Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME

5200 N, Centra/ Expwy, ;?Jf&RERSPE6096

Dellas, Tex, 75206

Vacuum Deaeration - A New Unit operation

for Waterflood Treating P ants

By

& L. Carlberq, Continental Ofl Co.

THISPAPERISSUBJECT TO CORRECTION
\~Copyr/ght7976
American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc.
This paper was prepared for the 57st Annua/ Fa// Technics/ Conference and Exhibition of the Society of Petroleum
Engineers of AIME, he/din New Orleans, Oct. 3-6, 7976. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more
than 300 word% Illustrations may not be copied, The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment of
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PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOC/ETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon
request to the Editor of the appropriate journal, provided agreement to give”proper credit is made. Discussion of
this paper is invited.

ABSTRACTo sulfite ion scavengersin some systems.

rm Conoco uBes vacuum deaerationin treating
seawater for injectionin Californiaand
Dubai. With multistaEe towers,oxygen concen-
tration in the effluentwater is reducedto
cO.05 uIg/L,precludingneed for corrosion
inhibitortreatment. Improvementsin the
Dubai towers are noted, as are problems,8uch
a8 foamir?,which have been encountered. Data
on throughputand oxygen concentration are
included.
Vacuum deaerationof wate 18 a method
known and uied for many year8.~,6,7 That use,
however,has been limitedby coet and avail-
able technology. Severalwritera ascribea
practicallower limit of 0.3 mg/1.to 0.5 mg/L
oxygen in the effluentwater when using vacuum
deaeration.1s2*11Gas strippingand chemical
scavenginghave been consideredmore practical
anawerawhen truly low dlseolvedoxygen
concentration are re uired for waterflood
operations.stgtlosll~i!
2 Theee methods have
proven satisfactoryin numerousapplications
where availabilityof gas for strippingor the
economicsof chemicalscavengingdid not
preclude their use. The limitsdvolubilityof
calcium sulfitehas also interferedwith
Referencesand illustrationsat end ~F-
In those systemswhich requiredeaeration,
the need 18 baaed on thoee reactionsinvolving
oxygen;e.g., corrosion,oxidationof ferrous
iron in solution,growth of aerobicbacteria,
etc. Of these, corrosioncontrol la probably
the most important.s Corrosioncontrolby
removalof dissolvedoxygen Is particularly
importantin waterfloodoperations. For lar~e
waterfloodsystems,the economicsof a capital
expense for vacuum deaerationare often more
favorablethan the continuingoperatingexpense
of chemicalscavenging.
Recent coat eatimate8were $450,000for
a vacuum tower,vacuum pumps and booster pump
to deaerate100,000b/d from 6.5 mg/L oxygen
to Le8e than 0.02 mg/L. Chemicalscavenging
with catalyzedsodium sulfite (32 cectellb)
would run $212,500per year.forchemicals
alone.
Improvementstn vacuum strippingtechnol-
ogy have made thie a practicaland economically
acceptableunit operationfor use in waterflood
treatingsystems. Basically,these improvements
are in the use of multistage,packed columns,
and water ring vacuum pumps which can handle
 . ..”..-.. -“.-.-..
the water vapor, ae well 88 the gases being
~emoved from the in?luentwater*
The principalsof vacuum deaeratordesign
have been outklnedby eeveralwritaru.6*7*14
Diffueionof diaualvedgamea from the liquid
film to the gae-liquidinterfacela the rate
limitingstep.14 Other varlablebto be
consideredincludesurface area, liquid film
thickness,time, concentrationgradient,
viecaziity,aiffueivity,temperature,and
salinity.
Baeis for deaerationtower design is this
eq~~at$on:
cl-ce
(~U)L “ ln—
-%-q
C2
With the value of C@ determinedfrom the
Henry’e law relationship:
C*=P xc
am”
‘2
Evaluationof HL ie a functtonof tower
packing and ?peratingconditions. For various
