INTEC provides offshore operators technical direction for hydrate prevention, inhibition, and remediation in oil and gas systems. INTEC expertise includes high pressure, very long distance, gas pipelines in ultra deepwater - such as the Oman to India pipeline project. INTEC predictions of hydrate formation temperatures and pressures, and our overall system design, prevent plug formation during system startup, steady state operation, and shutin (both controlled and uncontrolled) - all fundamental to the design and operability of subsea systems.

Starting from fresh-water hydrate dissociation curves, INTEC adjusts those curves to account for formation water salinity, where appropriate. Also, where appropriate, we account for the difference between hydrate dissociation and formation. Analytical tools for calculating hydrate for hydrocarbon streams and to assess the effect of inhibitors are available from CALSEP, D. B. Robinson, HyperTech, Infochem, and others. The amount of methanol or other inhibitor required to accomplish any needed level of hydrate temperature depression can also be estimated using the Hammerschmidt or Nielsen and Bucklin methods. GPSA techniques can be used for gas/condensate systems. Client test data is, of course, used when available.

INTEC provides hydrate remediation services, determining the pressure reduction (or temperature increase) required to melt a hydrate plug using the physics of hydrate formation and dissociation and computing the time required to melt hydrate plugs. Other chemical and mechanical means of plug removal are recommended as practical and appropriate. Our development of optimal designs includes the tradeoff between the cost of hydrate plug remediation and the cost to minimize the need for such remediation.