Tanjung-Balikpapan Oil Transportation Pipeline Modeling using PertafloSIM – Software developed by Pertamina Upstream Research & Technology Innovation (URTI)
Abstract
In order to reduce company’s dependence on commercial software, PT Pertamina (Persero) represented by the Upstream Research & Technology Innovation department under cooperation with Bandung Institute of Technology has developed in-house software for modeling fluid flow in pipes and wells called PertafloSIM (Steady-State Multiphase Flow Simulator). A study has been conducted to modelling the Tanjung-Balikpapan Oil Transportation Pipeline system using PertafloSIM. The purpose of this study is to test the capability of the PertafloSIM in calculating multiphase flow in pipes including pressure drop calculations based on current flow conditions. The case study used is an oil-water suspension from Tanjung Field which is flowed through a 230 km pipeline to Balikpapan. The regulation of the oil-water suspension ratio also becomes crucial in this transportation system. The first step is carried out by entering the data reported form the field such as pipe length, outside diameter, inside diameter, elevation, and roughness into PertafloSIM software as well as Oil-Water rate, temperature, API Gravity, Upstream and Downstream Pressure. The PertafloSIM module used in this case study is "Multiphase Black-Oil" which is a module to simulate multiphase flow in pipeline network by using black-oil approach. Furthermore, we run the PertafloSIM software based on the inputted field data and then do a review and analysis. The results show that changes in inside diameter have the most significant impact compared to other parameters, so we suspect an indication of a narrowing of the pipeline diameter in the field which can be caused by several things such as deposition/scale. We also compare run results between PertafloSIM and PipeSIM Software. Based on the results of study, it shows that PertafloSIM Software is able and reliable to calculate multiphase flow in pipeline.