ring and eaddle pack%nae,Sherwoodand
fiolloway15have developedthe empiricaleque-
tion:
Values of a ranae from 80=550 and n from
0.22-0.46,the actual value dependenton the
form and eize of packina ueed. Conoco ln8talla-
tione have used Maspac FN-90 packingwhich is
not coveredby these conetants, Performs..:,a
4ata ia availablefrom the manufacturer.17
The prime advantaaeof multi8taaeover
ein@e-8tage towere for equal aae removal i8 in defoamer,about
the @e volumewhich must be handled. Vacuum
pump capacitiesare baeed upon condition at’
the pump intake. Table 1 comparee the calcu-
lated gas volumesat pump euction for single-
staae tower operationwith vol.’uaes from a
three-etagetowerwhere the bulk ot the di8-
eolved aase8 are removedat hiaher ab801ute
pree8ure8.
All condition8and ba8ee of calculation
were othezwieethe came for both case8. The
capacityrequiredfor the sin@e-staae operation
te areater then any commerciallyavailable
vacuum pump. Only with multlstaaetowere can
Oxyaen reZ)OVd to <().()2 ❑8/L, a8 In pr@8ent
Conoco plante,be a practicalreality.
Liquid ring vacuum pumps have been die-
cu8aed in two recent papere.3814 Significantly in u8e. Oxygan removalcontinuest~ be
this type pump is well 8uited to vacuum deaera- 8atiefactory.
tion becaueeof ite ability to handle water
carry-overfrom the tower. It is limited
*“.. . . .,-” “*,** “. M,-* *“*, . “*, “m*a#.wM-i.. **M*#*,, * “.-_..-
1
in its opexat~onto the vapor pressureof the
lLquid ueed se the teal. Henc$~,liquids
other than water are sometimesused. In
deaeratinawater, that limitationhas no real
mean&n& end water is used as the seal. When
used with air ejector8,liquid rina pump8 are
capableo ~preseureeas low as 0,3 An. H8
absolute.f
TWOphIlt8 NOWin Service
The first comprehensivevacuum deaeration
system for Conocowee in the San Miauelito
field near VenturaeCalifornia. 16 Here,
Pacific ocean water 18 treatedfor waterflood
service. One three-staaetower handle8 up to
Z.......(l)
50,000 barreltiof water per day, with each
etaae evacuatedby a separate,oil sealfi
vacuw pump. Influentinto the tower hae
been treatedwith acid to reduce the pH and
8hift the bicarbonateequilibriumtd C02.
Removingthie carbon dioxide in additionto
● (2)
● “ ● “ “ “ ● “ ● “ the oxygen hae precludedcarbonateecdle In
the watar injectioneystem. Tower effluent,
strippedof C02, wan neutralizedwith eodlum
hydroxide. Carbon dioxideremovalmarkedly
increaaedthe load on the tower and was a
sig@ficant factor in tower design.
Tower pe~formsncehae been as required
fOr Optimumwader treatment. Oxy@!n in the
effluentwater can be reduced to about 0.01
rnah and carbon dit!xideto le8e than S ms/L.
However, this hae not been accompl%ehed
without problems:
1. Foaminawithin the tower precluded
effectivedeea8ification. Ga8@8 trapped
within the foam were carriedthrouah the
tower then redissolvedwhen preseureaaain
reached atmospheric. A small amount of
1/4 ppm, mu8t be added to the
influetit water line in order to reach accepta-
ble dt8aolvedga8 leve18,
2. Vacuu~ pump operationhas been
hindered in two significantays, Water
has accumulated in the pump oil from both
condensedvapor and a carry-overof a mist of
the acidicwater in the tower. Too, some of
the free bromine in the water, aa a reeultof
chlorinetreatment,ie drawn into the vacuum
phps. TM8 combinationof free bromine and
an acidicwater emulsionwith pump 021 has
caused degradationof the oil and resultedin
mechanicalfailureof valvee and bearinae in
the pumpe. Even with variouspump oile and
cleanupeyetems,the problemshave per8ieted.
Consequently,acidificationfor scale control
by C02 removalin the tower 18 no lonaer
I
. “w.”
----
A second generationaeawat~rplant in
the Arabian Gulf offshoref%om Dub&: has
been in service about two years. Three
parallelvacuum towers are included,ewh
hendl%ng 110,000barrels per day. In the
design of these towers,and the associated
