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Table of contents:
1. PURPOSE
2. SCOPE
3. DEFINITIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS
1.0 PURPOSE
3.1 Definitions
3.2 Abbreviations
Gas
Pipeline
4. DESCRIPTION
4.1 Overview Production
4.2 Product Specification
4.3 Crude Oil Processing
4.3.1 Wellhead and Manifold
4.3.2 Separation Gas & Liquid
4.3.3 Crude Oil Stabilization
4.3.4 Crude Oil Dehydration and Desalting
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Oil Processing for typical offshore facilities. This
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document provides an overview of separation of crude oil from well fluid for further
processing.
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2.0 SCOPE
Heavy Crude
This guide covers the overall summary of processing schemes, typical crude
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specification,
and data to help developing a preliminary phase of design.
Crude oil blenders/mixing systems for terminals, refinery & pipeline
Specific requirements of Project / Client / Local regulations shall prevail over the
Scale Deposition
contents
of this guide.
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3.0 DEFINITIONS
AND ABBREVIATIONS
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3.1 Definitions
API Gravity
API gravity is a measure of how heavy or light a petroleum liquid is compared to water.
API gravity is defined by the following formula;
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Asphaltenes
Asphaltenes are molecular substances in crude oil that are insoluble in low boiling
hydrocarbon liquids such as heptane and are also non-distillable. These molecules are
made up of aromatic clusters containing a polar heteroatom group. In large molecules
the aromatic rings are interconnected by paraffinic groups and by sulphur
Cloud Point
Cloud point is the temperature at which dissolved solids are no longer completely
soluble, precipitating as a second phase giving the fluid a cloudy appearance. In the
petroleum industry, cloud point refers to the temperature below which wax in crude oil
form a cloudy appearance. Cloud point is measured by ASTM D-2500 testing method.
Pour Point
Pour point is the temperature at which the crude oil becomes semi solid and ceases to
flow. The pour point is measured by ASTM D-97 testing method.
Reid Vapour Pressure
Reid Vapour Pressure (RVP) is measured by ASTM D-323 testing method. The sample is
placed in a chamber at a constant temperature of 100 oF. RVP is slightly lower than the
True Vapour Pressure (TVP) at 100 oF.
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Stabilization
Crude stabilization is a process of removing volatile components from crude oil to
reduce its vapour pressure.
3.2 Abbreviations
BS&W : Basic Sediment & Water
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4.0 DESCRIPTION
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specifications such as vapor pressure, base sediment and water, salt content, and H2S
concentration.
H2S is removed from crude oil together with flash gas at each separation stage. 50 ppm
by volume can normally be achieved using simple separators and heating. Though
normally not used in offshore facilities, 20 ppm and lower can normally only be
achieved by the use of a re-boiled stripper.
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The oil production system begins at the wellhead, which includes at the least one choke
valve, whose percentage opening determines the flowrate from the wells. Most of the
pressure drop between the well flowing tubing head pressure (FTHP) and the separator
operating pressure occur across the choke valve.
Whenever two or more wells are installed on a wellhead platform, a production
manifold as well as test manifold should be installed to gather fluid from the wells prior
to be processed in separator or exported via pipeline. The test manifold is provided to
allow an individual well to be tested either via a Test Separator or Multiphase
Flowmeter (MPFM).
4.3.2 Separation Gas & Liquid
As described earlier, the well-stream may consist of crude oil, gas, condensates, water
and various contaminants. The purpose of a separator is to split the flow into desirable
fractions. Primary separation of produced water from gas and oil is carried out in
production separator. Separators work on the principle of gravity separation.
Following type of separators are generally used in the industry:
Two Phase Separator;
A two phase separator is used to separate well fluids into gas and liquid mixtures.
Three Phase Separator
This type of separator is used when the expected outlet streams are gas, oil /
condensate, and water.
