Qualification and Demonstration of a Subsea Typhoon Valve.

Through the Typhoon Valve development program the objective has been to develop and qualify the Typhoon Valve for industrial application. Typhoon Valve is a new valve technology developed to reduce fluid mixing, improve the separation of petroleum phases and ultimately reduce the environmental impact from petroleum activities and extend the lifetime of mature fields. The development program is supported by The Research Council (Petromaks and DEMO2000)and the major oil companies Eni Norge, ConocoPhillips, Shell, Statoil, Total Norge, Engie Internaltional E&P, and Petrobras. The Typhoon technology is today an innovative technology with 19 national/regional granted patents. The significant benefits for the oil company end users on energy efficient and cleaner production, reduced cost for tertiary produced water technology systems, and ultimately extended production lifetime for problem wells, have resulted in several requests for test installations. Typhonix tackles the cause of the problems created by high shear choke and control valves instead of trying to repair the damage by installing expensive tertiary produced water treatment systems: 1) The Typhoon technology reduces droplet break up and emulsification of oil and water. Field realistic experiments have demonstrated that the Typhoon technology reduces the oil in water after the downstream separator with as much as 50 - 90 %. 2) The Typhoon technology reduces the need for process chemicals like demulsifiers, which might follow the produced water to the marine environment. 3) Applying the Typhoon technology in sensitive areas like the Arctic and the Barents Sea, will make it possible to meet the discharge regulations more energy efficient and at a lower capex. 4) There are many aspects that influence the lifetime of mature wells and fields. Replacing high shear, emulsifying state of the art choke valves with low shear Typhoon technology will significantly improve the produced water quality and lifetime of mature fields.