vacuum eystem, changes have been includedto
improve reliabilityand performanceover %hat
of the San M1.guelitoplant, Meet significant
of these is the use of Nash AT 2004 two-tszageP
wate-ring vacuum punps rather than the pre-”
vious oil seal type. Problemsof oxidationand
water contaminationof the oil have been
exchangedfor the lesser evils of corroeion
and bacteria. A single pump now s?ezvsseach
tower, evacuatingthe three stages through
separateeductorsystems. In an emergency,
two towers can be coupled EO a single vacuum
pump. Pump capacityis not sufficientfor
acceptabl~operationin this mode, but partial
deaerationto about 0.2 mg/L can be meincalned
in both towers.
Corroaionprotectionwithin the towers is
the result of plastic coatings,resistant
materiels,and a rubber liningover the inner
tower surface.
During performancetestingof these
towers, a modifiedWinkler titrationbased on
ASWD888-64T was used to determinedissolved
oxygen. We found good reproducibilitybetween
this procedureand measurementstaken with
a specialpolarographicoxygenmeter18 at the
0.02 me/L level. Consequently,daily quality
control for the plant As based on the instru-
mental oxygen measurements.
These towers normallyoperate at 3,200 g’~m warm, aeratedenvironment,corrosionproducts
with a maximum design capacityof 48200 gpm.
Based on Equation 1, wit~Ce << C2, reductionof pluR flowlines,end interferewith pump
oxygen from 7.17 uIg/L(Air Saturationat 700:?) operation. Adequatecontrol of these pro$lema
to 0.01 mg/L 3,500 gpm slmuld require 6.6
transferunits which conform with tower dea:.gn biocide,both of which must be nonfoaming.
at theee conditions. By actselmeasurement,
however,we find less oxygen exiting the first
stage then is predictedby calculation. This
is ascribed to entranceeffects--deaeration
taking >lace in the spray sectionabove the
actual packing. But, since some 90 percent of
the remainingoxygen ehould be removed in each
stage, the effect on the final o:~gen concen-
tration is minimal.
Typical oxygen meesureme,ltsin effluents
from the three towers are Bholn in Table II,
with throughputratee varying from 1,800 to
3,600 gpm. Throughoutthis range,,effl.uent
water readilymeets the 0.02 mg/L oxygen level
called for in the plant deeign. Our actual
meeeurementsagree closelywith predicted
performanceof thasa towere.
-------- . . .
3
These oxygen levels cannotbe reached,
however,without proper performancefrom all
equipment. We have found that salt deposits
are formed in tha air e~ectoraby seawater
mist exiting the towers. These deposits
reduce the effectivenessof the ejectors,and
oxygen levels in the effluentwater czeep
up. Washing the ejectorswith fresh water at
about 12-hourintervalsmaintainsejector
efficiency(TableIX).
We found it necessary,too, to ehut off
chlorine treatmentduring our Winkler oxygen
teetine. Althoughvirtuallyall cholorine
and brominewere removndin the towers (o-
tolidinetestswere negative),sufficient
halogen remainedto react as oxygen in the
Wink3.erprocedure. There was no such inter-
ferencewith the instrumentaloxygen measure-.
ments.
Use of defotmerin the tower continue8to
be mandatory. Even though the foamingten-
dency of the Arabien Gulf vater is slight, it
is sufficientto interfere+?itheffectivegas
removal. TMe was originallyshown true in
the Californiaplant and verifiedin early
test work at the Dubai plant. Defosmerlevels
are maintainedat about 0.2 mg/L in the
influenttitream.Handlingproblems,however,
have necessitateda change in the defoamer
from that originallyused in Californiaand
later in I)ubai.
A corrosion-bacterialproblem is not
unexpectedin a liquid ring vacuum pump and
the attendantexchangesystem to dispel the
heat resultingfrom gas compression. In this
and biologicalgrowthscan easily proliferate,,
calls for an oxygen corrosioninhibitorand
The resultshave been acceptablein Dubai.
