SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING & PHYSICAL SCIENCES

Chemical Engineering

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B41OA

OIL AND GAS PROCESSING

Semester 2 – 2015/16

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Monday, 2nd May 2016

Duration: 2 Hours

Instructions to candidates:

Answer THREE questions in total - at least one from each section.

(One from Section A, One from Section B and any other question.)

Answer each Section in a separate script book.

Candidates are expected to make reasonable assumptions where

necessary.

Candidates are expected to show all calculation steps, equations used

and assumptions made (if any).

Data sheets are attached with this paper.

 B41OA

SECTION A

(Answer at least ONE question from this Section)

1. Use the equations provided below.

(a) A gas mixture containing

Component Mole% Molar Mass (kg/kmol)

C1 74 16
C2 2 30
C3 24 44

requires 19.8 wt% methanol to completely inhibit hydrate formation at

4.137 MPa and 7°C. Determine the equilibrium temperature for hydrate
formation with this gas mixture at this pressure.
K factor charts can be found at the end of this paper.
(8 marks)

(b) At the conditions described above (4.137 MPa and 7°C), show that for
the uninhibited system approximately 95% of the gas mixture forms
hydrates, and hence determine the compositions of the hydrate and
remaining gas phases. Use the K-factor charts provided.
(14 marks)

(c) Having estimated the theoretical amount of inhibitor required, what

other factors determine the amount of inhibitor deployed?
(3 marks)

/Cont…

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 B41OA

/Cont…1

Equations

100  MI  T
WI 
MI  T  CI

Where
WI = weight percent of inhibitor required to inhibit hydrate formation at the
conditions;
MI is the molar mass of the inhibitor, 32 kg/kmol for methanol;
ΔT is the subcooling (Top – Teq) in °F;
CI is the constant for a particular inhibitor (methanol = 2335 kg. °F/kmol).

n
zi 1  K i 
0
i 1 1  V K i  1

Where

zi is the original vapour phase composition; and

V is the vapour phase fraction.

ziK i
yi 
1  V K i  1
Where
yi is the composition of the vapour phase after hydrate formation; and

yi
si 
Ki
Where
si the composition of the solid.

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 B41OA

2. (a) Describe the characteristics that make a good scale inhibitor for
squeeze treatments.
(7 marks)

(b) How does calcium carbonate scale usually form?

(7 marks)

(c) Describe the methods available for the prevention or removal of wax
deposits.
(8 marks)

(d) Describe the role played by resins in asphaltene solubility.

(3 marks)

END OF SECTION A

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 B41OA

SECTION B

(Answer at least ONE question from this Section)

3. Foinaven is located 190 km west of the Shetland Islands on the UK

continental shelf in water depth of between 350 and 520 m. A converted
Russian submarine tender was converted into an FPSO to produce oil from
the field. Processing facilities consist of a two stage primary separation of oil
with an oil dehydration unit together with a gas compression system and
produced water treatment package. The total liquid handling capacity of the
facility is 183,000 bbl/day of oil and 120,000 bbl/day of produced water.
Physical properties are given on the following page.

(a) Sketch a block diagram that describes a possible flow scheme used on
Foinaven FPSO. Include all three areas: oil, water and gas.
(3 marks)

(b) What special precautions would you expect the vendor for the primary
separators to include in their specifications for this unit given that the
platform is an FPSO?
(3 marks)

/Cont’d…

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 B41OA

/Cont’d…3

(c) Assuming the primary separator is a horizontal pressure vessel where

the residence time for oil is 10 minutes and the water 15 minutes,
determine the following:

(i) the hold up volumes of oil and water;

(ii) the diameter, length and effective length of the separator,

assuming that the liquid fill is 65%;

(iii) the filling levels of oil and water and hence the thickness of the oil
pad;

(iv) the size of the smallest water-in oil and oil-in water drop that could
be separated from this separator. Are these sizes sensible?
(15 marks)

(d) Level and pressure are two key measurements to make on primary
separators.

(i) Outline why these two measurements are important.

