Oilfacility

Anoilfacilityencompassestheequipmentbetweentheoilwellsandthepipelineorothertransportationsystem.Thepurposeofanoilfacilityistomaketheoilreadyforsaletothe
purchaser'sstandards(maximumallowablewater,salt,andotherimpurities).Thisarticledescribesthekeyequipmentandfunctionsfoundinanoilfacility.

Contents
1Overview
2Functionofafacility
2.1Mainprocess
2.2Secondaryprocess
2.3Auxiliarysystems
3Separation
4Oiltreating
5Producedwatertreating
6References
7NoteworthypapersinOnePetro
8Externallinks
9Seealso
10Category

Overview
Fig.1isablockdiagramofasimpleoilfacility.Eachoftheblocksisdescribedhere,exceptforgasdehydration,whichiscoveredinGasFacilities(/Gas_facility).

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Fig.1Typicaloilfacility.

Functionofafacility
Mainprocess
Themainfunctionofanoilfacilityisto:
separatetheoil,gas,water,andsolids
treattheoiltomeetsalesspecifications(e.g.,BS&W,saltcontent,vaporpressure)
measureandsampletheoiltodetermineitsvalue
deliverittothetransportationsystem(i.e.,thepipeline,truck,ship,orrailroadcar)
Thegasmustbetreatedforsalesordisposal.Inthepast,disposalsometimesmeantflaringorventing,butnowgasthatcantbetransportedisusuallycompressedforreinjectioninto
thereservoir.Gastreatingmayinvolveonlyseparationfromtheliquids,oritmayincludeadditionalprocessessuchas:
compression
dehydration
removingH2SandCO2
gasprocessingtocondenseheaviercomponentsthatcanbetransportedasaliquid

Secondaryprocess
Inadditiontoprocessingtheoilforsale,theproducedwaterandsolidsmustbetreatedfordisposal.Forproducedwater,treatingusuallyincludesremovalofdispersedanddissolved
hydrocarbonsand,inadditiontoseparationoroilskimming,mayinclude:
filtration
deionization
pumping
Iftreatingofsolidsisrequired,itmayincludewaterwashingandagitatingthesolidstoremovetheoilandthenseparatingthewaterfromthem.

Auxiliarysystems
Inadditiontotheprocesssystems,auxiliaryprocessheatingandcoolingmayberequired.Processheatisusuallyneededforoiltreating.

While,ifnecessary,facilitiescanberunwithoutelectricpower,powergenerationandelectricalsystemswillusuallybeincludedforafacilitythatislargeorcomplexorforliving
quartersthatareprovidedforpersonnel.
Allfacilitiesrequiresafetysystems,including:
safetyinstrumentationandshutdownsystem
fireandgasdetection
firefightingequipment
ameansofevacuation,suchasliferaftsandescapecapsulesforoffshore
otherequipment,dependingonthelocationandcomplexityofthefacilityandwhetheritismanned