As with any water treatmentand injection
facility,these plantu have requiredoperator
attention. For the San Migue3itoinstalla-
tion, this is normeliy8 hours per day from
one man, This is a small @ant--50,000 b/d--
coneequently,a portion of that the is used
in routinemaintenance. The operatorwas
trainedoneite.”For the Dubai plant--330,000
b/d, offshore,of greater complexity--24-hour
attentionis maintainedby a foremenand
two ~peratore. Again trainingwas onslte.
NOMENCLATURE
Catm = volubilityat one atuoepherepartial
pressure,mg/L. See Figure 1
Cl = volubilityin inlet stream, mg/L
C2 - volubilityin effluent stream, mg/L
4 VACUUM DEAERATION- :. NEWUNIT OPERATIONFOR
interface,mg/L
”T
Ce = equilibriumvolubilityat liquid-gas
AC = change in diesolvedgae concentrathn,
.,,;
D = key componentdf.ffusivity;
HL D height of liquid transfer
ft2/hr
unit, feet
L = liquid rate, lbs/hr ft2
hW = molecularweight of gas
N = number of mols
(NTU)L= number of liquid transferunit~
P = partial pressure,atwspheres
R R gb~ constant
; : t81P~tu#, “R
W = water flow rate, lbs/min
~ R mol fraction
Z = total height, feet
n - constant for equation (3)
a = conetantfor equation (3)
P = liquid density lbs/fc3
N = viscosity,lbelfthr
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We should like to thank ContinentalOil
Company for permissionto publieh this paper.
Also, thanks to Dubai PetroleumCompany and to
C. M. Hudgins, Dan Caudle, Marvin Yost, J. M.
Neu, K. K. Kuravilla,and others for their
assistancein
. obtainingthe data.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Mares, Gene H., “VacuumDeaerationin
WaterfloodOperations,”API Paper
No. 851-41-H,OklahomaCity, March 29-31,
1967,
2* Power, S. T,, and Burnes, H. S., “Vacuum
DeaerationCombatsColdwaterCorrosion,”
Chem. & Met. Eng.,43, 4, 180-184,April,
1936.
3. McGill,James, “How to Vacuum Deaerate
InjectionWater,” Oil & Gee J., October 1,
1973, 81-84,
4. Ollker, 1. I., “VacuumDeaerationof
Water--AnEffectiveMethod for Preventing
Corrosion,”NACE Corrosion ’75 Payer No. 85
Torcmto,Canada,April 14-18, 1976.
——------- —--- ---- WATERF100nTREATMENT
----- —------ -- —--------- PTANTC
.
“’-,*”
RDF AI)QR
“, k ““e”
51 Byars, H. G., and Gallop,B. R., “lnjec-
6.
tion Water + Oxygen = Corrosionand/or
Well PluggingSolids,”Met. Perf.,
Dece*er,M7fi,3k-36.
Knoedler,E. L.S and Bomlla,C. F.,
“VacuumDegasification in a Packed Column,”
‘-
Chem. Eng. Prog.50, 3, 129-133*March,
1954 ●
?. Kingsbury,A. W,, and Phillips,E. L.,
“vacuumI)eaerator Design,”J. ?lng.
Power, October, 1961, 331-338.
8. Snavely,E. S.~ and Blount,F. G., “Rate
of Reactionof DissolvedOxygen with
Scavengersin Sweet and Sour Brines,”
CorrosLon25,
.— October, 1969, 397-404.
9. Snavely,E. S., “ChemicalRemovalof
Oxygen from NaturalWaters,”J. Pet.
Tech., April, 1971, k43-446.
10. Weeter, R. F., “Desorptionof Oxygen from
Water Using Natural Gee for Countercurrent
Stripping,”J. Pet. Tech., May, 1965,
515-520.
11. W@etsr, R. F., “Condition@ of Water by
Removal of CorrosionGases,’g J. Pet.
Tech., February,1972, 181-184.
12. A1.vis, R. L., “Comparis~lnof Waterflood
CorrosionDetentionand MonitoringDevices,”
Mat. Perf., February, 1969, 39-42,
13. Adams, Gane H.$ “Vacuum DeaeratesZnjection
Water at Low Cost for Pan Am,” Gil & Gas
J., ~!y 15, 1967, 93-96.
14. McGill, James C., “Use Vacuum to Deaerate
InjectionWat@r,’~Oil & Gas J., April 21,
1975, 69-71.
15. Sherwood,K. T., and Holloway,F. A. L.,
8’PerforMnceof Packed Towers--LiquidFilm
Data for Several Packings,”Trans AIChE~
36, 39-70, 1940.
16. Hud&ins,C. M., Jr., and Haneon, R. T.,
“I?owConoco Floods with Seawater,”Oil &
Gas J., February15, 1971, 71-75.
17: Dow ChemicalCompany,%spac Plastic
Tower Packing--Applicatione Bulletin,”
September,1965.
18. Carlberg,B. L., and Matthews,R. R.,
“Water Qualltytinitor for Continuous’
Field Use,” SPE Paper 4662, Laa Vegas,
Nevada, September30, October 3, 1973.
 I

