FEESA has been working on the development of the production system modelling and optimisation tool Maximus. The motivation for the development came from our previous R&D work and our experience gained providing Flow Assurance consultancy services. It was clear to us that there was a need for a new software able to model integrated production systems and carry out optimisation operations.

Before embarking on such an ambitious project, it was decided that the new software Maximus should be designed to meet the following criteria. It should be:

• Easy to construct models, utilising an advanced graphical editor
• Able to solve engineering problemsin an intuitive manner
• Capable of carrying out calculations very quickly
• Based on advanced numerical algorithms and be computationally efficient
• Capable of providing automatic analysis of simulated results
• Developed using the latest software engineering tools
• Able to exploit the latest advances in computer hardware and architecture

To meet these criteria, Maximus was written from scratch using the latest version of Microsoft Visual Studio .net. Using this state-of-the-art developer's environment means that we are able to take full benefit from recent advances in software engineering. In particular, the software has been designed to be fully Object Oriented with all of the benefits this brings to efficient and robust code creation. In addition, building the software with the latest software engineering tools also means that the speed of development is greatly enhanced, especially when developing the graphical parts of the software.Moreover, a plethora of very good third-party software are also available, such as spreadsheet and graphing controls, which can be incorporated with minimal effort thus increasing the rate of code development.

Being based on the latest software development tools, Maximus is also able to exploit the recent developments in Grid Computing. In our view, this area offers very significant potential benefits for the execution of computationally expensive simulations. Many organisations have massive computing power represented by large numbers of PCs distributed on Local Area Networks (LANs) and Wide Area Networks (WANs). However at any instant, only a small fraction of this computing power is being used, with estimates typically in the range of ~5%. Therefore, the opportunity exists for most organisations to carry out computationally expensive calculations without additional expenditure on computing hardware. Maximus has been written such that it can run across a distributed network of PCs thus exploiting all of the hitherto unused computing power.

Maximus has been developed with the ultimate user in mind. The experience gained by the FEESA Maximus Development Team performing Flow Assurance consultancy studies has been invaluable. This experience has allowed the Maximus Team to create the software that users would want if they had the choice. The software has been designed to solve engineering problems in an intuitive way. It has also be written to be computationally efficient being based on advanced numerical algorithms, meaning that problem solutions are reached very quickly indeed. For example, the Maximus Network Solver is based on the modern Equation Oriented approach to simulation and also incorporates Sparse Matrix Algebra. The versatile approach possible with an Equation Oriented design means that the User is able to specify problems in many different ways and can therefore choose the boundary conditions that best suit the problem. Exploiting sparsity in large network problems, reduces both storage and the number of arithmetic operations required during simulation thus reducing the time required to solve. These are just some of the technique we have incorporated in Maximus to ensure that it is as quick, accurate and robust as possible.

Discussion Papers by FEESA:

  The Prediction of Flows in Production Risers - Truth & Myth, IIR Conference, Aberdeen, June 2001, Pickering P. F., G.F. Hewitt, M.J. Watson, C.P. Hale

  Evaluating New Chemicals and Alternatives For Mitigating Hydrates in Oil & Gas Production, IIR Conference, Aberdeen, September 2001, Pickering P.F.  B. Edmonds, R.A.S. Moorwood, R. Szczepanski & M.J. Watson.

   The Flow Assurance Dilemma: Risk versus Cost? Hart's E & P Cover Story, May 2003, FEESA Limited, Watson M.J., P.F. Pickering & N.J. Hawkes.

Previous Research Development Activities of FEESA staff:

• Non-Newtonian Herschel-Bulkley Flow of Crude Oils in Pipelines, 2002
• Review of Novel Hydrate Inhibitors, 2001
• Prediction of Flows in Large Diameter Risers, 2001
• Flow Regime Transitions and Associated Phenomena, 1999
• Dynamic Linking of Geoquest's Reservoir Simulator to a Network Solver, 1998
• Flooding in Vertical Countercurrent Gas-Liquid Flow, 1998
• The Rheologies of Heavy Oils & Viscosity Predictions, 1998
• Novel Subsea Separation Technologies, 1997-98
• The Effect of Inserts on the Flooding Limit of Gas-Liquid Contactors, 1997
The Study of Annular Flow in Rod Bundles, 1995
• Vertical Flow Regime Transitions in Multiphase Flow, 1995
• Transient Thermal Analysis of Pipeline-Riser Systems, 1995
• Analysis of Liquid Carryover in a Concentrated Nitric Acid Dissolver, 1994
• The Effect of Intermittent Roughness on Turbulent Flow in Pipes, 1994
• Instabilities in Low Pressure Boiling Systems, 1990-93
• Thermophysical Properties of Refrigerants & Refrigerant Mixtures, 1989
• Dissolution Rates of Uranium Dioxide in Concentrated Nitric Acid, 1988