Bottlenecks are a common problem faced in oil and gas
pipelines in the present day and age. Production systems require the stuff to
flow in smoothly. In case they come in with speed, the process is unable to
handle the flow then. This results in a point of congestion, otherwise known as
the bottleneck.
This is as simple as understanding the demand of a product
or a service exceeds the supply. While this is great for any given business,
some organizations at times find it difficult to handle. There is a proper
process going underway which can be hampered in case of uneven supply or
demand. This is why the bottleneck occurs.
How to prevent bottlenecks in oil and gas system?
There are certain ways through which people can limit the
bottlenecks in the oil
and gas system. It is important to understand what’s causing the fault.
Once this is done, it is only a matter of time before you catch the error.
Let’s check out some of the basic ways:
Increase the overall capacity
This is arguably the most easiest and simple method to prevent
bottlenecks. If the supply is coming in thick and fast, why stop it?
Instead, why not increase the capacity to store? Once the overall capacity of
the oil and gas system is increased, there will be less chances of the
occurrence of the bottleneck. This mostly depends upon whether there is enough
room to increase the capacity or not.
Installation of softwares
There is no better way to deal with any issue than by using technology. What may be a difficult task for a human being can be a job worth seconds for technology. For this purpose, Oil & Gas Simulation Software are introduced. These softwares provide valuable information about the transit, the bottlenecks and all the other relevant information.
The problem with this is that some people think that is very costly. While this may be true, then considering the benefit it provides by preventing the bottlenecks, everyone thinks that it is well worth the investment.
Reassign the excess flow
Since most organizations do not have excess capacity to
store excess flow, they tend to look for alternative methods to free up the
bottlenecks. A very efficient method is to reassign the excess flow for some
other uses. For example, if the oil is coming in excess capacity, then it can
be used for other purposes rather than storing in.
Checking the overall process
A big reason why most bottlenecks occur is because of some fault in the production process. Make sure you check out all the WIP (Work In Progress) happening before the bottleneck is happening. Check if anything is causing the flow to speed up or slow down. If there is any equipment failures, make sure it is dealt with immediately. Often people don’t focus on the part before where most of the problem is.
