Subsea on-site chemical injection management system

#This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present invention, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.

#Wells are often used to access resources below the surface of the earth. For instance, oil, natural gas, and water are often extracted via a well. Some wells are used to inject materials below the surface of the earth, e.g., to sequester carbon dioxide, to store natural gas for later use, or to inject steam or other substances near an oil well to enhance recovery. Due to the value of these subsurface resources, wells are often drilled at great expense, and great care is typically taken to extend their useful life.

#Chemical injection management systems are often used to maintain a well and/or enhance well output. For example, chemical injection management systems may inject chemicals to extend the life of a well or increase the rate at which resources are extracted from a well. Typically, these materials are injected into the well in a controlled manner over a period of time by the chemical injection management system.

#Various features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying figures in which like characters represent like parts throughout the figures, wherein:

#FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a resource extraction system, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure;

#FIG. 2 is a schematic of an embodiment of a subsea chemical injection management system, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure;

#One or more specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below. These described embodiments are only exemplary of the present invention. Additionally, in an effort to provide a concise description of these exemplary embodiments, all features of an actual implementation may not be described in the specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure.

#The present disclosure is generally directed toward a chemical injection management systems configured to supply chemicals and/or chemical mixtures into a well to extend the productive life of the well. Specifically, the disclosed embodiments include subsea on-site chemical injection management systems, which are physically located at or near a subsea wellhead. In other words, the disclosed embodiments include subsea on-site components configured to store, mix, measure, pump, and inject chemicals into a well to extend the useful life of the well and/or improve resource production of the well. As will be appreciated, injection of chemicals into a well may improve flow characteristics of production fluids within the well, inhibit or reduce blockages during normal and abnormal production operations, or otherwise improve production of minerals or resources from within the well.

#Certain embodiments of the subsea on-site chemical management system include one or more components to store, mix, measure, pump, and inject chemicals or chemical mixtures into a well. For example, as described in detail below, the subsea chemical management system may include a subsea on-site head tank configured to store one or more chemicals (e.g., discrete and/or concentrated chemicals) in a subsea environment and/or on a sea floor. In certain embodiments, the head tank may be installed on a sea floor and may store multiple concentrated chemicals that may be mixed to produce a desired chemical mixture or “cocktail.” In particular, the subsea on-site head tank may store the concentrated chemicals at an elevated position, and the potential energy (e.g., hydrostatic pressure) of the stored concentrated chemicals may be used to supply or “pump” the discrete, concentrated chemicals to a subsea on-site mixing unit of the subsea chemical management system. As described below, the subsea on-site mixing unit may be configured to receive the discrete, concentrated chemicals from the head tank and mix the concentrated chemicals according to mixing instructions or a “recipe” to generate a chemical mixture (e.g. cocktail) for injection into a well. The chemical mixture is supplied from the subsea on-site mixing unit to a subsea on-site distribution unit, where the chemical mixture is measured and pumped to one or more individual wells (e.g., wellheads). Once the well receives the chemical mixture, a local pump at the well may increase the pressure of the chemical mixture for injection into the well.