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Disadvantages
Vertical separator
Vertical separator is preferred high GOR well fluids and two phase separation
Table below shows the advantages and disadvantages of vertical separators:
Advantages
Disadvantages
Have full diameter for gas flow at top and oil flow at
bottom
Production separators of all types are sized according to the following parameters, to
suit product specifications:
Fluid flow rates
Operating Pressure and Temperature
Oil in Water Specification (500-1000 ppm)
Water in Oil Specification (1-3% vol)
Liquid losses to vapor stream (subject to demister type)
Liquid droplet size in gas outlet (150 microns and larger droplets can be removed
when internals are not used)
In an oil system, separators are generally sized on the basis of liquid residence time.
Particular attention must be given to foam and emulsion forming tendency of the crude
oil. Data can be obtained from laboratory analysis or from previous experience. The
tendency of crude oil to foam will require
larger separator in order to maintain satisfactory vapor/liquid separation efficiency,
chemical injection,
specialist internals e.g. foam breaker.
Separation between water and oil is subject to the quality of emulsion and the terminal
velocity of droplets as given by Stokes Law. Crude oil with high viscosity and density (i.e
Heavy Oil), will result in a very low droplet settling velocity and hence will require more
residence time and consequently a large vessel size. Where emulsions are formed, deemulsifying chemicals and heating may facilitate the water removal, although the
provision of a separate two phase (oil/water) separator may be required in severe
cases.
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At the design stage of crude oil separation train, an increased water production should
be considered. Separators must be sized for the worst operating case, or alternatively,
adjustments may be made to existing separator internals and level control set points in
order to change the hold-up times of the two phases.
For sizing criteria and calculation of a separator, refer to the company developed
guideline and validated spreadsheets.
4.3.3 Crude Oil Stabilization
Dissolved gas in the crude oil must be removed to meet pipeline, storage, or tanker RVP
specification. The presence of most volatile hydrocarbons increases the RVP. Removal
of the dissolved natural gas components is called oil stabilization.
Crude oil can be stabilized by passing it through multiple separators in series where the
volatile components will vaporize. A stabilization column might replace the simple
flash-separation stages to achieve the required RVP, but these columns are rarely
found offshore.
Stabilization of the crude oil often requires heat to be added or removed at certain
points in the processing train. Crude heating may be required for:
Emulsion breaking and improved separation of oil and produced water.
Adjustments of final product vapour pressure and H2S content.
Particular attention should be given for high temperature well stream fluids, it may be
necessary to cool the crude in order to avoid excessive vaporization resulting in lower
than required RVP of the final product specification and loss of potential liquid product.
For crude oils containing wax, care must be taken in assessing skin temperature inside
coolers so that wax deposition is avoided. Skin temperatures should be at least 5oC
above the crude oil cloud point. When the cooling water supply temperature is below
this temperature, a cooling water recycle can be incorporated to raise the cooling water
inlet to the required temperature. When the minimum cooling water temperature is
marginal for wax deposition, wax inhibitor injection may be considered instead of a
cooling water recycle system.
Number of Separation Stage
The well fluid pressure is often reduced in several stages of separation. If the reservoir
conditions are such that the reservoir fluid can flow adequately against a wellhead
pressure, separation in more than one stage will generally offer an economic
advantage. The purpose of multi stage separation is to achieve maximum hydrocarbon
liquid recovery, to get the liquid stabilized, and minimize compression power required
for the gas stream. Multi stage separation of oil and gas involves a series of separators
operating at sequentially reduced pressures, with liquid flowing from first separator to
the next lower pressure separator.
When hydrocarbon liquids are removed from separator at equilibrium, the liquid is at
its bubble point. With each subsequent pressure reduction, additional vapors are
liberated. If the liquids were removed directly from a high pressure separator into a
stock tank, the resulting vaporization would cause the loss of some heavier ends.
Making pressure reductions in several stages can help reducing these losses.
Therefore, increasing number of separation stages can increase the volume of oil
recovered in the stock tank.
If the produced gas is to be gathered and compressed to sales transmission pressure,
the allowable compression ratios and compression power requirements will usually
determine the pressure ratios between the various stages of separation. Therefore, the
process engineer must evaluate the number of separation stages, compression
requirements, and economics of each specific installation.
A process simulation program such as HYSYS is generally used to design and optimize a
crude oil processing system to meet a given crude specification, usually vapour
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pressure (either TVP or RVP). Selection of a system is based on maximizing the crude
output whilst minimizing energy requirement (i.e. heating/cooling loads, compression
power, etc.). Equipment size and weight is also a critical criterion.
