Perform Oil Characterization and HP

Separation Workshop
Files can be found in folder: 06_OilCharacterization

Objective
In this workshop, you will use the Assay Management capabilities within Aspen HYSYS
to accurately represent a crude oil. You will also be able to effectively use the Spreadsheet
and Case Study tools within your process flowsheet.

In this example, a recombination of test separator data creates a crude oil stream that is
mixed with a light gas stream to recreate a source production fluid. This fluid is then sent
to two stages of separation so that the gas and liquids are separated at two different pressure
levels.

This workshop includes the following tasks:

• Task 1 – Specify the Assay Information

• Task 2 – Attach the Assay
• Task 3 – Build the Flowsheet
• Task 4 – Add a Spreadsheet Operation
• Task 5 – Run a Case Study

Task 1 – Specify the Assay Information

The Aspen HYSYS Assay Management feature greatly simplifies the specification of
Properties Environment inputs when it is used. In this portion of the workshop, you’ll see
firsthand how once the Assay Management option is invoked, HYSYS will load a suitable
component list and create a Fluid Package.

1. Open Aspen HYSYS and start a New Case.

2. Click on the Petroleum Assays folder in the Navigation Pane.

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The Assay Management option debuted in Aspen HYSYS V8.4, and is now the preferred
option for defining oil assay data in HYSYS V10.0. Assay Management offers many
advantages over the heritage Oil Manager approach. These advantages include:

• More advanced oil characterization techniques

• More options for oil assay data entry (i.e. sulfur content, aromatics by weight,
octane number, etc.) that weren’t available with the Oil Manager
• The ability to import data from internal and external sources
• A built-in library of numerous crude oil sample from around the globe
• Multiple options for manual input of assay data

One of the most convenient advantages of the Assay Management feature is that it contains
its own component list. This component list consists of both databank and hypothetical
components. The hypo component properties are adjusted and modified as you
characterize your assay(s). You’ll note later in this task of the workshop that this
component list is automatically loaded.

Note: The Assay Management component lists are loaded with Aspen HYSYS upon
installation and can be found at the following directory: <ROOT>\AspenTech\Aspen
HYSYS V10.0\Paks.

Begin by adding assay data to the Assay Management environment. This can be done in
three different ways:

• Importing from a library of assays

• Importing data from a compatible assay data source type
• Manually specifying assay data

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In this exercise, you’ll use the manual data entry approach to provide some assay data.
Follow the steps below.

3. Click the pull-down arrow next to the Add button and select Manually Enter to
enter your assay data.

Tip: You may also click the pull-down section of the New Assay button in the Assay
Management ribbon tab.

4. Assay Component Selection window will appear. Select the Assay

Components Celsius to 850C and click OK.

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 Note: If you select the Petroleum Assays node in the Properties environment and click
the Add button to add an assay, if you have not added an assay-compatible component
list to your case, the Assay Component Selection dialog box appears. You must add a
component list in order to characterize an assay

5. A New Assay input window will appear. Keep the default Name of Assay – 1.
Note that a Fluid Package titled Basis-1 was assigned as well!

Each option allows you to enter information differently:

 Multi Cut Properties (default option) lets you specify mass, molar, or volumetric
cuts of the crude assay sample with user defined initial and final boiling points.
 Single Stream Properties, lets you define the distillation percent and temperature
of individual streams.

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  BackBlending, allows you to define feed streams by blending their associated
products. The input products are typically defined in commercial distillations that
have significant overlap across products. BackBlending creates an assay from
these characterize feed assays by defining data and conditions for their outlet
mixtures. BackBlending creates an assay from these overlapping measurements
that can be used as a HYSYS Petroleum Refining feed stream.

6. Select the Single Stream Properties option.

Selecting the Single Stream Properties option allows you to enter your assay data as a single
distillation data curve. You can enter your data on a mass, molar, or volumetric basis.
Additional information such as API gravity, sulfur content, light ends, etc. can be entered
at a later step.

7. Click on the cell currently labeled “By mass” and change it to the “By volume”
option.

8. Right-click in the left-side margin of the distillation data table and select the
Insert Row option. Repeat this two more times.

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In this example, samples were taken from test separator that produced both oil and gas.
The produced oil is still assumed to contain some entrained light species, so these must be
accounted for when defining the assay. This will be done by specifying an analysis of light
ends. In addition to the Light Ends, the oil assay will also include a volume-based
distillation data curve, an API Gravity, and average sulfur content.