Separation
Thefirststepintheprocessisseparatingthegasfromtheliquidandthewaterfromtheoil.Thisisusuallydoneinaseparatorapressurevesselintowhichthewellstreamflowsto
allowthegas,oil,andwatertoseparatebecauseofgravity.Toaidseparatingthestreams,separators(/Oil_and_gas_separators)maycontain:
inletdiverters
outletvortexbreakers
buckets
weirs
mistextractors
Aseparatormaybeeitherofthefollowing:
twophase:separatinggasfromliquids
threephase:separatinggas,oil,andwater,whichareremovedthroughthreeoutlets
Thefirstseparatorinafacilitythatreceivesfluidfromthewellsiscalledaproduction,orhighpressure(HP),separator.Iftheproductionisathighpressure,(e.g.,500to1,200psig)
andiftheoilfromtheseparatorisputdirectlyintoapipeline,gaswillflashasthepressuredecreasesowingtofrictionlossesinthepipeline.Gastakesupamuchlargervolumethan
itsequivalentmassofoil,soapipelinesizedforliquidflowwillbeundersizedifsomeoftheliquidflashesintogas,resultinginexcessivevelocitiesandpressuredrop.Forthis
reason,oilpipelineownersgenerallyspecifyamaximumvaporpressureallowedtopreventthelightercomponentsintheoilfromflashingintogas.Theprocessofreducingthe
vaporpressureintheoiltomeetoilpipelinespecificationsiscalledstabilization.
Forthesimplestformofstabilization,theoilisputintoanatmospherictankforstorage.Thisallowsthegastoflashfromtheliquidinthetankwhenthepressureisreducedto
atmospheric.Thisprocesswouldgetthetruevaporpressureoftheoildowntoatmospheric,orevenlowerifsomeheatingwereaddedinadditiontothepressurereduction,andcould
beusedtomaketheoilmeetpipelinespecificationsforvaporpressure.Thegasthatflashesinthetankmustthenbecompressedbacktotheoriginalpressureoftheseparatorand
combinedwiththeseparatorgas.
Iftheoilissenttoanintermediatepressure(IP)separatorinsteadofgoingdirectlyintoanatmospherictank,thegasthatflashesintheIPseparatorwillbeatahigherpressure,
requiringlesscompressionhorsepower.Inaddition,thetotalamountofoilstabilizedintheatmospherictankisgreaterwithanintermediateseparationstagethanwithasingleflash
toatmosphericpressure.Thisisbecauseofthegas/liquidequilibriumforthehigherpressureflashandthealteredcompositionoftheoilthatisflashinginthetank.
WhiletherestillwouldbegasflashedastheliquidflowedfromtheIPseparatortothetank,thequantitywouldbemuchsmallerthaninthefirstcaseinwhichliquidgoesdirectly
fromtheHPseparatortothetank.Thus,addingasecondstageofseparationhastwobenefits:
first,thehorsepowerrequiredtocompressthegasislowerbecausesomeofthegasflashesathigherpressure
second,morestabilizedoilwillbeproduced
Ifweaddathird,lowpressure(LP)stageofseparation,thetotalliquidinthetankincreasesevenfurther,withadditionalgasflashingatahigherpressure,reducingcompressor
horsepower.Fig.2showsatypicalthreestageseparationwithflashgascompression.Addingadditionalstagesofseparationandcompressionwouldincreaseliquidsandreduce
compressionhorsepowerfurtherhowever,atthispoint,thecapitalcostofaddingadditionalseparationstagesisgenerallynotworththesmallincreaseinhydrocarbonvalue.

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Fig.2Threestageseparation.

AtypicalseparationtrainmighthaveawellproducingintoanHPseparatorat1,100psig,withtheoiltoanIPseparatorat450psig,anLPseparatorat150psig,andpossiblyanoil
treaterat50psig(seeOilTreating)beforestorageinanatmospherictank.Theseparatorpressuresarechosensothattheflashgasfromeachstageofseparationfeedsintoastageof
compressionwithreasonablecompressionratiosforeachstageofthecompressor.(Seepage:Compressors(/Compressors))

Oiltreating
Noseparationisperfect,thereisalwayssomewaterleftintheoil.Watercontentcanrangefromlessthan1%watertomorethan20%waterintheoilbyvolume.Thelowerthe
AmericanPetroleumInstitute(API)gravity(i.e.,thehigherthemolecularweightandtheoilviscosity),thelessefficienttheseparation.
Togetthelastofthewateroutoftheoil,theoilisprocessedthroughanoiltreateroratreatingsystem,asdescribedinthepageofEmulsionTreating(/Emulsion_treating_methods).
Atreaterissimilartoaseparator,butwithspecialfeaturestohelpseparatethewaterfromtheoil.Treatersortreatingsystemsusuallyprovideheattoreduceoilviscosityandlarge
settlingsectionstoallowthewatertimetosettlefromtheoil,andmayprovideanelectrostaticgridtopromotecoalescingofthewaterdroplets.Conventionaltreatersusuallyhavea

