A

TECHNICAL REPORT

ON

INDUSTRIAL TRAINING (I.T)

WITH

NIGERIAN PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY (NPDC)

(
A SUBSIDIARY OF NIGERIAN NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION)
62/64 SAPELE ROAD BENIN CITY

BY
OGBEIDE KENNEDY AGBONS

PETROLEUM ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

DELTA STATE UNIVERSITY OLEH CAMPUS

DELTA STATE

18/11/2014
 PAGE

Abstract………………………………………………………………2
Acknowledgement…………………………………………………..3
Introduction…………………………………………………………4
Chapter one
The company’s symposium ………… ………………………….5-10
Chapter two
Field Description………..……………………………………….11-18
Chapter three
OBAX Flow station description ……………………………………………19-21
Chapter four
Processing of Gas in IGHF……….22-23
Chapter five
Other operations carried out at NPDC’S flow station ……………24-29
Chapter six
Flow station process control systems at NPDC……………30-31
Conclusion………………………………………………………32
Recommendations …………………………………………….33
References………………………………………………………34
Nomenclature………………………………………………….35
Appendixes………… …………………………………………36
 ABSTRACT
The introduction of students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) into the
normal schools’ curriculum has opened up an avenue for students to acquire a lot of
experience, skills, information and knowledge during the period of attachment to the
company/ industry in order to supplement the theoretical background of their chosen
course of study and also to prepare them for the challenges the future holds. This report is
centered on my six months industrial training program with Nigerian Petroleum
Development Company for processing, with highlight on office and field activities such
as monitoring the plant process, operational calculation, chemical injection, well testing
and control systems of NPDC e.t.c. The organization structure of the company is also
included.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I want to appreciate God Almighty for giving me the grace, opportunity and strength to complete
my industrial training successfully. I also want to thank the management of NPDC most
especially Gas Development Department (GDD), Abdullahi,A.H (Manager, GDD), Jamari S
(Deputy Manager, GDD), Mr. Musa M (supervisor), Mr. Olajide K (supervisor) and Omolara
(Secretary GDD ).I wish to thank the entire Gas Development Department (GDD) for their lovely
support and accommodation giving to me during my Industrial Training.
 INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION TO OREDO FLOWSTATION AND INTERGRATED GAS

HANDLING FACILITY

Oredo flow station and Integrated Gas Handling Facility (IGHF) is located at suburb of Ologbo
Town, Ikpoba Okha Local Government of Edo State.

Oredo flow station was built initially to accommodate medium pressure producing wells. Over
time, more wells were drilled and completed, which turned out to be high pressure wells which
could not be accommodated by the available facilities.

Another Early Production Facility (EPF) was built to accommodate these strings. This facility is
known as OBAX Flow station mainly called New EPF. NPDC (old) EPF has a production capacity of
6000BPD for oil, and 14MMSCFD of Gas daily.

OBAX EPF has a producing capacity of 10,000 BPD of oil and 70MMSCFD of gas. Presently, OBAX
facility produces from ten (10) strings at about 1607 BPD and about 80MMSCFD of gas. The gas
separated is sent to the gas handling facility to be processed and exported.

INTEGRATED GAS HANDLING FACILITY (IGHF)

Integrated Gas Handling Facility (IGHF) is operated by Network oil and gas (NO&G), they handle
the gas produced from old and new EPF. In an effort to reduce gas flaring and natural gas
wastage, the facility was built to process the gas and make it available for consumers, for power
generation, to fuel automobiles, machinery and so many others uses. Currently the facility only
compresses the gas and transports it to Nigerian Gas Company (NGC) where it will be further
processed. This is because the gas handling facility is not fully operational for other forms of
processing. 95% of the produced gas is handled by this gas facility.

FLOW STATION
A flow station is an important facility in the oil and gas industry. In the oil and gas field
development, sometimes many development wells can be drilled over the field area; these wells
contain fluid with varying properties, phase and features. It is important that these fluids be
processed before they are delivered to the refineries or for export.

A flow station is a gathering centre where primary separation/processing of the reservoir fluid
take place. These fluids are later transported to terminals for export or to the refinery, while the
other products are either treated or flared or disposed.

A flow station is usually designed to run unmanned or automatically. It employs pneumatic

instrumentation logic for control and shut down in a safe manner. At the flow station, flow lines
run from the well-head to the manifold, then to the different separators for primary separation
of the fluid into various phase.
Diagram is shown Above
The reservoir fluid is most times a mixture of usually three phases of fluids’ namely ;

1. Gas
2. Oil
3. Water (sometimes with basic sediments)

It is important that these fluids be handled individually according to their phases. Thus, at
the flow station, the primary separation of these mixtures takes place

Flow stations may have different configuration, depending on the kind of reservoir, location,
temperature and pressure conditions in the geological area

PIPELINES

Pipelines: are used to transport petroleum, petroleum products, liquid carbon dioxide, and
other liquid and gases over great distances. In spite of the cost of constructing pipelines,
they are a relatively economical means of transport. A pipeline system consist of pipes,
pump stations, compressor stations, and other facilities to support the safe, continuous
movement of liquids and gases. Pipelines carry petroleum from the source, the oil and gas
field, to the refineries, to and from gas processing plant, and eventually to consumers.
Pipes are most often buried in the ground, but they are also laid under water and
sometimes erected above the ground.

Today, a network of gas and liquid pipelines crisscrosses the United States.
The first pipeline on a continental scale was completed in the 1930s, but the real boom in
cross-country lines came during World War II when the Big Inch and the little Big Inch
were constructed to provide fuel for wartime industry and the military. The Big Inch
began operating in 1943, was 24 inches in diameter, and stretched 1,341 miles from
Longview, Texas, to Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, and Linden, New Jersey. This made it
the largest crude oil pipeline in the world. The Little Inch, opened in 1944, was 20
inches in diameter and 1,475 miles long. It carried refined products from Beaumont,
Texas, to Linden, New Jersey.

PIPELINE NETWORKING
 CHAPTER ONE

COMPANY’S SYMPOSIUM
1.1 The NIGERIAN NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION (NNPC) was
formed on April 1st 1977, through the merging of Nigeria National Oil Company
{NNOC} and the ministry of petroleum of function as the corporation may determine.
Section 1, 5 (d) of decree number 33 of 1977 constitution empowers NNPC to establish
and maintain subsidiaries model. As part of the commercialization program the NNPC
has established the following subsidiaries;

A) Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Limited (NPDC) charge with the

exploration and production of crude oil.

B) Integrated Data Services Limited (IDSL) charge with the responsibility of

geophysical data acquisition and ancillary services to west African sub-region

C) Warri Refinery and Petrochemicals Company (WRPC)

D) Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemicals Company (KRPC)

E) Port Harcourt Refinery and Petrochemicals Company Limited (PHRC)

F) Pipeline and Product Marketing Company Limited (PPMC)

G) Eleme Petrochemicals Company Limited (EPCL) (DISSOLVED)

H) National Engineering and Technical Company Limited (NETCO)

I) Hyson/Calson (Nigeria) Limited

 J) National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS)

K) Research and Development Division (RDD) (NEW)

1.2 NIGERIAN PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY (NPDC)

NIGERIAN PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY (NPDC) is an oil producing

company under the umbrella of NNPC and it plays a crucial role in the exploration and
production of crude oil in Nigeria. The company (NPDC) was established as one of the
eleven strategic business units (SBU) of NNPC in June 1988 at inceptions.

The company was assigned ten concessions comprising of OPL 90 (offshore), OPL 450
(onshore), OPL 477 (onshore tar), OML 64 (onshore), and OML 65 (swamp).

NPDC commence its operation in 1989 with only Abura field as the only source of
generating its revenue. On January 29th 1996 NPDC successfully started production from
the second field Oredo which is situated in the Ologboo area of Edo state within the
concession boundaries of OML 111. In the year 2002 the third field Oziengbe south was
established.

NPDC has its administrative office at 62/64 Sapele road Benin City and operations office
at 23 Etete road G.R.A Benin City, Edo state, where my department (Petroleum
Engineering Department) is situated.

