In offshore area, flowing parameters such as temperature and pressure must be controlled in order to guarantee a safety and economical transportation of fluid along pipeline. This can be achieved by using numerical simulations. In this paper, a mathematical model for predicting temperature and pressure profile along offshore pipeline during oil and gas transportation is presented. The model obtained from general formulation of pressure and temperature equations during two-phase flow is discretized and solved iteratively using a Matlab code. The numerical simulations results, shows a good agreement with a relative error of 1.16% on a field data obtained from literature. Further, effect of three insulation layers consisting of calcium silicate, black aerogel and polyurethane foam along with different insulation material thickness ranges between 0.0254 m and 0.0635 m, as well as different oil flowrates, on the temperature profile are analyzed. Required insulation material, insulation thickness and minimum inlet temperature for maintaining a minimum flow temperature of 313.15°k at any point in the offshore pipeline are determined. Results shows that an inlet temperature of 343.15°k with a thickness of 0.0635 m of black aerogel satisfied the requirement. It is shown that, the proposed model has predicted the temperature distribution very well.

Keywords : Temperature Profile, Offshore Pipeline, Numerical Simulation, Insulation Material, Two Phase Flow.