TABLE 1

GAS VOLUMESTO..—
BE REMOVED
.
Oxygen Nitrogen Water Vapor
* fC3/min ft3/min

Single Stage Tower 45,160 24,780 29,090

MultistageTower
Stage 1 679 382 452
Stage 2 688 402 457
Stage 3 682 382 437
Total 2,04,9 1,166 1,346

Conditions:

Inlet Tower Outlet

27,500 lbs/rainaeaweter 0.015 mg/L oxygen
680F 0.025 mg/L nitrogen
6.5 mg/L oxygen
10.5 mg/L nitrogen (AssumeCe =0.1” xC2)
DissolvedOxygen

OperatingPressure- XIIHg abs. c1 C2

Single Stage: 17.38 6.5 0.015

Multista~?:
Stage 1 26.11 6.5 0.86
Stage 2 18.37 0.86 0.113
Stage 3 17.38 0.113 0.015

GeneralEquations- Basis: One minute of tower operation

N =W(AC) X 10-6 X& (4)

Ce

P02 ‘~
(2)

V-NRT
P
(5)

‘Total = ’02 + ‘N + ‘H20 (6)

2

‘li20
‘H20 = ~ (7)

%20 RT
v (8)
H20 “—
‘H20
 TAELE 2

DISSOLVEDOXYGENIN TOWEREFFLUENT- DU8A1

Rate
Through Dissolved
Tower Oxygen
Date GPM ~ Remarks ‘

5-24 2900 0.007

2900 0’.012
2900 0.023

5-25 2880 0.027 Chlorinegeneratoron

2925 0.019 Chlorinegeneratoroff
2925 0.014
2925 0.027
2925 0.019

5-26 3600 0.010

3600 0.031)
3600 0.040) Eductorsrequired
3600 0.038) washing
3600 0.007 )
After eductor washing
3600 0.009 )

5-27 1800 0.015

3465 0.017
3465 0.012

5-29 3015 0.012

3015 0.014

5“30 2250 0.027)

2250 0.034) Eductorsrequired
2250 0.d48) washing
24

23

22

21

20 52

50

la 48

17 L\6

16 44

42 ~
:
40 >

38 5
z
36 ~

34

32

9 30

8 28

26

24
.
I I I 1 I 1
30 40 60 70 90
TEMPERATURE, ‘F

FIG,l- WILIWWNIm MM’Gm INSMER