You are on page 1of 16

GAS CONDENSATE RECOVERY TECHNOLOGIES

IN ENI TUNISIA FIELDS


H. Abdelli, F. Colonna, Eni Tunisia B.V.
th
This paper was presented at the 10 Offshore Mediterranean conference and exhibition in Ravenna, Italy, March 23-25, 2011. It
was selected for presentation by OMC 2011 Programme Committee following review of information contained in the abstract
submitted by the author(s). The paper as presented at OMC 2011 has not been reviewed by the Programme Committed.

ABSTRACT
The price of gas condensate is higher than gas, so its recovery can bring an economic gain.
This article presents the different technologies used or being evaluated in Eni Tunisia fields,
in order to increase gas condensate recovery. Three different kinds of technologies are
implemented or under evaluation in Eni Tunisia plants:

‐ Gas refrigeration (where the gas is refrigerated through an expansion valve).


‐ External mechanical refrigeration cycle (that maintain the pressure of treated gas).
‐ Vapor recovery unit (from crude oil stock tanks).

The article describes the gas condensate recovery units in Eni Tunisia fields. It shows the
effects of the operating parameters on the gas condensate recovery processes. In the paper
are illustrated the results of Eni Tunisia plants simulations, using Hysys and ProII tools,
compared with the real data. There is also the procedure needed to evaluate the capital
expenditure, the operating expense and the breakeven point. All these data are relevant in
order to estimate if the gas condensate recovery unit will be profitable. In order to evaluate
the gas condensate gain, one takes into account the proportions of stock tank condensate
liquid and accompanying produced gas reported as GOR (gas oil ratio), in standard cubic
meter per barrel. Another term often used is standard cubic meter of gas per cubic meter of
condensate liquid. An increase of gas condensate rate means a decrease of GOR.

INTRODUCTION
Raw natural gas produced from underground gas fields or extracted at the surface from the
fluids produced from oil wells can’t be delivered directly to residential, commercial and
industrial consumers. It consists mainly of methane (CH4), but it also contains varying
amounts of heavier gaseous hydrocarbons, acid gases (CO2 and H2S), nitrogen, water, liquid
hydrocarbons and mercury. Contaminants have been removed and often heavier
hydrocarbons have been captured for other commercial uses. Most natural gas is processed
to remove the heavier hydrocarbon liquids from the natural gas stream. Recovery of natural
gas liquid components in gas not only may be required for hydrocarbon dew point control in a
natural gas stream, but also produces a source of revenue, as gas condensate normally has
significantly greater value as separate marketable product, as part of the natural gas stream.
There are a great many ways in which to configure the various unit processes used in the
processing of raw natural gas. The objective of this article is how processing the raw natural
gas produced in Eni Tunisia fields in order to produce natural gas liquids. Part of water and
gasoline vapours condenses in the liquid phase by the effect of decreasing temperature and
pressure (retrograde condensation) of the gas stream flowing from the field to the gathering
station. In this case, the separation processes of gasoline and free water occur all together in
separators. However, the gas which leaves the separator is still saturated with water and
gasoline. To recover gasoline vapours and steam, degassing treatment is carried out. The
operation often consists in cooling the gas in a refrigerating plant and to expand it, for the
Joule Thomson effect. This is the process implemented in Djebel Grouz plant in Tunisia. In
Oued Zar plant, external mechanical refrigeration using propane chiller will be installed. In
Tazerka where is located the CPF, the process includes the LPG stripper and the
debutanizer. The article describes the gas condensate recovery units in our fields and shows
the effects of the operating parameters on the processes. Their simulation has been carried
out using Hysys and ProII tools and the results of this, have been compared with the real
data.
-1-
I GAS CONDENSATE RECOVERY PROCESSES
I.1 Gas Condensate Recovery Characteristics
In order to understand the gas condensate recovery processes we must take in
consideration the behavior of the natural gas as a function of pressure and temperature. Let
us consider the phase diagram of a reservoir fluid (Fig. 1). The retrograde condensation zone
is an area where the gas expansion produces liquid phase under isothermal conditions. It is
the grey area to the right of the critical point C. Outside this area, the lowering of the
pressure causes progressive vaporization of the liquid fraction. Obviously any cooling outside
the retrograde condensation zone will induce condensation and produce gas condensate.
Retrograde condensation phenomenon has an important application in the gas condensate
recovery processes.

