Abstract

In this study, we assess the predictive accuracy of two commercial multiphase flow simulators applied to Offshore Production Facilities (OPFs) in the Parque das Baleias field, northern Campos Basin, which is part of the Brazilian pre-salt cluster. The numerical predictions are benchmarked against a dataset of 350 quasi-steady pressure drop data points from seven production pipelines and tubing. The results are also evaluated against the predictions from our proprietary simulator, the Parque das Baleias (PB) model. All models, both in-house and commercial, were standardized with identical boundary conditions, operational parameters and consistent PVT and fluid property data, verified by laboratory measurements of actual reservoir fluids. The predictions fell largely within ±20% of the measurements for all models, with a 90%-hit performance of the database of 73% and 75% for the commercial software packages ALFAsim and OLGA, respectively. Although the 90%-hit performance of the PB model was 87%, demonstrating a lower scatter, other statistical metrics associated with random and systematic deviations were compatible among the three simulators.

This content is only available via PDF.
You can access this article if you purchase or spend a download.