NPDC’s vision is emerging as a Nigeria’s Premier Oil Exploration and Production

Company. The mission statement of NPDC is to profitably operate a petroleum
exploration and production business both nationally and internationally using indigenous
manpower and correct technology.

THE KEY BUSINESS OBJECTIVES OF NPDC ARE:

A) To produce hydrocarbon (oil, gas and condensate) from NPDC assigned concession. To
increase NPDC hydrocarbon reserves

B) To profitably market NPDC’s crude oil, gas and condensate.

C) To train and develop good quality work force to meet NPDC’s business needs in all facets
of the company’s operations.

D) To operate a safe and friendly environment consistent with standards in the Nigeria oil
industry.

NPDC ORGANOGRAM
Fig 1.0 A typical NPDC Organogram
 ORGANISATION STRUCTURE OF THE
COMPANY
NPDC consist of various departments that are directly involved in different aspect of
exploration and production of petroleum. The major objectives of the departments and the
sections are to monitor and direct all administration, engineering and practical activities
of the company. These departments/sections are listed below with their functions.

EXPLORATION DEPARTMENT
The function of this department is to find out and locate the region in which crude oil
reservoir can be found, through sampling of the rock or soil and carrying out all type of
seismic activities or survey in order to pin point the exact location of the oil well and also
to know quantity of crude oil in that deposit. They also provide adequate information on
the exact point to drill, the type of rock, topography, size of well and other useful facts.
The exploration department also has a work station unit, where all the analysis of the data
obtained from the field during seismic surveys is logged on to the computer for
interpretation and simulation.

DRILLING DEPARTMENT
The department deals with the technology surround with drilling and casing of oil well
into the likely oil bearing formation. Drilling forms the final test of exploration stage and
first step of production stage. It is only by drilling into the potential oil bearing rock
structures that the presence or absence of oil can be finally determined.

TECHNICAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT

The technical services department is concerned with the following:

A) Pipeline installation

B) Electrification

C) Road construction

D) Minor and major repairs on machines

E) Maintenance and servicing of equipments ,etc

There are three different sections in this department:-

Mechanical engineering section: this section supervises pipeline installation, welding,

generator servicing, and general repairs on equipment.
Electrical engineering section: This section is concerned with the electrification of
buildings, circuit connections, community electrification and so on.

Civil engineering section: This section makes plans and constructs buildings. They are
also concerned with the construction of roads to the company’s flow stations and their
operational areas

PETROLEUM ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

This department is responsible for lining up pipelines for crude flow, sequential checking
of equipment, passing report and radio messages, crude oil water content analysis
(BS&W), pressure surveys and lots more. Here the main control of the flow station is handled.
This department is divided into three different sections namely Production operations,
production technology and reservoir engineering. Below is an Organogram for PED:
 PED

PRODU RESER
CTION PRODU VOIR
OPERAT CTION ENGIN
IONS TECHNO
LOGY EERING

WELL/S
PROD URFAC RESERV
FIEL E RESERV PVT
UCTIO E WELL ESTIMA OIR ANALY
N FACILI D WELL
PERFOR PRODU TION/EC CHARAC SIS/
OPERA OPERATI MANCE CTION
TIES ONS INTERV /
ONOMI TERISAT BHP
TIONS OPERA CHEMIS C ION /
ENTION SURVEIL T LAB
SURVE
TIONS EVERLU STUDIES
LANCE ATION Y

Fig 1.1 PED Organogram

RESERVOIR ANALYSIS SECTION

This section run reservoir simulation model, estimate initial oil in place, volume reserve,
construct a reservoir surveillance plan, monitor and improve reservoir performance,
perform fluid sampling and analyze fluid properties (PVT), predict reservoir performance,
design, implement and analyze well tests (BHP).
PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY SECTION
This section measures well and plant effluent, investigates all chemicals used in drilling
and production process, advises other functions on production chemical subject, applies
new technology for profitability , improvement, monitor well performance and gives
recommendation on required remedial measures, preparation of short, medium and long
production potentials for management information, maintenance of adequate records for
NAPIMS, DPR and for studies, or procurement of well test data, well review acquisition
of well cost data ,provision of program for well completion/work over jobs, forecast down
hole equipment requirement and also they takes care of well completion design and
engineering. They also carry out production test, by finding the percentage of various
impurities and other liquid contents associated with the crude oil produced.

Basically, this section is involved in well completion, well surveillance and well
intervention.

PRODUCTION OPERATIONS SECTION

The activities of this section can be grouped into
1. Office activities like crude oil accounting, preparation of periodic reports on flows
stations, preparation of spread sheet for reconciliation of crude oil quantities pumped,
liaising with other department to ensure that materials and services needed in the stations
are provided on time, definition of scope of work and tendering process, planning,
organizing and supervision of DST/TCP and surface well testing operation during the
well completion phase e.t.c
2. Field activities that consist of the flow station and well head operations. The flow
station operations includes periodic testing of the well in order to measure well
performance and the monitor of cumulative production volume, monitoring of flow
station equipments to detect problems, operation of flow station equipment to ensure
optimal and uninterrupted production, injection of chemicals into crude oil stream at
manifold in order to achieve optimal separation. The well head operation includes
periodic pressure survey and crude oil sampling, injection of chemicals at the well head in
order to avoid flow line blockage.
Fig:1.2 Flowstation facilities

INTEGRATED GAS HANDLING FACILITY (IGHF)

The aim of an integrated gas handling facility is to produce a natural gas that is over 99% rich in
methane and has its processing operation in five stages as listed below;

(a). Compression

(b). Dehydration

(c). Fractionation

(d). Refrigeration

(e). Metering

But the Integrated gas handling facility at Oredo flow station only carries out compression and
metering on the natural gas it receives from the early production facilities.
QUALITY, HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENT
DEPARTMENT (QHSE)
The activity of this department ranges from ensuring safety of the environment, personnel
and facilities of forestalling any hazard that could pose a threat to human being and
environment. The section also ensures pollution control and general impact assessment. It
also ensures the quality control/improvement of the product.

The safety section, in addition to providing safety of the environment, personnel and
facilities, provides personnel protective equipment, combats fire in the event of fire out
break, maintenance of fire alarm system, servicing of fire extinguisher e.t.c.

The Environment section handles comprehensively studies on Environmental Impact

Assessment (EIA) and it has been detailed below

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (EIA)

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is an examination, analysis and assessment of
planned activities with a view to ensuring environmentally sound and sustainable
development. It has been considered a statutory mechanism for evaluating the possible
ecological impacts of any project development.

An EIA should provide adequate details of the Physical, Biological, Chemical and Socio-
economic/cultural components of the project area. Elements of the physical environment
include Geology, Topography, Soils, Biotic Sediment, Climate & Meteorology, ambient
water quality, hydrology, ambient air quality, level of pollution in the project area.

The changes in the environment resulting from man’s action are termed effects. These
effects become impacts only when a value judgement is applied to change. Thus an
impact on the environment implies that the quality of the environment has changed.
“Effects” and “impacts” can either be harmful or beneficial to the environment depending
on the scale of change and the time scale in which judgement is made. The need to take
environmental considerations into account in project planning & development and the
realisation of the need to fore cast has given rise to the activity known as Environmental
Impact Assessment (EIA). The activity is concerned basically with identifying &
assessing the environmental consequences of development projects in an attempt to
ensure that the best alternatives are selected.
Baseline ecological data acquisition study is particularly useful in providing
environmental data that can be utilised to assess the organisation of the ecosystem
significant, abiotic and biotic component; and the effects of perturbation on the ecosystem
as a result of man’s activities.

Impact identification is carried out by superimposing the proposed project as a whole, on

the baseline data that has been collected.

Data collection usually involves extensive field work and sampling exercise, as well as
laboratory analyses.

CHAPTER TWO

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF A TYPICAL OIL FIELD

WELLHEAD
The wellhead is mounted at the surface of an oil or gas well; it is the component at the surface
of an oil or gas well that provides the structural and pressure-containing interface for the drilling
and production equipment. The wellhead serves as an anchor point for the casing and tubing
strings. It provides a means of pressure sealing and isolation between casings at surface when
many casing strings are used. The wellhead provides communication access to the annulus of the
well during work over operations.