Fig. 1: Phase diagram of a reservoir fluid

I.2 Mechanical Refrigeration

Fig. 2: Vapor compression refrigeration cycle

External mechanical refrigeration is the simplest and most direct process for gas condensate
recovery. The process is supplied by a vapour compression refrigeration cycle (Fig. 2) that
usually uses propane as the refrigerant and reciprocating, centrifugal or screw types of
compressors to move the refrigerants from low to high pressure operating conditions. A gas-
to-gas heat exchanger recovers additional refrigeration by passing the gas, leaving the cold
separator countercurrent to the warm inlet gas. The temperature of the cold gas stream
leaving this exchanger approaches that of the warm inlet gas. The chiller is mainly a shell
and tube, kettle type unit. The process gas flows inside the tubes and gives up its energy to
the liquid refrigerant surrounding the tubes. The refrigerant boils off and leaves the chiller
vapor space essentially as a saturated vapor. When water is present in the gas processed by
refrigeration, hydrate formation is prevented either by dehydration of the gas or by injection
of a hydrate inhibitor. If the processing temperature is relatively low, the gas is usually
dehydrated before the refrigeration step. If not, injection of an inhibitor (usually methanol or
glycols) upstream of the gas-to-gas heat exchanger is often the simplest and most

-2-
economical solution. The inhibitor is injected at the inlet of the gas-to-gas exchanger and/or
chiller to prevent hydrate formation, or freeze up, the last one being more common. Freeze
up will partially block exchanger tubes, thus increasing pressure drop and decreasing heat
exchange. The weak solution, containing absorbed water, is separated in the cold separator,
reconcentrated, and recycled (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3: External mechanical refrigeration process

A mechanical refrigeration process is adopted when sizeable amounts of condensate are


expected. This process may also lead to the recovery of LPG. As for recovery up to 90 %, a
simple propane refrigeration system provides refrigeration at temperatures to -40 °C. There
are many straight refrigeration process schemes, which vary according to all the design
variables, such as gas composition, process pressure, and LPG recovery objectives.
Any material could be used as a refrigerant. The ideal refrigerant is no toxic, no corrosive,
has Pressure-Volume-Temperature (PVT) and physical properties compatible with the
system needs, and has a high latent heat of vaporization. The practical choice reduces to
one, which has required physical properties and will vaporize and condense at reasonable
pressures at the temperature levels required. In general, the lower practical limit of any
refrigerant is its atmospheric pressure boiling point. It would be better to carry some positive
pressure on the chiller to obtain better efficiency in the compressor, reduce equipment size,
and avoid air induction into the system. Propane is by far the most popular refrigerant in gas
processing applications. It is readily available (often manufactured on-site), inexpensive, and
has a good vapor pressure curve. It is flammable but this is not a significant problem if proper
consideration is given to the design and operation of the facility.
This configuration is typical of LPG unit of CPF, our treatment plant. Scope of our study
consist in optimize the operatives conditions in order to increase the gas condensate
recovery.

I.3 Self-Refrigeration
As opposed to external mechanical refrigeration, in the self-refrigeration process, the inlet
gas is precooled against the treated gas (through the gas-to-gas exchanger) and
subsequently cooled further by isoenthalpic expansion (Joule Thomson expansion) through a
valve, resulting in heavy hydrocarbons and water to condense. The main concept is to chill
the gas by adiabatically expanding it across the Joule Thomson valve. With appropriate heat
exchange and large pressure differential across the Joule Thomson valve, cryogenic
temperatures can be achieved resulting in high extraction efficiencies. In this process, the no
ideal behavior of the inlet gas causes the gas temperature to fall with the pressure reduction.
The temperature change depends first on the pressure drop. The use of the Joule Thomson
effect to recover liquids is an attractive alternative in many applications. The advantages of
the Joule Thomson unit are:

-3-
‐ Low gas rates and modest ethane recovery.
‐ The process can be designed without rotating equipment.
‐ Broad range of flows.
‐ Simplicity of design and operation.

The condensed liquids are then removed in one or more separators to meet the vapor
pressure and composition specifications. The gas from the low temperature separator, once
satisfying the sales gas specification, is reheated against the incoming feed. Generally,
treated gas must be recompressed to sales pipeline pressure if it has been expanded to a
lower pressure. Thus, this process is most favored when the raw gas is produced at a very
high pressure and can be expanded to sales line pressure without recompression. If the gas
must be recompressed, the process is penalized by the recompression horsepower
requirement. Note that the extent of cooling in this process is often limited by the hydrate
formation temperature at the prevailing pressure unless a hydrate inhibitor, such as methanol
or glycol, is injected upstream of the gas-to-gas heat exchanger (Fig. 4). In this case, the wet
glycol and hydrocarbon condensate are heated and separated in a three phase separator.
Glycol can be regenerated in a stripper. Because glycol shows some affinity for
hydrocarbons, the off-gas from the glycol stripper often contains BTX (benzene, toluene and
xylene). The self-refrigeration process is also attractive if the inlet gas pressure is very high.
It is important that the reservoir pressure remain high for the intended life of the plant. If the
reservoir pressure is less than the sales line pressure, a possible configuration consists of
installing a compressor before the Joule Thompson valve. The discharge pressure must be
sufficiently higher than the sales line pressure in order to obtain the necessary temperature
reduction. This is the solution adopted in Djebel Grouz, an on-shore field located in the South
of Tunisia where Eni is operator. In this article we want to underline the importance of Joule
Thomson Expansition phenomen to avoid loss of heavy hydrocarbon into the gas.

