Gazprom’s Science and Technology Prize

Development and implementation of a gas ejection technology to reduce gas blowdown volumes at compressor stations

Nominating company: Gazprom Transgaz Kazan (R. Usmanov).

The urgency of the research is determined by the need for reducing technological losses of gas and its negative environmental impact.

In the course of the research work:

existing technologies for pumping gas out and its preservation during maintenance works at gas pipelines and process lines have been analyzed; it was determined that ejection is one of the most promising methods to retain gas in process lines and in the loop system of a GCU compressor;

a method and a system for pumping gas out of a GCU compressor and process lines based on the use of a two-stage jet ejector have been created and patented;

on the basis of iterative computational gas dynamics with the use of flow path optimization and advanced analytical and numerical modeling tools, ejectors have been manufactured that – at standard pressures observed at a compressor station – ensure removal of gas from a GCU or process lines in the event of their shutdown so that to reach a residual (excessive) pressure of 0.5 MPa;

a method for no-flow purging of gas purification units at GDSs which is based on the use of said jet ejector has been developed, patented and implemented, which makes it possible to completely eliminate natural gas venting into the atmosphere;

rational ways of using the developed technologies in the technological processes of Gazprom's active compressor stations have been determined.

The commercial operation of the developed ejectors began in 2021. The technology and the ejector are included into the Register of innovative products for use at Gazprom.

A total of 18 patents for inventions were received on the basis of the work.

Development and implementation of a unique technology for controlling the disposal of drilling waste and process liquids during the development of offshore oil and gas fields

Nominating company: Sakhalin Energy (A. Oleynikov).

The research work introduces a newly developed technology that makes it possible to re-inject drilling waste into specially built absorbing wells. The technology is unique due to the application of self-developed approaches to control the integrity of impermeable seals.

In the course of the research work:

a technology to control the integrity of impermeable seals during the disposal of drilling waste and process liquids, as well as technical and technological solutions that allow to implement a principle of zero waste discharge into sea water, have been developed;

software that provides access to real-time geological, geophysical and process data has been developed to control the functioning of absorbing wells;

a company standard has been developed to establish methodological approaches to control the observance of maximum allowable pressure values (formation stresses), injection pressure values, fracture closure pressure, and transient pressure at a particular fixed point of time;

requirements to the strength properties of surface equipment, structural elements of absorbing wells and impermeable seals have been developed and implemented on the basis of the minimum horizontal stress and propagation pressure of a fracture in the impermeable seal.

In 2016, the developed technology was recognized as the best available technology for waste treatment and included into the “Disposal of production and consumption waste” guide books of best available technologies.

The technology is suitable for various facilities and projects across Russia that use stationary floating platforms, including during the development of offshore fields and the fields of the Arctic and the Far North which lack the possibility of building special landfill sites for the disposal of drilling waste and process fluids that contain mixtures of chemical agents and hydrocarbons.

On the basis of the work, three patents for inventions and one design patent were received and a software application was officially registered.

Development and implementation of an innovative technology and equipment for manual arc welding of magnetized pipes with rectangular heteropolar pulses of current

Nominating company: Gazprom Transgaz Tomsk (V. Borodin).

The urgency of the research is determined by the need to address the tasks related to the continuous improvement of the repair welding technologies applied at Gazprom's trunklines.

For the first time ever, a technology and equipment for manual arc welding have been created that make it possible to eliminate the demagnetization process and accelerate the performance of repair works, while ensuring the required quality of welded joints.

In the course of the research work:

studies of how the kind of current can influence the manual arc welding process have been performed both under a disturbance caused by a traverse magnetic field and without said disturbance;

production and experimental studies have been performed to determine the impact of rectangular heteropolar pulses of current on the characteristics of joints welded under the influence of a magnetic field;

an innovative technology and special domestic welding equipment – namely, the arc current inverter IST-201 that allows to perform welding operations during repair works at trunklines without preliminary demagnetization – have been developed and implemented on the basis of said studies.

In 2019, the inverter IST-201 was included into the list of auxiliary equipment and materials recommended for use to perform welding during installation in the course construction, reconstruction and major repairs at Gazprom's facilities.