The wellhead serves as a base on which the Christmas tree sits on and provides a means of
attaching a blowout preventer during drilling. The components of the wellhead includes : casing
head, casing spool and hanger adapter, tubing head, tubing spool and hanger adapter, packoffs
(isolation) seals, bowl protectors / wear bushings, test plugs, mudline suspension systems.

Offshore, where a wellhead is located on the production platform it is called a surface wellhead,
and if located beneath the water then it is referred to as a subsea wellhead or mudline wellhead

Diagrams of a well head is shown below;

CHRISTMAS TREE
The Christmas tree is an assembly of valves, spools, pressure gauges, and chokes that are
fitted to the well head of the completed well. It provides flow and pressure control of
formation fluid through the wellhead. The Christmas tree also provides entrance for wireline
in and out of the well in cases of workover. The Christmas tree allows flow from the well into
the surface flowlines down into the production facility (flowstation).

Categories of Christmas tree include: Flanged tree, Monoblock tree, multiple completion
tree valve arrangement (conventional Christmas tree). The conventional Christmas tree can
be single stringed or dual stringed depending on the type of completion for the reservoirs.
On a dual producing Christmas tree, there are two strings producing from different
reservoirs, the Long string (Lima ‘L’) and the short string (Sierra‘S’). The short string assembly
is always set higher than the long string assembly. The short string is on the left side of the
Christmas tree, while the long string is on the right side.

The following components are present at a typical Christmas tree location at Oredo Field

On each dual completion Christmas tree, there are two master valves, one for each tubing string.
Used in isolating the Christmas tree from the flowlines. Located at the base of the Christmas
tree, it controls all flow from the wellbore. The upper master valves are used routinely. The
lower master valves are for emergency purposes. They are operated manually.

- Surface safety valves (SSV): The surface safety valves are present to shut-in the well if there is
an event of failure of downstream equipment, or a leak, or fire outbreak, or any other
emergency which requires a shut-in of the well. They are also referred to as Pilot valves and are
sometimes are situated close to the wing valves of the Christmas tree.

- Wing valves: The wing valve serves as an outlet for hydrocarbon from the well to the flowlines.
Mounted on the tees and crossed, and are used in controlling flow from the flow line. They are
used also in initiating or stopping flow on the well.

- Choke/Bean box: This houses the choke or Bean. The choke/bean contains a small
orifice/aperture which reduces the flowrate of the formation fluid. Chokes may be fixed or
variable depending on its design. The choke box can also be referred to as a BEAN-BOX.

Swab valve: it is an isolation valve that is required to access the wellbore for maintenance. Used
in wire line operations.

- Riser: They are upward protruding part of the Christmas tree. It traps a bit of the gas just
flowing out of the well. The trapped gas now serves as fuel for the pneumatically surface
controlled devices at the wellhead.
A SKETCH OF CHRISTMAS TREE SHOWN ABOVE

DIAGRAMS OF CHRISTMAS TREE

CHOKE
The choke controls the flow rate and pressure of the well.

SURFACE SAFETY VALVES (SSV)

Surface safety valves are used for monitoring pressure of the wells and flow line in case of
line rupture at set point. Swab valves for wire line operations, e.g. installation of surface
control subsurface safety valve (SCSSV), wax cutting e.t.c.
PNEUMATIC CONTROL UNIT

Pneumatic control unit: Also known as surface control panel, it controls the surface safety
Valve (SSV) and Surface Controlled Subsurface Safety Valve (SCSSV). It is primarily
pneumatically operated by the Gas supplied to the unit through the risers. Secondarily, the
control unit can also be hydraulically operated. The hydraulics can be manually pumped
from the surface through the control lines to the subsurface safety valves to open the when
they are in close position
DIAGRAMS IS SHOWN BELOW
CELLER PIT
This is a pit that surrounds the well head and the Christmas tree, its function is to contain
any spillage that may arise from producing well
Diagram above represent celler pit that is covered

FLOW STATION
A flow station is a gathering centre where primary separation takes place. At the flow
station pipes are run from the wellhead to the manifold, then to different separators.
NPDC presently has two flow stations namely Oredo and Oziengbe flow station. Oredo
and oziengbe flow stations are designed to carry out two phase separations that is
separating liquid phase (water and oil) from gas phase.

Gathering System
This consists primarily of pipes, valves, and fittings necessary to connect the wellhead to
the separation equipment. The gathering system may contain one or more lines with
branches to each well, or it may consist of separate lines from each well, which are
connected to a group header or test header system, as distance and distribution dictates.
Other accessories needed include.
(i) Gross-production meters

(ii) Automatic well test units with programmers and computer readouts communicated
to remote office locations or production headquarters

(iii) Corrosion inhibitor and chemical injection equipment

(iv) Automatic routing valves; and

(v) Production limiting devices. In some cases gas is removed from the casing head
into a field gathering system. Orifice meters are installed at each well, or one meter
may be used to measure the entire gas production.
A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FLOWSTATION FACILITIES

FLOW-LINES
These are steel pipes that convey crude oil from the producing wells to the flow station.

ARRIVAL MANIFOLD
This is an inlet by which all crude oil flow-lines enters the flow station, the essence of the
manifold is for easy switching of crude oil from the well head to different separators. The
arrival manifold has ESD (Emergency Shut Down) valves attached to the headers for
automatic shut down ,in case pressure for a given header is exceeded or below it.

Fig 2.6a Arrival Manifold showing ESD valve

MANIFOLD
The individual well streams are brought into the main production facilities over a network of
gathering flowlines and manifold systems.

A gathering point made up of a combination of valves and fittings where hydrocarbon

converges and is diverted to the respective separator headers according to the flowline
pressure. The manifold contains a variable choke valve which is used to control the flowrate
and in turn control the pressure of the well stream going into the various headers. The valve
that contains the variable choke is an angle valve. It is the official “entrance” for
hydrocarbon from different wells into the production facility

Fig 2.6b Arrival manifold showing valves

PRODUCTION MANIFOLD

CHEMICAL INJECTION SYSTEM

Defoamers, demulsifiers, and dewaxers are injected into the fluid just before it gets into the
separators and just before the gas booth in order to break emulsifying bonds in the fluid in order
to further aid separation of the component phases. These chemicals are injected intermittently
with small diameter needle valves and pumps

The Emulsion formed can be either of the following

i) Primary emulsion, which can be oil-water emulsion or water-oil emulsion.

ii) Secondary emulsion, which can be oil-water emulsion or water-oil emulsion.

SEPARATORS
Separator is a vessel which separates fluids by means of gravity settling into its constituent
phases which could be oil, gases, and water. Generally, formation fluid from the well is a 3-
phase combination comprising gas, oil, and produce water. This fluid may also convey solid
particles in suspension, such as sands, corrosive products, paraffin-based, and asphalt based
components that have been precipitated out. Hydrocarbon must be separated into their
various phases and impurities removed before it can be shipped for commercial purposes.

Separators are classified by their shape, operating pressure ranges, application and number
of separation phases

Shape: By shape, separators are either vertical, spherical or horizontal

Operating pressures: Separators could be low pressure operated (15-225)psi, medium pressure
operated (230-650)psi or high pressure operated(700-1500)psi.

Separation Phase: separators are either 2-phase (gas + liquid) or 3-phase (gas+ oil+ water)

Application: Test separator, production separator.

Separators are also made use of in other hydrocarbon processing facilities apart from the early
production facility (EPF) such as; gas handling facility, refineries. In the Early Production facility,
there are other more specific separators such as: fuel gas scrubber, knock out drum and
degasser.
The main purpose of an early production facility is separation of hydrocarbon, hence the
importance of these different separating vessels.

The Oredo Old EPF have horizontal medium pressure separator and test separator due to
relatively lower gas to oil ratio from handled well strings.

TEST SEPARATOR
The primary essence of a separator is to separate gas, water from the crude oil and at the
same time reducing the pressure at which the crude oil is coming from the well. Test
separator is similar in configuration as the other separators.