A separate analysis of the gas product from the test separator is also available. This gas
analysis will be defined when you enter the Simulation Environment. This gas material
stream will be recombined with the material stream representing the oil assay to represent
the composite hydrocarbon mixture.

9. Enter the distillation volume percentages and temperatures as seen in the table
below into your New Assay form. Click the OK button when finished.

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 Distillation Temperature Temperature
% °C °F
0 -12 10.4

4 32 89.6

9 74 165.2

14 116 240.8
20 154 309.2

30 224 435.2

40 273 523.4

50 327 620.6

60 393 739.4

70 450 842
76 490 914

80 516 960.8

Note: To change the default units you need to go to the Simulation Environment go to
Home Tab> Units> Change it to SI / Field as applicable.

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10. Note that your input distillation data curve should be automatically displayed
from the Petroleum Assays | Assay – 1 | Input Assay | Distillation Data Tab.

11. Go to the Input Summary tab. Double-click on the StdLiquidDensity menu

item. This allows you to change the default units for the property. Select API as
the units and click the green checkmark to save the change.

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12. Enter an API Gravity of 17 for the whole crude.

13. In the next row down, enter a SulfurByWt (%) of 2.715% for the whole crude.

14. Click the Pure Component tab in the Input Assay window. You can use this tab
to supply Light Ends data.

15. Double click the first empty cell in the first empty row. Filter the search selecting
C5-Paraffin in Component Group and select the component i-Pentane. Click
the green checkmark to save the change. Repeat to add n-Pentane as well.

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16. Change the Basis (%) to By volume and specify the following component
percentages for the lights:

Component Volume %

Methane 0.007
Ethane 0.023
Propane 0.32
i-Butane 0.24
n-Butane 1.75
i-Pentane 1.65
n-Pentane 2.25

17. In the bottom-right corner of the Input Assay window, click the Characterize
Assay button; wait a moment for the assay to fully compute.

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18. You can view the results from the characterization by viewing the Petroleum
Assays | Assay – 1 | Conventional Results | Results Summary Tab. The table
lists petroleum properties for the whole crude.

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 QUESTION: What is the estimated percentage of Paraffins by volume within the
assay sample? Aromatics by volume? [Write your answer below]

19. From the Assay Management ribbon tab, you can quickly generate plots of your
characterized assay from the Plot Gallery.

Recall that the HYSYS Assay Management tool also generates a Fluid Package and
component list as the assay is defined. Follow the steps on the next page to review these
items.

20. In the Navigation Pane, expand the Component Lists folder and select
Component List - 1. Note the standard databank and hypothetic components:

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 21. Expand the Fluid Packages folder and view Basis-1. Note that Peng-Robinson
is automatically selected as the property package.

Assay data supplied via the Assay Management tool can be exported for use in other
HYSYS simulations, much like a Fluid Package. Complete the steps below to export your
defined assay to an external file.

22. In the Navigation Pane, click on the Petroleum Assays folder.

23. Click and highlight the Assay – 1 row item, then click the Export button at the
bottom of the window.

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 24. Browse to the location where you are saving your course files and save the file as
Crude06.afam.

Task 2 – Attach the Assay

After characterizing an assay and verifying that its associated Fluid Package is complete,
the assay is ready for use in a flowsheet. The step of associating the assay data with a
material stream is done in the HYSYS Simulation Environment. Follow the next few steps
to add a material stream and pull in your characterized assay.

25. Select the Simulation Environment and view the flowsheet.

26. Add a new Material Stream and title it Raw Crude.

27. From the Worksheet tab of the Raw Crude stream, click on the Petroleum
Assay menu item.

28. Select the Attach Existing radio button. From the resulting pull-down menu
select Assay – 1.

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29. The status bar at the bottom of the window should indicate that the assay is
attached to the stream.

30. Select the Composition menu item and verify the composition is defined. You
should see the stream is composed of both databank and hypothetical components

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 from the standard Assay Management component list. This overall composition
was generated based on the data you provided in the Properties Environment.

31. View the Conditions page for the Raw Crude stream and enter the following
specifications:

In this cell... Enter...

Temperature 66.5°C (151.7 °F)

Pressure 3447 kPa (500 psia)

Flow Rate 37 kgmole/h (82 lbmole/hr)

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 32. Save your case as 06-OilCharacterization.hsc.

