful completion of this training course, delegates will be awarded an official Certificate of Completion issued by the Petroleum Engineers Association (PEA), an ISO 9001:2015 certified training organization. The certificate carries 10 Credits and formally records the total learning hours completed.

Each certificate is signed by the Course Facilitator and the CEO of the Petroleum Engineers Association, and serves as verifiable proof of professional training that delegates can present to employers and professional bodies worldwide.