This separator has the major function of determining the “wellness” i.e. the producing potential
of the well that flows at a particular time. It is equipped with various flow metering system
necessary for measuring oil, gas, and water, for potential test, periodic production tests, etc. it
can be used to determine the nature of the well, gas oil ratio (GOR), surface pressure, surface
temperature, amount of crude produced per day, amount of gas produced per day. Some of the
meters present on this separator include the:
Flow analyzer: for measuring quantity of liquid produced and the flowrate into/out the
separator

Diagram representing flow analyzer

Daniel orifice meter: which measures the amount of gas produced, by creating a pressure
differential through the orifice plate, that is recorded on the Barton recorder with the use of
Barton charts.

Recent technology In Oredo Field however, has replaced the flow analyzer and Daniel Orifice
meter by Transmitters and computerized Flow meters.

Test separator typically consists of a vessel, an oil flow-measuring system with dual meters, a
flow-measuring system for gas, several sampling points for each effluent phase, and two relief
valves to protect the vessel against overpressure. Most separators are also equipped to measure
water flow rate. To provide accurate measurements, the test separator is fitted with pneumatic
regulators that maintain a constant pressure and a constant liquid level inside the vessel by
control valves on the oil and gas outlets.

The test separator is fitted with a deflector plate, coalescing plates, a foam breaker, a vortex
breaker, a weir plate, and a mist extractor. These components reduce the risk of carryover
(liquid in gas line) and carry under/blowby (gas in liquid line) that would affect the flow rate
measurement accuracy.
Fig 2.8a Internal Feature of a test Separator
Test Separator

TEST SEPERATOR UNIT

HIGH PRESSURE SEPARATOR (HP)

HP separator have the same working principle as test separator, the only difference is that
the HP is designed for crude oil from high pressure well as pressure specified in separation
staged. The HP separator is designed to handle the bulk of the incoming production from
the high pressure well(s) and remove gas from the liquid. Crude is fed into this separator via
the HP header on the arrival manifold.

MEDIUM PRESSURE SEPARATOR (MP)

MP separator has the same working principle as the test separator but the difference is that
the MP is designed for crude oil from medium pressure wells as pressure specified in
separation staged. The well stream flows in the mp separator through mp separator for
further processing. The mp separator is designed to remove free water from the oil and
remove gas from the liquid.
LOW PRESSURE SEPERATOR (LP)
LP separator has the same working principle as test separator but the only difference is that,
is it designed for low pressure wells as pressure specified in separation staged. It is also
designed to remove free water from oil that is coming from the MP separator prior to
sending the oil to surge tank or crude storage tanks.

About 65% of the existing gas from the top far end of the test separator, MP separator and
HP separator is piped to HP flare knock out vessel, while 25% of the gas is piped to fuel gas
scrubber. The gas from the LP separator is vented to the LP flare knock out vessel.

GAS BOOTH (DEGASSER)

Produced liquid from the separators is channeled to the degasser. Degassers carry out the same
function as the low pressure separator. It extracts further traces of gas from the oil, before it is
stored. Depending on the configuration and design of a degasser, it could either be a water
degasser, or oil degasser.

The gas that is extracted from the water degasser is channeled to the Low pressure flare
knockout drums, and the oil is stored in the storage tanks.

Gas extracted from crude degasser is channeled to the gas handling facility while the water is
channeled to the floatation cell for treatment before disposal.
FLARE KNOCK OUT TANK
These are tanks where produced gas is channeled. The tanks dry the gas by allowing any
liquid that is with the gas to that point to settle in it, so as to allow the dried gas to be sent to
the flare knock out stack where it is being flared. We have two flare knock out tanks, they are
the LP flare knock out tank and the HP flare knock out tank. Gas from the test separator,
HP and MP separators are channeled to the HP flare knock out tank whereas the gas from
the LP separator is channeled to the LP flare knock out tank. FLAREKNOCK OUT
TANK;
This is an underground tank, produced gas is channel into it, dry it and send it to the flare knock out stack
where it is being flared.

FUEL GAS SCRUBBER

This process plant equipment traps gas from the gas header and purify it by removing further
traces of crude oil in it, with mixer or extractor, then send it to the fuel filter. The fuel gas
scrubber is designed to remove oil droplets from the incoming gas to be used as fuel. The
accumulated liquids are dumped to the closed drain sump tank. The gas is then sent to the
instrument gas filter separator, which is designed to remove aerosols from the gas prior to
sending the gas to the end users, such as gas driven generator and cooking.

PUMPS:
In the transfer of crude from the flowstation for export or to the refineries, pumps are used.
These pumps include the booster pump which is a centrifugal volume pump that pumps the
crude out of the tanks and the Export pumps which further pressurizes the crude to pump it over
a long distance (several thousand kilometres). The export pump is usually a reciprocating
pressure pump. Booster Pumps: These pumps collects crude oil from the crude oil storage tanks
and boost the pressure on the export line for the major export pump to pick up on an adequate
line pressure.

In a simplified sense, its describe below:

(a) Booster Pumps: These pumps collects crude oil from the crude oil storage tanks and boost the pressure on
the export line for the major export pump to pick up on an adequate line pressure.
(b) Export Pumps: These pumps depend on the pressure built by the booster pump to suck and discharge
crude oil for export.
(c) Produced Water Transfer Pumps: These pumps suck water from the storage tanks and send it into the
skimmer

WATER DEGASSER
This is the equipment that receives produced water from the separators and extracts further
traces of gas and oil from the water. The produced water dumped by the HP, MP, LP and
test separators is piped to the water degasser. Each of the four separators (HP,MP,Test,LP)
and water degasser has a transparent type level gauge for monitoring oil/water interface
inside the main section of the vessel before the weir plate .These separators are cylindrically
in shape and are made of carbon steel materials, their thickness varies with depth .The
degasser is also designed to remove large oil droplet from the water by feeding oil water
through the three sets of coalesce plate packs. The water discharged from the water degasser
is then sent to the floatation cell or corrugated plate interceptor (CPI) for final treatment.
The accumulated oil is pumped to the closed drain sump tank. Any excess gas which breaks
out from the water, while inside the water degasser vessel is vented to the LP flare knock out
tank, and the water is sent to the skimmer pit.
 FLARE SCRUBBERS:

The HP Flare Scrubber and LP Flare Scrubber are designed to scrub any Liquids from the
gas stream that is being vented prior to flaring.

CLOSED DRAIN
The Closed Drain Sump Tank and Associated Diaphragm Pumps are designed to accumulate
the liquid from the closed drain header and then pump this liquid back to the LP separator
for reprocessing. This pump must be adjusted to discharge oil from drain tank into LP
separator and overcome the pressure inside the LP separator. The drain tank basically
operates at atmospheric pressure and any pressure gases which accumulate inside the vessel
are vented to atmosphere through a vent type flare arrestor. Pump exhaust gas is piped into
the drain tank so that flammable gases are not present around the drain tank. The tank will
be place in a cement pit approximately 1 meter below grade to facilitate liquids drain header
draining into this vessel.
 Fig 2.15 Closed Drain

CORRUGATED PLATE INTERCEPTOR (CPI)

Produced water is sent into this equipment and it purifies the water before sending it to the produced
water storage tank. There are many pumps used and all have their different function to perform. The
principle is the same as the suck liquid and discharges it into the produced water storage tank, LP
Separator for reprocessing. The pump must be adjusted to discharge oil from drain tank into LP
Separator and overcome the pressure inside the LP Separator. The drain tank basically operates at
atmospheric pressure and any gases, which accumulate inside the vessel, are vented to the atmosphere
through a vent type flare arrestor.
PRODUCED WATER STORAGE TANK
This store and preserves purified water produced from the process and serves as a stand by
for fire fighting unit in case there is an emergency.