Task 3 – Build the Flowsheet

33. Add a Material Stream to represent the gas portion of the production fluid, using
the following values:

In this cell... Enter...

Name Crude Gas

Temperature 66 °C (150.8 °F)

Molar Flow 49.9 kgmole/h (110 lbmole/h)

Component Mole Fraction

Methane 0.8188

Ethane 0.0909

Propane 0.0404

i-Butane 0.0145

n-Butane 0.0152

i-Pentane 0.0202

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 34. Add a Mixer with the following information:

In this cell... Enter...

Connections

Name MIX-100

Inlets Raw Crude, Crude Gas

Outlet Well

Parameters

Pressure Assignment Equalize All

Note: Setting the Mixer pressure assignment to Equalize All allows you to keep the Crude
Gas stream pressure unspecified. If the pressures are equalized around the mixer, they are
all forced to the pressure you provided in Raw Crude.

35. Add a Valve with the following values:

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 In this cell... Enter...

Connections

Name Choke

Inlet Well

Outlet Manifold

Note: No pressure drop should be supplied for the valve. This flowsheet will utilize the
HYSYS bi-directional calculation engine to back-calculate the pressure drop based upon
a downstream defined pressure.

36. Add a 3-Phase Separator with the following connections:

In this cell... Enter...

Connections
Name HP Sep
Inlet Manifold
Vapour HP Gas
Light Liquid HP Liq
Heavy Liquid HP Heavy

37. View the Worksheet tab of the HP Sep property view and enter a pressure of 2068
kPa (300 psia) for the HP Gas stream. This should back-calculate your model up
to the Choke valve.

QUESTION: What is the pressure drop across the Choke valve? [Write your answer
below]

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 38. Add a Cooler as described in the table below:

In this cell... Enter...

Connections
Name JT Cooler
Inlet HP Gas
Outlet Cool Gas
Energy Q-JT Cool
Parameters
Delta P 69 kPa (10 psi)
Worksheet
Cool Gas, Temperature 26.67 °C (80 °F)

39. Add a Valve with the following details:

In this cell... Enter...

Connections
Name JT Valve
Inlet Cool Gas
Outlet JT Feed

As with the previous valve, no pressure drop need be supplied, as it will be back-calculated
via a defined downstream pressure.

40. Add a Separator with the following connections:

In this cell... Enter...

Connections

Name JT Sep

Inlet JT Feed

Vapour Outlet JT Gas

Liquid Outlet JT Liq

41. Set the pressure of the JT Gas stream to 1724 kPa (250 psia).

42. Save your case again as 06-Flowsheet.hsc.

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Task 4 – Add a Spreadsheet Operation
A Spreadsheet logical operation will now be added to the flowsheet. The purpose of the
Spreadsheet is to calculate the Gas-Oil Ratio of the production fluid.

43. Add a Spreadsheet from the Model Palette by double-clicking on the Spreadsheet
icon.

44. Go to the Spreadsheet tab of the Spreadsheet operation.

Note: While you could define the necessary variables for the Spreadsheet calculation from
the Connections tab, we will use the options on the Spreadsheet tab, as they tend to be a
bit more straightforward.

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45. Right click on cell A1 and select Add Import Variable(s) from the menu that
appears.

46. Choose HP Gas | Std Gas Flow as the variable and click Done.

47. Right click on cell A2 and import HP Liq | Std Ideal Liq Volume Flow.

48. In cell A4, enter the formula =1000000*A1/A2.

49. Right click on cell A6 and import HP Gas | Pressure.

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Hint: The formula used in this GOR calculation example requires you to use
English/Imperial units. Recall the Spreadsheet can support a unique unit set from the
remainder of your simulation. Open the Parameters page of the Spreadsheet and ensure
that Field is selected as the Unit Set.

50. Return to the Spreadsheet tab and fill in column B with some appropriate labels.

51. Using the table below, re-calculate the flowsheet with varying HP Gas stream
pressures. Adjust these pressures via cell A6 in the Spreadsheet and record the
calculated GOR values.

HP Gas Pressure (psia) GOR

300

350

400

450

500

52. Save your case as 06-Spreadsheet.hsc.

Task 5 – Run a Case Study

The Case Study tool allows you to monitor the steady state response of key process
variables to other changes in your process. It contains built-in reporting tools to easily
present your results in tabular or graphical formats.

