Subsea Separator and Injection Pump for Waste Fluid Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
In deep water subsea well operations, the pressure is often inadequate to convey well fluid containing water to the surface production platform, and the injection pump must overcome significant frictional losses in long conduits to remote injection wells, making efficient waste fluid disposal challenging.
Innovation Solution
A subsea Christmas tree system with a integrated subsea separator and injection pump, where the separator separates waste fluid from well fluid and the pump injects it back into the well, either into the tubing annulus or through a separate injection tubing, addressing pressure and friction issues by locating the equipment at the wellhead.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stress or pressure
If well fluid is conveyed to the production platform at the surface, then waste fluid disposal is achieved, but the pressure is inadequate in very deep water to convey the fluid
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the separator and injection pump from the surface production platform and relocates them to the subsea wellhead. This allows waste fluid separation and reinjection to occur at the wellhead, eliminating the need to convey waste fluid through long subsea conduits to the surface and back, thereby solving the pressure inadequacy problem in very deep water.
Solution Approach 2:
The subsea separator acts as an intermediary device that separates waste fluid from production fluid at the wellhead. The injection pump then serves as a mediator to reinject the separated waste fluid directly back into the well, creating a local closed-loop system that bypasses the need for surface conveyance.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If injection pump conveys waste fluid through long conduits to remote injection wells, then waste fluid disposal is achieved, but the pump must overcome significant frictional losses
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the injection function from remote injection wells and relocates it to the wellhead through a subsea injection pump. This eliminates the need for long conduit transportation of waste fluid, thereby removing the harmful frictional losses associated with long-distance subsea fluid conveyance.
3Ease of operation
If subsea separator and injection pump are integrated at the wellhead, then pressure and friction issues are resolved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the separator and injection pump into a single integrated subsea waste fluid management system located at the wellhead. This combination allows waste fluid separation and reinjection to occur in close proximity, simplifying the overall system architecture compared to having separate surface-based facilities while maintaining operational efficiency.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This system enables efficient disposal of waste fluid back into the well, reducing transportation costs and eliminating the need for a booster pump, while maintaining well production efficiency and avoiding remote injection well logistics.
Implementation Method 1
a subsea separator is located at the outlet of the tree for separating waste fluid, such as water, from the well fluid
Implementation Method 2
the injection pump must have sufficient capacity to overcome the frictional effects of the conduits leading to the injection wells
Data Source
AI summary
A subsea well assembly has a string of casing with perforations leading to a producing zone and perforations leading to an injection zone. A string of production tubing extends into the casing in communication with the producing formation. A barrier separates the interior of the tubing from the injection zone formation. A subsea Christmas tree is located at the upper end of the well. A subsea separator is connected to a production outlet of the tree for separating waste fluid from the well fluid. A subsea injection pump pumps waste fluid from the separator back to the tree and into the injection formation.