Fig 2.17 Produced Water Tank

CRUDE OIL STORAGE TANK

After separation, crude is kept here until when it is to be exported. The capacity of the
standard tank at NPDC’s flowstation is 20000 barrels.
These are vessels with high storage capacity where crude oil produced is stored prior to
pumping. The storage capacity of the tank in Oredo flow station is 20,000 barrels and the
height of the tank is 24 feet. These tanks serve as a center for decantation of water after
being allowed to settle for at least 12 hours or more. These tanks allow gas liberation while
limiting pressure loses through evaporation. The tank has the following accessories;

A) Production or Inlet pipe: generally fixed at the bottom of the tank and internally
extended with a perforated pipe rising in a cage. This device acts as a separator,
which permits the liberation of gas towards top and helps to avoid the agitation of
liquid hence promotes the draining.
B) Discharge or export pipe: this is also fixed at the body of the tank at a certain height,
perforated and extended in the tank. It makes it possible to discharge crude oil at the
top.

C) Drainage pipe: this is used to collect drains at the bottom of the tank.

D) Overflow pipe:

E) Circulation pipe:

F) Man-hole: all storage tanks are equipped with one or two man-hole to be used as an
access into the tanks to carry out repairs or cleaning. All tanks must also be free of
gas before any work is carried out in order to avoid explosion due to gas and air.
Therefore to degas the tank, vapour may be injected and then an explorimeter is used
to verify if it has been degassed.
G) Level controllers: these are liquid level indicator that gives direct reading of liquid
head.
 STORAGE TANK

METERING UNIT
Crude being exported passes through the metering unit, to get real time and cumulative reading
of crude being exported. The metering unit records in barrels of per day. The meter is clocked off
daily to get cumulative daily shipment.
LACT UNIT (lease automatic custody transfer): It is the unit designed for the transfer of
ownership of crude from the buyer to the seller. It allows the operators to monitor and
manage the crude oil that is being exported or received. It employs specialized meters to
measure the natural gas or oil as it flows through the pipeline, without impeding its
movement. This unit of transfer is very important since crude is sold on the basis of API
gravity and BS&W, it is necessary make accurate measurements, hence the need for a viable
transfer unit.

WATER UNIT
Water unit consist of boreholes, reservoir, storage tank, treatment plant water pump and
over head tank.

Water is being pumped through the water pump from the borehole to the reservoir, which is
connected to the storage tank that has a flow station cell, which control the water flow from
the storage tank. From the storage tank water is being pumped into the treatment vessel
(cylindrical) while chemical (chlorine) is being ejected into the storage tank before going into
the treatment vessel with the aid of chemical ejector connected to two chemical drums. After
the treatment of the water, it is being pumped through the water pump to the overhead
storage tank, which supplies water to the entire flow station.

2.2.1.18 Gravity Settling Tanks

The simplest treating equipment for removing solids from water is a gravity settling tank or
vessel, which may be designed in either a vertical or horizontal configuration.
In vertical settling tanks, the solid particles must fall countercurrent to the upward flow of
the water. A typical vertical gravity settling vessel is shown below by Fig 2.20(Schematic of
vertical gravity settling vessel).
The water enters the vessel and flows upward to the water outlet. Solids fall countercurrent
to the water and collect in the bottom. As shown, large diameter vessels or tanks should have
spreaders and collectors to distribute the water flow and minimize short-circuiting.

Fig 2.20 vertical gravity settling vessel

For small diameter gravity settling vessels, the collected solids may be removed by
periodically opening the sand drain shown in Fig 2.20 (Schematic of vertical gravity settling vessel).
The use of a cone bottom rather than an elliptical head allows more complete removal of
solids through the drain. Typically, an angle of 45 to 60 degrees from the horizontal is used
for the cone to overcome the angle of internal resistance of the sand and allow natural flow
of solids when the drain is opened.

Any flash gases that evolve from the water leave the settling vessel through the gas outlet at
the top of the vessel. The volume of flash gas must be kept to a minimum so the gas does
not adversely affect the removal of small solids particles. If large amounts of gas are flashed,
the small gas bubbles can adhere to solids particles and carry them to the water surface. The
solids then may be carried out the water outlet.

In horizontal settlers, the solids fall perpendicular to the flow of the water, as shown in Fig
2.21 (Schematic of horizontal gravity settling vessel).

Fig 2.21 Horizontal gravity settling vessel

The inlet is often introduced above the water section so that flash gases may be separated
from the water prior to separating the solids from the water.
The collected solids must be periodically removed from the vessel; thus, several drains may
be placed along the length of a horizontal vessel. Since the solids will have an angle of repose
of 45 to 60 degrees, the drains must be spaced at very close intervals and operated frequently
to prevent plugging. The addition of sand jets in the vicinity of each drain to fluidize the
solids while the drains are in operation is expensive, but sand jets proved successful in
keeping drains open. Alternatively, the vessel may have to be shut down so that solids may
be manually removed through a man way. Although effective, this method can be extremely
expensive and time consuming.
Horizontal vessels are more efficient at solids separation because the solid particles do not
have to fall countercurrent to the water flow. However, other considerations, such as the
difficulty of removing solids, must be kept in mind when such a configuration is selected.
Horizontal vessels require more plan area to perform the same separation as vertical vessels.
Most small horizontal vessels have less liquid surge capacity. For a given change in liquid
surface elevation, there is typically a larger increase in liquid volume for a horizontal vessel
than for a vertical vessel sized for the same flow rate. However, the geometry of most small
horizontal vessels causes any high-level shutdown device to be located close to the normal
operating level. In large diameter (greater than 1.8 m (6ft) horizontal vessels and in vertical
vessels, the shutdown could be placed much higher, allowing the level controller and dump
valve more time to react to a surge.
It should be pointed out that vertical vessels have some drawbacks that are not
process related; these must be considered in making a selection. For example, the relief valve
and some of the controls may be difficult to service without special ladders and platforms.
The vessel may have to be removed from a skid for trucking due to height restrictions.
The choice of a pressure vessel versus an atmospheric tank for a solids-settler depends on
the overall needs of the system. Although pressure vessels are more expensive than tanks,
they should be considered when potential gas blow-by through an upstream vessel dump
system could create too much backpressure in an atmospheric tank's vent system; or when
the water must be dumped to a higher elevation for further treating and a pump would be
needed if an atmospheric tank were installed.
For gravity settling of solids, water retention time does not directly affect the solids removal,
and only settling theory must be considered. Some small retention time is required for
evolved gases to flash out of solution and reach equilibrium. This process usually requires
less than 30 seconds; therefore, retention time criteria rarely govern vessel size.
Gravity settling is useful for settling of large diameter m microns). It is normally used where
there is a high solid (greater than 50 flow rate of large diameter solids) that might otherwise
quickly overload equipment designed to separate smaller diameter solids from the liquid
stream. Through the individual tubing, the fluids are produced to the surface via the Xmas
tree and routed to the flow station through the flow lines.
PIG LAUNCHING UNIT
This is the unit where pig/brush is launched into the export line to enable it to clean the line
of dirt and scales.
CUP PIG DISC PIG
 SPHERE PIG FOAM PIG

FLARE KNOCK-OUT STACK

This is a point where all the gas after being filtered from water and oil in the flare knock-out
tanks is flared.
MOTOR CONTROL CENTER (MCC):
There are two types of MCC, one for the flow station that controls fire pump, main breaker,
jockey pump, power & lighting, circulation pump, and export pump (line) and generator
MCC that control the diesel generator and gas generator as well.

FIRE PUMP (PANEL):

The fire pumps are use to quench fire in case of fire outbreak.

MAIN BREAKER (PANEL):

The main breaker is being fed by the generator and gives power to the fire pump box, power
& lighting, jockey pump and booster pump.

JOCKEY PUMP (PANEL):

The jockey is a pressure stabilizer, it maintain static pressure in the water lines (for fire
fighting) during operation when not in use.

CIRCULATION PUMP (PANEL):

It helps or controls the oil/water separation from the crude oil.

BOOSTER PUMP (PANEL):

The booster pump panels control the booster pump (A & B).

SUBMERSIBLE PUMP (PANEL):

The submersible pump panel controls the water bore hole.
PROGRAMMABLE LOGICAL CONTROL (PLC):
The programmable logical control panels controls all the system in the station electrically
(D.C). The PLC controls all the valves and it is designed to shut down valve for safety
reason. It also helps to control pressure from the well, the PLC sense pressure from the SSV
(sub safety valve) in case of excess pressure. The PLC shut down the station with the aid of
pressure transmitters that send signal to the PLC, which knock off the solenoid.