The off gas from each separation stage can be compressed and treated for use as fuel
gas, exported, or flared if quantities are minimal and applicable regulations permit
flaring. In designing the oil processing system the gas compression requirements
influence the total energy input. Additionally the recycle of hydrocarbon condensate
from the gas compression system must be included as this will influence the
performance of the system.
The optimum number of separation stages varies with Flowing Wellhead Pressure
(FWHP), reservoir composition, off-gas compression requirement, and export
specification for crude vapor pressure. A quick assessment of separation stages
number based on FWHP is given in the table below:
FWHP, Bara
Number of Stage
1-20
1 or 2
20-70
2 or 3
Over 70
3 or 4
In offshore facilities, generally the numbers of separation stages are limited to three
stages (HP/MP/LP) for the following reasons:
High construction, installation and maintenance cost of additional Separators and
interstage compressors.
Space limitation and weight concern.
There is a trade-off between number of stages and oil recovery. However, the
numbers of stages are optimized to achieve required RVP of oil recovered from last
stage. High pressure in the first stage separator can sometimes reduce oil
production from wells, particularly in late life.
Since the flowing tubing pressure usually decrease during the life of the field, a
common practice is to install separate production manifolds for each separator. In this
case, wells with decreased well pressure would be rerouted to a lower pressure
separator, thus maximizing production. Figure 3 shows a typical flow scheme of 3
stages separation
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Therefore, wells with high enough flowing wellhead pressure are routed to the HP
Separator.
Gas separated from the HP Separator normally flows to the gas compression and
dehydration system, and then exported through pipeline.
Bulk water in the well fluid is generally removed from the first stage separator, in order
to minimize heating/cooling of excess liquid at further processing. The removed water
is routed to the produced water treatment before it is disposed to the sea or used as
water injection.
From the first stage separator, water content in the oil stream typically reduces to 5
10 % volume, and then flows to the 2nd stage separator.
1. 2. MP (2nd Stage) Separator
MP Separator is similar to the HP Separator but operates in lower pressure. The MP
separator receives liquid (oil) from the HP Separator, and due to pressure reduction,
the light components of the liquid will vaporize. Gas separated from the MP separator
normally flows to an inter-stage compressor and then combines with the gas off from
HP separator.
The remaining water is removed from the oil, and routed to the produced water
treatment.
From the MP separator, water content in the oil stream typically reduces up to 2%
volume or less, and then flows to the LP separator.
1. 3. LP (3rd Stage) Separator
LP Separator is a 2-phase (gas/liquid) separator which operates slightly above
atmospheric pressure. The operating pressure and temperature of the final gas-oil
separation stage dictates the vapor pressure of the export crude. Generally stable
crude (10-12 psia RVP) requires a very low pressure and high temperature.
At the very low operating pressure, the last heavy gas component will flash out from
the liquid. In some processes where the initial temperature is low, it might be necessary
to heat the liquid (in a heat exchanger) before entering the LP separator to achieve
good separation of the heavy components.
Having selected an operating pressure, the required operating temperature can be
chosen to meet specification. By minimizing the operating pressure, the corresponding
temperature is minimized, thus if heating is required, the heat input will reduce. In the
case of tanker quality crude, the minimum final stage pressure is fixed by the method
of gas disposal. The gas from the LP separator normally flows to flare system or feeds a
vapor recovery unit. The oil outlet which still contains small amount water is then
processed in the oil treatment facilities (i.e. dehydration, desalting) to meet the oil
export / storage specification.
4.3.4 Crude Oil Dehydration and Desalting
Crude oil dehydration and desalting are performed in electrostatic coalescers. Usually
for deep dehydration and desalting, a two stage process is used where the entrained
produced water is removed in the first electrostatic coalescer. This is followed by the
second desalting stage, where wash water is injected upstream, and removed in the
coalescer. The number of stages required depends on the produced water quantity, the
inlet salt concentration and the salt specification required in the product crude. The
electrostatic coalescers must be located after crude degassing is completed, and
sufficient pressure maintained to prevent vaporization in the unit.
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