53. Click the Case Studies button in the Home tab of the HYSYS ribbon.

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Note: Case Studies can also be created from the Navigation Pane. Simply select the Case
Studies folder and click the Add button.

54. You’ll be taken to the Case Studies section of the Navigation Pane. Click the
Add button at the bottom of the form to create a new Case Study. Case Study 1
will be created and a separate tab will be opened.

55. On the Case Study form, select the Variables Selection tab. In the Independent
Variables section, click the Find Variables button.

56. The Variable Navigator view appears, allowing you to select from the Input
variables. Select HP Gas | Pressure and click the Right Arrow to add the
variable. Then click Done to close the window.

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 Tip: If desired, you can edit the current values for each variable in the Current
Values column.

57. In the Dependent Variables section, click the Find Variables button. Select HP
Liq | Std Ideal Liq Vol Flow and click the Right Arrow to add the variable.

58. Add one more dependent variable, this time HP Liq | Mass Density. After
adding that variable, you may close the Variable Navigator window by clicking
Done.

Tip: Since V10.0 you have the option to choose different units in the Case Study variables
from the Unit Set selected for the simulation. If desired, define the units as
English/Imperial units as done before in the Spreadsheet. You just need to click on the
Units field for each variable and select the desired unit of measure.

59. You should now have three variables listed in the Case Study, the first one being
an Independent variable, and the others being Dependent.

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60. In the Case Study Setup Tab, you can define the calculation states of your
independent variable you wish to manipulate. In this case, HP Gas Pressure is the
independent variable and it will be evaluated over the following range:

Independent Variable Value

Start 2068 kPa (300 psia)

End 3447 kPa (500 psia)

Step Size 344.7 kPa (50 psi)

61. On the Case Study Setup tab of the Case Study form, from the Case
Study Type drop-down list, select Nested and then click the Run button to
calculate the Case Study.

62. After the Case Study runs, you can click on the Results tab to view the tabular
results of the Case Study.

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 63. Select the Plots tab to view a graphical representation of the results.

64. QUESTION: Can you think of any other variables to experiment with in the Case
Study? Feel free to experiment by adding additional independent and/or dependent
variables. [Write your answer below]

65. Save your case as 06-CaseStudy.hsc.

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Recommended Reading

Knowledge Base Article 000029374

How can I specify specific sets of conditions when running a case study?

Knowledge Base Article 000031538

How do I vary the composition of a stream in a case study?

Knowledge Base Article 000044632

How do I modify the fluid package associated to an existing Petroleum Assay?

Knowledge Base Article 000022851

How can I see which stream is related to a Petroleum Assay?

Challenge Exercise
Can you include the Spreadsheet-calculated Gas-Oil Ratio in your Case Study?

Hint: Use the Variable Navigator window to browse to the unit operation where the Gas-
Oil Ratio was originally calculated. Which specific variable should you select? Do you
need to refer to anything else in your flowsheet?

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Notes:

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 Perform Oil Characterization and HP
Separation Solutions
Files can be found in folder: 06_OilCharacterization/Solutions

Task 1
QUESTION: What is the estimated percentage of Paraffins by volume within the assay
sample? Aromatics by volume?

Paraffins by volume = 7.006%

Aromatics by volume = 46.497%

Task 3
QUESTION: What is the pressure drop across the Choke valve?

1379 kPa (200 psi)

Task 4
QUESTION: Compute the GOR results from the Spreadsheet view by changing the HP
Gas pressure value in cell A6:

HP Gas Pressure (psia) GOR

300 804.6

350 786.3

400 769.8

450 754.6

500 740.4

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Challenge Exercise
QUESTION: Can you include the Spreadsheet-calculated Gas-Oil Ratio in your Case
Study?

1. Return to the Case Study 1 view you built previously; select the Variable
Selection tab.
2. Click the Find Variables button in the Dependent Variables section to add a
new variable.
3. Select SPRDSHT-1 as the Object and cell A4 (or whichever cell contains the
calculated Gas-Oil Ratio) as the Variable. Click Add to include the variable
and Done when finished.
4. Re-run the Case Study clicking Run under Case Study Setup tab. The Gas-
Oil Ratio should be computed along with the two original dependent
variables.
5. Move to the Plots tab. Use the Variable A drop down menu to display the
SPRDSHT-1 – A4: results in the plot.

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