CRUDE OIL PROCESSING AT NPDC (OREDO) FLOW STATION

Each flow line from a producing well is connected via a choke valve into the test manifold,
MP manifold drain installed on the manifold skid. Fluid enters the MP separator via MP
manifold for separation. The MP separator is designed for both stage 1 and stage 2
production criteria; it will perform a two phase gas/liquid separation in stage 1 at 500 psi,
and a three phase (gas/oil/liquid) separation in stage 2 over the range 800-1500 psi. The
produced gas from the separators is metered and then routed to the fuel gas system and to
the flare header via a pressure control valve. The gas outlet is fitted with a demister pad to
minimize liquid carry over to the fuel gas and flare systems. The separated liquid is routed
into the degassing tank on level control. The normal MP separator is 50% full. A 30% surge
volume is provided between the normal and high liquid level to allow for potential flow line
slugging. On high pressure and high level, the MP separator is shut down by closing the inlet
valve. In stage 1 this will result in eventual shutdown of the production system. Also there is
a test separator designed to test individual well gas/oil/condensate and water flow rate in
both stage 1 and 2 developments. The well stream fluid from a specific well is routed to the
test separator via the test manifold. The separated oil and water streams are recombined after
metering and routing into degassing tank. The produced gas is metered and routed to the
flare header. On high pressure and high level, the test separator is shut down by closing the
inlet valve. The fluid outlet control valves are closed and the gas control valve opened to
flare. In stage 1 this will result in eventual shutdown of the production system also.
 All fluid drained from the manifolds and flow lines is routed via a drain manifold into closed
drain header which runs to the underground flare knock out tank.

The degassing tank is designed to perform a two phase gas/liquid separation at around
atmospheric pressure prior to routing of the crude/water into the crude oil tank. The fluid
from MP and Test separators enters the degassing tank through a horizontal nozzle fitted
with an inlet distribution. The small quantity of gas produced in the degassing tank is
metered and routed to the flare header. The separated liquid is routed to the crude oil tank
via a seal leg to ensure that the liquid has sufficient residence time for degassing purposes.
The high level in the degassing tank shut down the production system by closing the
upstream shut down control valves. The level sounds an alarm at the control room.

The crude oil tank has a capacity of 10,000 barrels and is designed for crude dewatering and
for crude storage during export pipeline shutdown. The crude/water is routed into the tank
via an inlet distributor located 6-10” from the bottom of the tank. The separated crude is
routed to the crude export pumps via a floating suction arrangement. The crude oil level is
maintained by float type level switches in the tank, the stop and start levels of these switches
can be adjusted if required. The separated water is routed to the produced water transfer
pumps on interface level control. The crude oil tank is surrounded by a temporary sand bund
designed to contain any spilled oil in the event of tank rupture, flange, leakage etc.

Two triplex reciprocating type crude export pumps are provided; one operating and one
standby, to pump crude from crude oil tank to the export pipeline via the crude metering
package to Pan Ocean Oil Company for export. While the produced water is pumped by the
transfer pump set comprising of centrifugal pumps from crude oil tank to an elevated fire
water/produced water storage tank. Excess produced water is diverted by a spillway to CPI
oil-in-water clean up unit. clean water is now pumped by single stage centrifugal type
produced water disposal pumps (one operating and one on standby) though a totalizing
meter and 3 inch pipeline to a water course for disposal.

All excess off gas is disposed of by burning at the flare stack. All the headers are
continuously purged with fuel gas scrubber to prevent air ingress. The flare stack is equipped
with flame arrestor for flash back protection and a flame failure alarm. The flare knock out is
also provided with a pump designed to return the liquid to the degassing tank. While the fuel
gas system is designed to produce gas for use for the power generation package, flare purge
gas, instrument gas and flare ignition system.

All fluid draining from the pressurized equipment such as the MP separator, manifold skid
and crude export scraper launcher are routed into a flare knock out tank located below grade.

CRUDE OIL PROCESSING TRAIN

 Sulfur
Removal
Condensate
Treating Dehydration Removal

Stabilization

Phase Dehydration H2 S
Stabilization
Wellhead Gathering Desalting Removal
Separation
Storage
Water
Skimming Filtration Softening
&
Deaeration

Clean up Sand Disposal

Sand

STAGE SHIPMENT:

Shipment of crude oil commences when the crude in the storage tank has been built to a

considerable level, some water is still contained in the tank which is then allowed to settle

down after some hours; because water is denser than oil. The water is first drained from the

bottom with the pump before shipment began. To start shipment, the booster pump is

switched ON before the export pump. The pressure reading of the export pump is taken and

recorded as discharge/export line pressure (DELP). Shutting down the export pump is the

reverse of starting. Before shipment begins, the panel in the control room is first

acknowledged and then reset. Sometimes shipment may be difficult when the pressure of the

export pump is low .It might also be due to low level in the storage tank. The pump may also

cavitate thereby vibrating ceaselessly and consequently shutting down.

Gear oil and harmony oil are the two important lubricants used in running the export pump

and need be refilled when their levels fall. Harmony oil is otherwise called light/compressor

oil. During shipment, the crude oil level in the storage tank where export is taking place and
the reserve storage tank are taken and recorded continuous for every two hours. There is a

side glass attached to the storage tank which shows the level of crude contained in it.

Shipment of crude can only be done with one export pump, one booster pump and from

one storage tank at a time. During shipment, the level of crude oil in the reserved storage

tank is built up. When building up levels in a tank, the produce line and the drain line of that

storage tank are opened while the over flow line and the export line are closed. Most times

there may be needed to divert production from one tank to another. In this case, the

production line of the storage tank where diversion is directed to is first opened before the

opening of the production line and drain line of the tank where diversion is coming from.

After shipment has been terminated, a daily production report is written which shows the

quantity of barrels shipped for that particular day.

OBAX FLOWSTATION DESCRIPTION (MAINLY CALLED NEW EPF)

The oredo new EPF operated by OBAX petroleum, was constructed in order to handle increased
production from the oredo field. OBAX EPF has a producing capacity of 10,000 BPD of oil, and
70MMSCFD of gas. Presently, Obax facility produces from 10 strings at about 1607 barrels per
day of oil, and about 80 MMSCFD of gas. The gas separated is sent to the gas handling facility to
be processed and exported.

Plan view of the new EPF

Operations and surface facilities in the new epf are almost the same with very slight
configurationally differences. Some of the facilities are discussed below:

VERTICAL HIGH PRESSURE SEPARATOR

The EPF handles production with very high pressured wells with high gas to oil ratio ratio. Thus, a
vertical separator is used here due to the high GOR. Vertical separators have good gas handling
capacity.

Horizontal medium pressure separator: for further condensate stabilization of the crude from
the HP separator is routed to the MP separator. Good amount of gas has been taken care of in
the HP separator for the MP to further perform its separation
horizontal test and MP separator (on left and right side) of the Vertical HP separator


HEAT EXCHANGER

There is a minimum temperature requirement for fluids to enter into the thermal treater, this is
not usually met by the medium pressure separator, and therefore, crude temperature must be
boosted before entering into the treater. The heat exchanger is basically a medium of exchange
for heat from liquids coming into and from the thermal treater respectively. In the heat
exchanger, there is heat loss from liquids leaving the heater treater, and corresponding heat gain
for liquids entering into the heater treater.


THERMAL TREATER/ HEATER TREATER

Replacing the chemical injection system is the thermal treater. The thermal treater serves to
break the bonds between oil and water by heating the fluid to temperatures high enough to
break the stubborn emulsifying bonds. It is heated to temperatures of about 110 degree
Fahrenheit, which demulsifies it, and also serves to remove any remaining gas in the crude. The
thermal treater level is controlled by a dump valve, as other separator levels. The temperature
at which heating takes place is controlled by temperature sensors and indicators. High and low
set points are put in place for ignition and temperature control in the thermal treater.