In the course of the work, a software application was officially registered.

Development and creation of a domestic innovative complex to perform special studies of core

Nominating company: Gazprom VNIIGAZ (M. Nedzvetsky).

The urgency of the research is determined by the need to develop the material & technical resources and laboratory aids of research centers in order to improve the accuracy, reliability and information value of the results of studies related to reservoir systems, as well as the effectiveness, completeness and quality of the performed studies.

For the first time at Gazprom, a universal multifunctional automated modular complex has been created that allows for a whole range of studies, including those for the identification of proppant pack conductivity and proppant flowback processes.

In the course of the research work:

a prototype of the complex comprising a filtration module, a module for measuring the geomechanical properties of core and a module for hydraulic fracturing was manufactured to perform tasks that pertain to special studies of core;

technical specifications for the complex, as well as technical regulations and requirements to the software, have been developed;

methods to conduct experimental studies for different functional modules of the unit have been developed and tested;

comprehensive studies have been performed with regard to a number of relevant experimental areas (filtration studies in two- and three-phase fluid systems, testing of process fluids with regard to their impact on the restoration of a pay zone's permeability, determination of geomechanical & petrophysical characteristics of rocks and the proppant characteristics that are significant during hydraulic fracturing).

The complex developed using a single design & engineering and hardware & software basis makes it possible to carry out studies in a whole range of experimental areas to obtain the source data for calculating hydrocarbon reserves at fields, as well as to design field development processes and apply innovative technical & technological approaches to the production of hydrocarbons at fields.

The complex is included into the Register of innovative products for use at Gazprom and has been in operation since 2021.

Three patents for inventions were received with regard to the research paper topic.

Development of sci-tech solutions and pooling of the experience gained in the construction and operation of Blue Stream, Russia’s first deep-water offshore gas pipeline

Nominating company: Gazprom Transgaz Krasnodar (D. Vasyukov).

A number of sci-tech and practical tasks have been accomplished as part of the Blue Stream gas pipeline design development and construction, thus ensuring its long-term safe operation in the challenging environment of the Black Sea:

a multi-factor analysis of the global experience in the construction of offshore gas pipelines has been performed;

new engineering and design solutions have been developed to prevent gas pipeline collapse in deep waters and on slopes; regulatory and guidance documents for strength and stability calculations, as well as requirements to pipes, connection elements and protective coatings have been drawn up;

an optimal technology for laying pipelines in offshore areas has been chosen at the construction stage; said technology made it possible to install two strings (each of 400 kilometers in length) within one calendar season;

at the onshore section of the gas pipeline, a new domestic microtunneling method has been applied to ensure the passage of the pipeline through mountain ranges consisting of rocks, and the advanced “stress-test” method for high pressure testing has been implemented;

a comprehensive system for the gas pipeline diagnostics including geodynamic, corrosion, operational, and safety monitoring has been implemented;

recommendations and a software application have been developed for hydraulic and thermal calculations of gas supply modes;

a number of unique hydraulic, thermal and strength calculations, as well as experimental and field studies have been performed, serving as the basis for the regulatory documents that have been drawn up for the first time ever to stipulate the design development requirements and technical maintenance methods with regard to deep-water gas pipelines.

On the basis of multi-factor studies, a set of sci-tech solutions on the construction of the Blue Stream gas pipeline has been elaborated, and the 20-year-long experience gained in the gas pipeline operation has been summarized. The gained experience became a basic methodological, regulatory and technical framework for the design development and construction of new Russian gas pipelines (Dzhubga – Lazarevskoye – Sochi, TurkStream, Nord Stream, and Nord Stream 2).

Three patents for inventions were received in the course of the work.

System for automated optimization of inhibitor consumption at the comprehensive gas treatment units of the Zapolyarnoye oil, gas and condensate field

Nominating company: Gazprom Dobycha Yamburg (A. Kasyanenko).

The urgency of the research is determined by the need to reduce the production costs, for instance, those incurred for the prevention of hydrate formation in comprehensive gas treatment units (CGTUs), through optimizing the injection of hydrate formation inhibitor during gas and gas condensate treatment.

