Numerical Simulation of the Cerro Prieto Steam Pipeline Network

Abstract

The Cerro Prieto steam pipeline network has 184 wells of which 162 are producing wells interconnected by a network of pipelines. The network feeds 13 power plants with a total installed capacity of 720 MWe. It has a total length of about 120 km and is composed of a high and a low pressure network with pipelines, branches, sub-branches and interconnections with diameters between 8 and 46”. The complexity of the network makes steam flow analysis very complex and thus, it was considered necessary to develop a numerical model in order to facilitate the analysis of the whole system and to verify the steam flow and direction in each interconnection, branch and sub-branch. In this work, a hydraulic model and simulation results of the Cerro Prieto steam pipeline high-pressure network are presented. The model allows evaluation of the whole network performance though the estimation of pressure drop, the flow rates and direction of steam and the heat losses though the various components of the system. The model was developed using the PIPEPHASE v9.0 flow Simulator which accounts for steady-state multiphase flow with heat transfer in pipeline networks transporting steam and its condensate, oil or gas. Simulation results for the high-pressure network show differences less than 10% for steam flow and pressures when compared with field data.