Study and Validation of a Novel Grouting Clamp Type Deepwater Oilfield Pipeline Repair Method Based on Computational Fluid Dynamics

Abstract

In order to handle the corrosion of underwater production pipe sinks in deepwater oil fields, a non-solid phase silicone plugging agent, an external clamp, and an underwater injection tool are combined in this paper’s innovative pipeline repair technique proposal. The optimal main agent to curing the agent ratio for non-solid phase silicone plugging agents was found to be 100:25, which was achieved through an experimental examination of the curing process. The compressive and cementing strength changes in the curd plugging agent were disclosed by testing and evaluating the mechanical behavior of the plugging agent. In addition, the limits of the compressive and cementing strength were found to be 143 MPa and 11.6 MPa, respectively. Based on this, a computational-fluid-dynamics(CFD)-based analytical approach of the complicated flow field in a deep sea environment on the eroding impact of a plugging agent was developed. Through numerical simulation testing, the mathematical relationship between the plugging agent’s maximum pressure and the flow field’s velocity was established. The limits of saltwater and petroleum oil on the erosion of the plugging agent were found to be 4.19 MPa and 3.29 MPa, respectively, which are values that are far below their strength limits. In this way, the viability and efficacy of this novel pipeline repair technique were confirmed. The study presented in this paper sets the groundwork for an in-depth analysis and optimization of novel corrosion control solutions for deepwater oil field subsea process pipes.