As a result of the research carried out, the authors of the work have developed a system for automated optimization of inhibitor consumption (SAO IC) at the CGTUs of the Zapolyarnoye oil, gas and condensate field on the basis of the existing automated process control system (APCS) of said CGTUs.

In the course of the works performed to develop the SAO IC, the authors have attained the following innovative results:

the location of methanol injection points has been optimized so as to guarantee that methanol saturates the gas phase and is distributed evenly in the water phase until hydrates appear; optimal parameters have been determined for the methanol injection process applied at the Zapolyarnoye oil, gas and condensate field;

technologies and algorithms have been developed for the SAO IC that make it possible to detect the moment when hydrate formation begins and its location in the gas gathering flowline, as well as to inject the hydrate formation inhibitor in the corresponding points only if required and precisely at the required time;

an algorithm has been developed to perform a rapid search for the minimum possible consumption of methanol-and-water solution with a low concentration of methanol;

an algorithm has been developed to control the extraction of methanol from oil-and-gas condensate into methanol-and-water solution, which excludes the possibility of freezing, thus guaranteeing the safety of the SAO IC processes.

A total of 13 patents for inventions were received with regard to the research paper topic.

Development and implementation of operational methods for forecasting gas consumption in the area covered by the Unified Gas Supply System with the use of machine learning algorithms as a tool of proactive management of compound gas transmission systems on the basis of the new digital environment of the updated automated dispatch control system

Nominating company: Gazprom Inform (A. Burushkin).

The urgency of the research is determined by the need for transitioning from the expert control over the gas transmission system performed on the basis of actual parameters of operation regimes and actual process parameters to a proactive dispatch control over the operation regimes of the facilities within the UGSS of Russia.

A new methodology has been developed for the use of cutting-edge digitalization methods which are based on machine learning models and have unique characteristics in terms of increasing the accuracy of gas consumption forecasting in the area covered by the UGSS, taking into account the initial data that vary in a wide range and are generated by the updated automated dispatch control system (UADCS) of the UGSS.

In the course of the research work:

initial data used for gas consumption forecasting have been analyzed; factors have been singled out and relevant sets of learning attributes have been created for models;

methodological approaches and algorithms have been developed – inter alia, modern machine learning methods have been adapted to solve the gas consumption forecasting tasks – to take into account the complex of seasonal and intra-day fluctuations, which includes fluctuations in gas consumption by months and weekdays, as well as to use a number of additional derived factors calculated on the basis of temperature (squared temperature; the average, minimum and maximum temperature for a given time period within the time series of the training sample set; a week's temperature trend, etc.);

the use of a piecewise linear approximation has been substantiated and implemented with regard to the dependency of gas consumption on ambient temperature by applying maximum likelihood methods and the mean absolute error minimization method;

a methodological base for operational short-term forecasting of gas withdrawal from the UGSS has been developed and implemented;

a software package entitled “Gas consumption forecasting by regions of the Russian Federation and gas transmission entities” has been created and adopted within the UADCS of the UGSS.

The research results have been in use since 2020.

Package of sci-tech solutions for ensuring internal corrosion protection of hydrocarbon production and treatment facilities

Nominating company: Gazprom Dobycha Urengoy (A. Koryakin). 

For the first time at Gazprom, a comprehensive approach to ensuring a reliable operation of gas pipelines in the conditions of carbon dioxide corrosion with regard to hard-to-recover reserves in the Far North, as well as a suite of methods that involve the use of unique equipment for laboratory corrosion simulation tests, have been proposed.