Horizontal thermal treater


FLOATATION CELL

This is a water treatment facility that extracts remaining oil droplets in the separated water
before it is disposed off. The floatation cell skims off oil floating on the surface of the separated
water.
 Floatation cell

THE MECHANISM OF SEPARATION

A conventional separator works with the centrifugal/ gravity settling principle.

At the entrance of a separator is an inlet diverter also known as a baffle plate. The incoming
fluid hits this plate which causes a change in the momentum and thus primary separation of
gas from the liquid. The gas tends to bubble out of the liquid and travels upward through the
mist extractor which captures liquid molecules in the gas. By gravity settling the liquid falls
to the bottom of the separator to liquid collection section where the denser liquid (usually
the

water) settles at the bottom while the relatively less dense liquid (crude oil) settles just above
the dense fluid.
The centrifugal inlet device makes the incoming stream spin around. Depending on the flowrate
of the mixture, the reaction force from the separator wall can generate a centripetal
acceleration of up to 500 times the gravitational acceleration. This action forces the liquid
droplets together, where they fall to the bottom of the separator into the settling section.

The settling section allows enough room for turbulence of the fluid stream to subside and the
liquid droplets to fall to the bottom of the vessel due to gravity segregation. There is a large
section of sufficient height and length, to allow liquid droplets to settle out of the gas stream
with adequate room for slugs of liquid, while gas goes out through the gas outlet to the header.
Also present is a mist extractor near the gas outlet to trap (coalesce) small particles of liquid
which did not settle directly.

WEIRS are vertical baffles placed in the liquid accumulation section of the separator. In a 3 phase
separator vessel, they separate the water accumulation from the oil accumulation part of the
separator. The time taken for oil and water to separate using the differences in their densities
while in the separator is referred to as RETENTION TIME.

It is necessary that there is sufficient room for separation for both liquid and gas, to prevent
LIQUID CARRYOVER to the gas outlet, or GAS BLOWBY to the liquid outlet. Carryover is a term
used in describing free liquid that has left the gas phase at the top of the separator. It indicates
high liquid level, or it may be as a result of faulty level controller, level control switch, or plugged
liquid valves at the bottom of the separator.

The liquid level in a separator is controlled by level control valves, also known as dump valves.
These valves are triggered to open or close by level controllers located outside the separator.
The liquid level inside the separator is monitored by a floating bridle which signals the level
controller to activate the control valve (dump valve). On the outside, the liquid level is
monitored through the side gauge glass.

Pressure and temperature of a separator are monitored by temperature and pressure

gauges calibrated in Pounds per square inch (PSI) and degree Fahrenheit (°F) respectively. 30

CHAPTER FOUR

INTEGRATED GAS HANDLING FACILITY (IGHF)

Natural gas produced from hydrocarbon reservoirs is also as useful as the crude recovered
from these reservoirs. But, it is being wasted by flaring this large quantity of gas as use and
large market for the gases have not been established. With further development,
technologies; the need for the use of this gas has increased. Thus gas processing and making
this natural gas available has become of importance

The integrated gas handling facility is responsible for gas processing. The facility is operated
by NETWORK OIL AND GAS COMPANY.

CRUDE OIL BRIEF OVERVIEW OF GAS PROCESSING

Typically, processing natural gas and making it ready for use takes place in four stages depending
on the compositional makeup of the gas

Here in the Oredo field, the stages the facility is being constructed to handle includes

1. Compression stage

2. Dehydration stage

3. Cryogenic stage (chilling/refrigeration)

4. Fractionation stage (NGL recovery)

In other gas processing facilities, a gas sweetening stage might be included if the gas to be
processed contains acid gases like H2S and CO2. In the oredo gas field and in generally in Nigeria,
the hydrocarbon has little or no presence of these acid gases (crude termed as SWEET CRUDE).

COMPRESSION STAGE

In the compression stage of gas processing, the gas is compressed by compressors in other to
increase its pressure for transportation. This gas might be transported through pipelines under
very high pressure. As liquids are pumped with high pressure for transport, gases are
compressed to high pressures for transport.

From thermodynamics, the compression of gases increases its pressure likewise its temperature.
Thus, intercoolers and aftercoolers are installed along the compression lines to reduce the
temperature of the compressed gases.

Method of Gas compression in IGHF

Gas sent from separation unit, (let say from Oredo flow station) enter into gas manifold and the
manifold empty into the header pipe. The gas from header moves into suction scrubber. The
suction scrubber helps to separate any trace amount of liquid from the gas i.e as the name
implies scrubber “separate”. After this stage, the gas enter suction bottle.

Immediately after the suction bottle, the gas moves direct to compression cylinder (the cylinder
is made up of two cylinders tagged cylinder 1 and 3 in the first stage compression). Then the gas
enter discharge bottle, after here, the gas moves to interstage cooler, since the gas that have
passed through different unit would be very hot, this unit helps to cool the gas.

After this stage the gas moves from interstage cooler back to 2nd stage suction scrubber unit .
The suction scrubber helps to separate any trace amount of liquid from the gas. After this stage,
the gas enter suction bottle.

Immediately after the suction bottle, the gas moves direct to compression cylinder (the cylinder
is made up of two cylinders tagged cylinder 2 and 4 in the second stage compression). Then the
gas enter discharge bottle, after here, the gas moves into “After cooler”, since the gas that have
passed through different unit would be very hot, this unit helps to cool the gas.

At the IGHF gases are compressed to pressures of 900psi with final line temperatures of about
90°F.

Currently at the IGHF, the compression stage is the only functional stage. The other stages are
not yet functional but most of the facilities and equipments are present on the field.

Further, liquid entrained in the gases are separated from the gas by Scrubbers positioned before
the compressors. This gas is compressed and transported to Nigerian Gas Company for further
processing.

DEHYDRATION STAGE

The dehydration is stage is meant to separate from water vapour present in the gas. It is
essential that these water molecules are removed from the gas as it reduces heating value of the
gas, might react with gas to form acidic compounds that may be corrosive. The water vapour
could also react with the gas under reduced temperatures to form slugs that will impede the free
flow of the gas.

Dehydrating the gas involves using

1. Tryethylene (TEG) or Diethylene (DEG) contactor tower

2. Molecular sieves

3. Methanol injection ( rarely used)

Present at the oredo field flowstation are TEG contactor tower and two molecular sieves.

Using TEG involves random or tray packed tray columns through which there is an
interaction of the gas with the TEG substance. This TEG has strong affinity for water
molecules. As other hydrocarbon gases would pass through the TEG substance, water
molecules would be retained in the TEG substance.
A regeneration station purifies the TEG off water molecules so it can be reused. This is done
by re-boiling the rich Glycol ( TEG with water molecule) to temperatures at which water
molecules would evaporate leaving just the lean glycol ( without water molecule) to be
reused in the contactor tower.

Molecular sieves are solid desiccants that act as adsorbents for water molecules. The
hydrocarbon gas is passed over the solid surface (pellets) in the molecular sieves and the water
molecules are collected over the solid surface as this electronically polar pellet attracts water
molecules only.

CRYOGENIC STAGE
In this stage of gas processing propane refrigerant chillers are used to reduce the temperature of
the gas stream to temperatures at which methane alone would remain in the gaseous stage
while other fractions of the gas will turn to liquids. The methane is thus collected over the
DEMETHANIZER tower.

FRACTIONAL RECOVERY
Here the natural gas liquids (C2 to C4) are separated into their fractions using appropriate
facilities of DE-ETHANIZER for ethane, DEPROPANIXER for propane and DE-BUTANIZER for
butane. Other heavier liquid fractions have been separated out using scrubbers and low
temperature separators before the stream reaches this stage.

INTEGRATED GAS HANDLING FACILITY

CHAPTER FIVE
OTHER OPERATIONS CARRIED OUT AT NPDC’S FLOW STATION

Other operation carried out at NPDC includes daily production operations as below:

1. Daily oil production into Tanks A and B, a process called TANK LEVEL BUILD

UP (TLBU). When the level reaches around 28 feet or there about, production is

then directed into either of the two tanks (A or B) and the one with 28 feet is now

drained of water. The drain flow line is then opened while the production line is

closed. Draining water in Oredo flow station is necessary due to the fact that the

separation is in two- phase that is it always separates the gas from the fluid. A

minimum of six hours is allowed for the oil to settle in the storage tank (settling time)

before SHIPMENT occurs. However, both tanks A and B could be built up

simultaneously if the other streams were producing.