(ii) What additional checks would you need when working out the
diameter to account for level control in horizontal separators?

(4 marks)

Physical properties
Oil gravity is 890 kg/m3, viscosity 6 cP, gas density at separator conditions is
45 kg/m3. Water density is 1010 kg/m3 and viscosity is 1 cP. Assume a
slenderness ratio of 3.5.

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 B41OA

4. (a) UK Government data on offshore production in the North Sea suggests

that the majority of fields are in decline since they were first discovered
in the 1960’s. In many cases, water injection has been used by several
operators shortly after the start of production, and therefore the
production rates of produced water are likely to increase.

(i) Why would operators in the early 1960’s use water injection?

(ii) Discuss what options would have been open to North Sea
operators for disposal of this water.

(iii) Historically, what methods would have been used to treat

produced water before disposal? Outline why these have been
superseded for platforms designed in recent years.

(iv) De-oiling hydrocyclones have become the normal method to treat

oily water from primary separators.

(1) Outline how de-oiling hydrocyclones work and what the

differences are between these and normal hydrocyclones,
(2) Under what circumstances would it not be possible to use
de-oiling hydrocyclones?
(12 marks)

/Cont’d…

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 B41OA

/Cont’d…4

(b) The produced water treatment system on a platform treats

120,000 bbl/day of water from the primary separator system using three
de-oiling cyclone packages, each unit with 30 liners, 35 mm diameter.
Oil content in the produced water stream from the primary separators is
1000 mg/litre and typical droplet size is 500 microns. With reference to
the cyclone performance charts (see Data Sheet which is attached at
the end of this paper) determine:

(i) if the three units can treat the volume of produced water;

(ii) the typical oil content and the expected oil-in-water droplet size of
the treated produced water using all 3 units;

(iii) what would be the best configuration of the cyclone packages to

give the optimum oil recovery?

(iv) What the consequence would be if the following changes were

made in the pipeline from the separator to the cyclone package;
(a) the control valves close more than they are meant to and (b) if
a chemical injection to assist in flocculation were added into the
line?
(13 marks)

Physical properties
Oil gravity is 890 kg/m3, viscosity 6 cP, water density is 1010 kg/m3 and
viscosity is 1 cP.

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 B41OA

5. Alaska LNG have proposed an integrated LNG gas export project where
natural gas arriving at Prudhoe bay, North Alaska will be treated to remove
CO2, clean, dehydrate, chill and compress 3.5 billion ft3/day natural gas and
deliver this through 800 miles of pipeline to a liquefaction plant located in
Nikiski, southern Alaska. Pipe diameter is expected to be 48 inches in
diameter and have a maximum operating pressure of 2500 psi. Air
temperature along the route is expected to vary between -60°C to +35°C.
Exit pressure could be in the region of 1060 psi and the minimum pressure
will be 300 psi.

(a) Explain why removal of CO2 and dehydration would be important

operations before sending the natural gas to the Nikiski liquefaction
plant?
(3 marks)

(b) In order to determine the pressure drop along this pipeline, equations
such as Panhandle B are used. Explain why these equations are
necessary.
(3 marks)

(c) Using the Panhandle B equation on the supplied data sheet, determine
the frictional pressure drop and hence estimate the number of
intermediate compressor stations needed on the pipe route for the
48 inch diameter line if the flowing temperature is at winter conditions.
(12 marks)

/Cont’d…

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 B41OA

/Cont’d…5

(d) Running the pipeline overland would mean changing the pipe elevation.
Explain with the aid of suitable sketches depicting a change in
elevation, what is likely to happen to the internal pressure in the
pipeline. Would there be more of an issue with liquid carrying pipelines
rather than gas?
(3 marks)

(e) Pigging in pipelines is an important part of pipeline maintenance.

Describe what is meant by pigging and outline how the operation is
carried out. What would be some of the issues with pigging this
particular gas line?

(4 marks)

Physical properties of gas in the pipeline

Molar Mass Compressibility Pipeline Efficiency
16 kg/kmol 0.96 0.98

END OF PAPER

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