A group of tanks that are connected to receive crude oil production from a well or a producing lease.

A tank battery is also called a

battery. In the tank battery, the oil volume is measured and tested before pumping the oil into the pipeline system.the tank battery
is likely to be the largest part of your above-ground operation. Its job is to clean and store oil you
pump until it’s ready to be sold. It’s makeup will depend on a number of factors, but primarily on the
quality and quantity of the oil you produce.

Fluid produced from a well will include the oil you’d like to sell, and usually a number of other things
as well. That will usually include natural gas, water, sediment, and other petroleum products like
paraffin and asphalt. All of these have to be separated from each other before each can be sold, and
that separation will be done by equipment in the tank battery. Most will at least include a separator,
for breaking out natural gas. A heater-treater or gun barrel may also be necessary if you need to
remove water and sediment from the oil.

The tank battery is the arrangement of storage and processing tanks, flow lines, and
other equipment necessary to operate a well. Some tank batteries are connected to
just one well, while others receive and process fluids from several different wells.
When a single tank battery receives from a few different wells, those wells will usually
all be close together which means they are all producing similar amounts and types of
fluids. The different vessels and equipment that make up the tank battery will be
chosen to store and treat the products from those type of wells. For example, wells in
one area may be using hydraulic lift while wells in another use gas lift to up production.
A tank battery will need to be equipped to handle the different requirements in each
case
The composition of a tank battery will change and evolve over the life of the well. As
the nature of production changes, different equipment will need to be brought in to
meet different needs. Older equipment will be removed to make room. For example, a
well may have sufficient natural pressure at first to produce a satisfactory flow. That
pressure will fall, however, and eventually you may want to install a gas lift system,
which requires specific, specialized equipment. Later, you may move to hydraulic lift,
and have to add all of the equipment necessary for that. By the end of a well’s life,
several different methods of production will probably have been used.
Essential vessel is essentially a fancy name for the tanks and similar equipment that
receive the produced fluid. These are mostly used either to simply store fluid until it can
be treated or sold, or to separate oil from water and gas.
stock tank is used for storing oil prior to treating or selling it. There’s also usually a tank for holding
produced, separated water, as amounts have to be measured and recorded. These tanks are usually
not under pressure. Tanks can be either round or rectangular.

Rectangular tanks usually don’t have a roof. This makes it easy to access the stored fluid for
measuring and testing. A ladder may come with the tank. However, as with all things when lease
pumping, a bit of ingenuity may be required; you may have to put together a simple one to access the
fluid. A hoop at the top of the ladder allows you to use both hands to test and measure fluid. A safety
belt is another option.

You’ll also need a separator, both a regular and a test one. This is usually the produced fluid’s first
stop after leaving the well. Most often these are two phase separator, meaning the vessel will only
separate gas from oil and water. They can sometimes be three phase separators, meaning that it also
separates the oil and water. Unlike stock tanks, separators are usually under pressure.

Several vessels actually are involved in various steps of separating oil from other produced fluids and
impurities. The heater-treater is another example, which is a three phase separator that uses heat.
Heater-treaters can be either pressurized or at atmospheric pressure. A wash tank, sometimes known
as a gun barrel, also separates oil from water and gas, making it another three phase separator.

Just about every tank battery will need some sort of circulation pump. It can be one of a bunch of
different kinds, and is used to move fluids from one vessel in the tank battery to another.

Most tank batteries will require some sort of dike or firewall. These are required around vessels that
are not pressurized, with fluids that are stored at atmospheric pressure. The firewall contains fluids in
the case of leaks or other emergencies where oil may end up outside of a stock tank or other vessel.
There’s some specific requirements regarding the size of the dike that you should check out. Usually,
the dike has to be able to contain 1 ½ times as much fluid as can be stored in the tank.

Flow lines can be simply be upset steel pipe like what’s used downhole. It can also be synthetic, like
plastic or fiberglass. They can be joined however steel seems best for your operation. Steel lines can
be threaded pipe and use appropriate fittings, or might use collars or grooved clamps.

Synthetic lines are used frequently in situations where steel would corrode too quickly. Polyethylene
lines are also popular for their low cost and ease of use. However, polyethylene lines are best used
with low pressure wells.

Head lines flow from the wellhead to the tank battery. When a tank battery receives fluid from several
wells, you’ll need to put together a header. This is an assembly of lines and valves that allows you to
control the flow from each well to the tank battery, as well as to other equipment such as a meter.

In the example pictured, each well has it’s own set of flow lines and valves. Flow enters from lines on
the bottom right. It then heads through a valve and then a check valve. Oil is then sent to different
parts of the tank battery, either the production or test separator.