2. ROUTINE BEAN INSPECTION

The bean (choke size) used by NPDC in their wells is mostly 20-32’’ according to

DPR regulation. However, for well 4L in Oredo field 24/64’’ bean is used. The bean

here is a positive one that is a bean with a fixed diameter. Due to sand and water

production the choke size can increase due to corrosion and may result to various

problems. For example:

I. Since water production is a function of flow, increase in choke size will

increase the well out-flow and thereby seriously affecting production by

building up a head above the hole pressure.

II. Also if the well is water driven, the reservoir will be depleted of its natural

energy and thereby may leave a lot of crude in the reserve un-produced as in

the case of Abura well 2L with almost 4MMbbls unrecovered due to

reservoir energy depletion.

DURING A BEAN INSPECTION AT OREDO WELL 4L ON THE MONTH OF

SEPTEMBER,2014

APPARATUS USED

a) Bean extractor

b) Large size hammer

c) A nut and bolt

d) Lubricating oil

e) Hand glove

During the bean inspection exercise the following procedure was followed

1. Close the well from the well head (Christmas tree).

2. Blow off trapped pressure by opening the valves along the flow line

3. Close the flow line from the ball valve

4. Open up the bean box for inspection

RESULTS

The positive bean orifice which has a fixed diameter was found to be eroded (increase in

diameter) caused by the high water production with the water cut of almost 30%

DAILY PRODUCTION CALCULATIONS

GROSS PRODUCTION: Subtracting the reading gotten from the LACT unit before

pumping of crude oil from that gotten after pumping.

Gross production = CMR – OMR

Where CMR =close meter reading

 OMR = Open meter reading.

The unit is BLPD (barrels of liquid per day). This is because it still contains water.

NET PRODUCTION: This is gotten by multiplying the gross production by (1 – BS&W)

Where BS&W = basic sediment and water.

This is done to get the exact amount of crude oil without water.

I.e. NET PRODUCTION = Gross prod. * (1 – BS&W)

The unit of this is BOPD (barrels of oil per day)

GAS RATE CALCULATION (Q):

Q = C * SQUARE ROOT (Hw * Pf) *24hrs

Where C = Orifice plate constant

Hw = Differential pressure

Pf = static pressure + 15 psi

GAS OIL RATIO (GOR):

Dividing gas rate, Q by the net production, does this

I .e GOR = Q / net prod.

3.1.5 OTHER OPERATIONS:

5.9 OTHER OPERATIONS:

Daily operations on the flow-station fall into two categories, based on the timing:

a) Operations performed at two-hour interval include:

Recording of pressure and temperature readings of the HP separator, Test Separator, MP

Separator, LP Separator, Water Degasser and Fuel Gas Scrubber.

Recording of the flow-rate of liquids or crude oil in the HP Separator, Test Separator, MP
Separator and LP Separator.

Recording of the pressure and level of crude oil in the crude oil storage tank.

b) Operations performed at four-hours intervals are:

Recording of voltage (V), frequency (Hz), current (A), temperature (F), oil pressure (psi), gas
pressure (psi), speed (RPM) and period (hrs).
c.) Assisting the supervisors to provide orientations for the new I. T. students about certain
operations been carried out in the field.

CHAPTER SIX
FLOW STATION PROCESS CONTROL SYSTEM AT NPDC

With surges in liquid production, liquid level in separator increases. If liquids were allowed to
accumulate to the level of the gas outlet, oil could escape through the gas outlet. If a
minimum liquid level were not maintained, gas could escape through the liquid or lower
outlet. Therefore liquid level control is provided to prevent the liquid level from being either
too high or too low and operates dump valve in the oil outlet. As production increase, liquid
level rises and dump valve opens. The liquid level control maintains a liquid seal, thus
preventing gas from escaping through the liquid outlet. Most of the level controls use a float
displacer to control the dump valve regulating liquid level. The up/down motion of the float
is transmitted to the dump valve through a system of levers. When the float moves down,
the valve lever moves up for the valve to close. When the liquid and float rise to the desired
level, the valve opens. The turnbuckle controls the liquid level maintained in the separator.
The above operation is mechanical. There is another type of liquid level control, though the
same action but purely pneumatic in operation it entails a sensing element in the form of a
bourdon c-tube or bellows, relay, nozzle and flapper. In this case an input signal to the valve
either to open or close depending on the level in separator or tank.

Also the high level in degassing tank shutdown the production system by closing the
upstream shutdown control valves. The low level sounds alarm at the control room. The
crude oil level is maintained by float type level switches in the tank. The stop and start levels
of these switches can be adjusted if required.

The emergency shutdown (ESD) system comprises of a relay logic control system contained
within a cabinet in the operators building (control room). This shut down level is activated
manually or automatically by instrument gas low pressure. All production will cease
immediately and the MP separator flare valve opened. While a process shutdown will be
activated automatically if a major process failure occurs. The main aims of the
instrumentation and control and Emergency shutdown (ESD) system design are to ensure
the safety of personal, continuity of production and the protection of the plant and its
associated facilities.

In case of fire incidence, a firewater system C/W a chemical foam trailer is supplied to
protect the plant. The fire system is operated manually. Three fire hydrants are strategically
placed around the Flow station for use in the event of fire.

CONCLUSION
I had a tremendous experience working under NPDC. Within the duration of six month, I
was able to visit the flow stations. I learnt a lot, which will help me for now and the
future. I learnt about the operations going on at the various flow stations and how most
of the separating plants works and also how to carry out daily production reading and
calculations.

I thank God for such an opportunity to get all these experience during my six months
industrial training.

RECOMMENDATION

Based on my experience with NPDC, I there made the following recommendation:

1) Federal government should make amendments to the industrial training of

university students by reviewing and reworking the period and emoluments
given to them.

2) Also the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) officials should be paying regular visit to
industries/factories where industrial trainees are, to access their level of
performance and to ensure they were well placed in the area patterned to their
discipline.

3) Finally I wish to recommend this report to the entire IT students in the oil related
disciplines.
 REFERENCES

NNPC website

Process plant equipment procedure by NPDC

Flow station production operation manual by NPDC

NPDC library
 NOMENCLATURE

BS&W = Basic sediment and water

BOPD = Barrels of oil per day

BLPD = Barrels of liquid per day

BHP = Bottom hole pressure

CPI = Corrugated plate interceptor

DST = Drilling stem testing

ESD = Emergency shut down

SSV = Surface safety valve

SSSSV = Subsurface safety valve

SCSSV = Surface control subsurface safety valve

SBU = Strategic business unit

THP = Tubing head pressure

FLP = Flow line pressure

GOR = Gas oil ratio

MCC = Motor control center

OML = Oil mining lease

PSI = Pounds per square inch

 APPENDIXES
DAILY PRODUCTION CALCULATION

GROSS PRODUCTION: This is gotten by subtracting the reading gotten from the LACT unit
before pumping of the crude oil from that gotten after pumping.

Gross production = CMR – OMR

Where CMR = close meter reading

OMR = open meter reading

The unit is BLPD (barrels of liquid per day). This is because is still contains water.

NET PRODUCTION: This is gotten by multiplying the gross production by (1-BS&W)

Where BS&W = basic sediment and water.

This is done to get the exact amount of crude oil without water. That is, net production =
gross multiplied by (1-BS&W). The unit off this is BOPD (barrels of oil per day)

GAS RATE CALCULATION (Q)

Q = C multiplied by square root of (Hw multiplied by Pf) multiplied by 24 hours.

Where C = orifice plate constant

Hw = differential pressure

Pf = static pressure + 15 psi

GAS OIL RATIO (GOR)

Dividing gas rate, Q by the net production, does this.

Attached is a daily production report of Oredo and OBAX flow station and IGHF