frontsectionwithaheaterinwhichtheemulsionisheatedandinitialseparationofthefreewatertakesplace.Theoilthenflowstoasecondsectionofthevessel,whereadditional
coalescenceandsettlingofthewaterdropletstakesplace.Gasisflashed(i.e.,liberated)fromtheemulsionasthepressureisloweredandthetemperatureisraisedfromtheupstream
separator.Foraconventionaltreaterwithaheater,freewaterknockoutsection,andsettlingsection,thewatercontentintheoilcanbereducedtolessthan1%.Anelectrostatic
treater,whichisaconventionaltreaterwithanelectrostaticgridinthesettlingsection,canreducethewatercontentto0.3to0.5%byvolume.
Thecontractbetweentheoilseller,whoisnormallytheproducerandthepurchaserandwhomaybeapipelinecompany,specifiestheallowablewatercontentandmayspecifythe
maximumsaltcontentinthecrudeoil.Highwatercontentcanmakecorrosionproblemsworseinpipelinesandothertransportationsystemsandcancauseproblemswith
downstreamprocessing.Highsaltcontent,whichiscausedbythesalinityoftheproducedwaterleftintheoil,maycausearefiningproblemwhenthewaterisboiledoffinthe
refinerydistillationunit.
Theoilfromthetreaterisusuallysentintoadryoiltank,fromwhichitispumpedthroughasalesmeterforcustodytransferandthenintoapipelinefortransportation.Foradditional
information,seethepagesonStoragetanks(/Oil_storage#Storage_tanks)andPumps(/Pumps).

Producedwatertreating
Asmentionedpreviously,separationisnotperfect,andtheamountofoilleftinthewaterfromaseparatorisnormallybetween100and2,000ppmbymass.Thisoilmustbe
removedtoacceptablelevelsbeforethewatercanbedisposedof.Theregulatoryrequirementsforoilinwatercontentforoverboardwaterdisposalvaryfromplacetoplace,and
somelocationsdonotallowanydischargeofproducedwater.Asanexample,intheGulfofMexicooutercontinentalshelf(U.S.federalwaters),producersarelimitedtoamaximum
measurementof42ppmforanyonesampleandnomorethan29ppmaverageforagivenmonth.Incontrast,onshore,nodischargeofproducedwaterispermitted.Inthecasein
whichdischargeisnotpermitted,producedwaterisusuallyinjectedintodisposalwells.
VarioustypesofequipmentforwatertreatingaredescribedinthepageofWatertreatingfacilities(/Water_treating_facilities).Equipmenttypesusedinthiscaseinclude:
waterskimmers
platecoalescers
gasflotationdevices
hydrocyclones
Additionalequipment,includingdesandersandfilters,maybeneededtoremovesolidsbeforeinjection.
Hydrocyclonesrequireapressuredropinexcessof100psitoworkwellandwouldusuallybeplacedbetweenaseparatoranditswaterlevelcontrolvalve.Inadditiontoremoving
oilfromthewater,hydrocycloneshaveatendencytocoalescetheremainingoildropletsinthewaterstreams,makingthedropletseasiertoseparatewiththedownstreamequipment.
Waterskimmersusegravityseparationtoremovetheremainingoilfromproducedwaterandareusuallyplaceddownstreamofseparatorsorhydrocyclones.
Agoodruleofthumbistousetwotypesofwatertreatingequipmentforagasfacilityandthreetypesforanoilfacilityinwhichtheoilmaybemoredifficulttoseparate.For
example,awatertreatingsystemmightconsistofahydrocyclone,followedbyawaterskimmerandagasflotationcell.

References
NoteworthypapersinOnePetro
UsethissectiontolistpapersinOnePetrothatareaderwhowantstolearnmoreshoulddefinitelyread

Externallinks
UsethissectiontoprovidelinkstorelevantmaterialonwebsitesotherthanPetroWikiandOnePetro

Seealso
PEH:Oil_and_Gas_Processing(/PEH%3AOil_and_Gas_Processing)
PEH:WaterTreating_Facilities_in_Oil_and_Gas_Operations(/PEH%3AWaterTreating_Facilities_in_Oil_and_Gas_Operations)
Watertreatingfacilities(/Water_treating_facilities)
Oilandgasprocessing(/Oil_and_gas_processing)
Gasfacility(/Gas_facility)
Storagetanks(/Oil_storage#Storage_tanks)
Pumps(/Pumps)
EmulsionTreating(/Emulsion_treating_methods)
Compressors(/Compressors)
Oilandgasseparators(/Oil_and_gas_separators)

Category
Categories(/Special%3ACategories): 4Facilitiesdesign,construction,andoperation(/Category%3A4_Facilities_design,_construction,_and_operation) NR(/Category%3ANR)

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