In the course of the research work:

methods and tools have been determined to examine the corrosion occurring on the internal surface of the piping of gas condensate wells and gas collection headers. The parameters of the mathematical model of the carbon dioxide corrosion process occurring on the piping of high-temperature wells were defined more precisely with regard to the Achimov deposits of the Urengoyskoye oil, gas and condensate field;

the influence of the parameters of well operating modes on the intensity of carbon dioxide corrosion has been assessed;

the ability of the composition of IK-3 corrosion inhibitor comprising methanol as solvent to prevent the process of carbon dioxide corrosion and not to create adverse effects on gas treatment and transmission procedures has been substantiated;

the following innovations have been developed:

corrosion protection activities for the internal surface of Christmas tree elements, flowlines of wells and gas gathering flowlines, including constant supply of corrosion inhibitor via the existing methanol pipelines to a constant design-specified point within well piping located downstream of the pressure control valve, as well as periodic treatment of well piping with inhibitor using a mobile acid-treatment pumping unit;

a set of diagnostic measures with the indication of time periods between each type of the works, taking into account the differences in corrosion rates observed at different wells and in gas collection headers;

a corrosion test bench for laboratory simulation tests.

Five patents for inventions and two utility patents were received with regard to the research paper topic.

Development of a construction technology for the structural layers of road pavements at motorways or other transport infrastructure facilities that involves the use of the BRIT construction substance

Nominating company: Gazprom Neft (A. Dyukov).

The urgency of the research is determined by the need for decreasing the volumes of drilling waste disposed, as well as for minimizing environmental damage from active fields.

For the first time ever, a bitumen emulsion has been used together with drilling waste to create a construction material for structural layers of road pavements built at transport infrastructure facilities of fields.

The following activities have been carried out in the course of the research work:

local soils and drilling waste have been studied within licensed areas located in the Khanty-Mansi and Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Areas;

the optimal ratio of the construction substance to drilling cuttings has been determined;

bitumen emulsion formulas have been developed to be used in the reinforced BRIT construction substance, with such formulas being characterized by a higher stability during transportation and storage;

a reinforcement technology has been developed to be used in the BRIT construction substance;

technical specifications for the BRIT construction substance have been approved;

monitoring of the technical condition and environmental monitoring have been performed at test sections of in-field roads; approval has been received from the State Ecological Expertise for the draft technical documentation entitled “Construction of the structural layers of road pavements at motorways or other transport infrastructure facilities with the use of the BRIT construction substance”;

the corporate standard entitled “BRIT bitumen emulsion for reinforcement of structural layers. Technical specifications” has been developed.

During the implementation of the research results at the test sections of in-field roads, about 6,500 cubic meters of drilling cuttings were used in the road pavement.

One patent for one invention was received in the course of the research work.

Implementation of the digital transformation principles by drawing on the example of the upgrades introduced into the business process of the Integrated Process Safety Management System

Nominating company: Gazprom Transgaz Stavropol (A. Zavgorodnev).

For the first time at Gazprom, digital transformation of the Company's in-process monitoring activities has been implemented through the development and adoption of a vertically integrated solution as part of the Integrated Process Safety Management System.

In the course of the research work:

data about facilities have been categorized, inter alia, a passport system has been introduced with regard to such data (a digital passport of a facility has been created);

a classification code has been developed for the GTS facilities with the use of the applicable federal and industry-specific regulatory documents and guidelines in the area of process safety, as well as design and as-built documentation. The structure of said classification code corresponds to Gazprom's Open Standard Data Model of Pipeline Systems, Gazprom's Classification Code for Facilities Subject to Repair, and the Information System for the Technical Condition Control of the UGSS facilities (ISTC “Infotech”).

The development work within the research was carried out along two directions:

backend based on the network resource of the enterprise and ensuring the functioning of data assignment, storage and processing procedures, analytics tools, as well as the exchange in the integrated information space of Gazprom;

terminal side in the form of a mobile app.

The research work introduces a new methodological approach implemented for analyzing the results of inspections of GDSs which are carried out as part of in-process monitoring using specially developed check lists, as well as for assessing on this basis the level of reliability and safety of GDSs through the calculation of a special integrated index, which is an innovative index developed by the authors to indicate the compliance of GDSs with the regulatory requirements to process safety and reliability.

A professional program offering staff development through the training course entitled “Monitoring of the operation of gas transmission system facilities on the basis of the targeted inspection data sheet”, as well as a training tool, namely a simulator of a GTS facility for practicing the skills acquired, have been developed.

The results of the research work have been in practical use since 2018, and the training technology – since 2021. One utility patent was received.