Fig. 4: Self-refrigeration process

I.4 Vapor Recovery Unit


Underground crude oil contains many lighter hydrocarbons in solution. When the oil is
brought to the surface and processed, many of the dissolved lighter hydrocarbons are
removed through a series of separators. After being extracted from production wells and
treatment, crude oil is stored in tanks. During loading and storage, lighter hydrocarbons
dissolved in the feedstock separate from the oil and are often vented into the atmosphere or
flared. The composition of these vapors varies, but the largest component is methane
followed by ethane, propane, and butane classified as vapor organic compounds (VOC).
Other heavier compounds that may be present are benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and
xylene (BTEX). Losses of the remaining lighter hydrocarbons are categorized in three
different ways:

-4-
‐ Flash that occur when the last separator dumps oil into the storage tanks, which are
at atmospheric pressure.
‐ Vapors released from the changing fluid levels and agitation of tank contents
associated with the circulation of fresh oil through the storage tanks.
‐ Daily and seasonal temperature changes.

These emissions can create safety hazard and air pollution. One way to prevent emissions of
these light hydrocarbon vapors and generate significant economic saving is to install vapor
recovery units (VRU) on oil storage tanks. These simple units can capture about 95 % of the
emissions from stock tanks. However, feasibility of these units requires close design
tolerances. It is a small package composed mainly of a scrubber, a compressor, a pump and
a control system. The figure below illustrates a VRU installed on a system of crude oil
storage tanks. Hydrocarbon vapors are drawn out of the tanks under low pressure and
through the suction line go to the scrubber to collect any liquids that condense out. The
liquids are usually recycled back to the storage tanks through the pump. From the scrubber,
the vapors flow through the compressor that provides the low pressure suction for the VRU
system. Rotary vane compressors are recommended for VRU to move the low volume of gas
at low pressures. The vapors are then metered and removed from the VRU. Because of the
very low pressure differential between the storage tanks and the compressor, large diameter
pipe is recommended to provide less resistance to the gas flow. The control system detects
pressure variations inside the tanks and turns the compressor on and off (Fig. 5). To prevent
the creation of a vacuum in the top of the tanks when oil is withdrawn and the oil level drops,
the controller stops the unit and permits the backflow of vapors into the tanks. The control
unit also permits to operate the VRU remotely and is equipped of:

‐ Pressure indicator controller (PIC).


‐ Level indicator controller (LIC).
‐ Low pressure shutdown (LPSD).

It is very important to choose reliable, sensitive control systems, because the automated gas
flow valves must be opened and closed on very low pressure differences. VRU provides
significant environmental and economic benefits for oil and gas producers. The gases
flashed from crude oil and captured by VRU can be:

‐ Sold as natural gas.


‐ Used as a fuel for onsite operations.
‐ Sent to a stripper unit to separate LPG and methane when the volume and price of
LPG are attractive.

Fig. 5: Vapor recovery unit

-5-
By capturing methane, VRU also reduces the emissions of a potent green house gas (GHG).
Vapor recovery can provide generous returns due to the relatively low cost of the technology
and in the cases where there are market outlets for the high heating value vapors. VRU
should be installed whenever they are economic, taking into consideration all of the benefits
environmental and economic.
This kind of process is not actually used in EniTunisia fields but it is being evaluated. In this
article, we will present an economic study in order to evaluate the profitability of Vapor
Recovery Unit installations in Oued Zar storage tanks.

II. ENI’S ECONOMIC EVALUATION


Every company invests money in different projects to get profit. The same way is followed by
the oil companies. Eni’s strategy to evaluate if a project is profitable is to find the best
process alternative that reduce the investments and increase the returns: select the process
and provide for its optimization. The problem is difficult because very many process
alternatives could be considered. For each alternative, project manager consider two key
cost indicators: CAPEX and OPEX. Capital expenditures (CAPEX) are expenditures creating
future benefits. A capital expenditure is incurred when a business spends money either to
buy fixed assets or to add to the value of an existing fixed asset with a useful life that extends
beyond the taxable year. CAPEX are used by a company to acquire or upgrade physical
assets such as equipment, property or industrial buildings. An operating expenditure OPEX
is an on-going cost for running a product, business or system. Its counterpart, the capital
expenditure (CAPEX) is the cost of developing or providing non-consumable parts for the
product or system. In our case, the purchase of a plant is the CAPEX and the cost of workers
and fuel are the OPEX. CAPEX and OPEX estimations allow operation and project teams to
evaluate capital and operating expenditure trade off in order to optimise the design and the
cost through the entire lifecycle of the asset. The input data for this evaluation are:

‐ Plant number and type.


‐ Production profile.
‐ Contract strategy.
‐ Logistic strategy.
‐ Third party transportation.

The steps to be followed to estimate the capital expenditure are:

‐ Identify the asset (In our case, the gas condensate recovery unit, the storage and
loading facilities, etc.).
‐ Definition of its cost.

The process to evaluate the operative costs foresees the following steps:

‐ Identify the activities associated with the asset (In this case operate and maintain the
gas condensate recovery unit, chemical injection, fuel consumption, etc.).
‐ Identify the necessary resources (Personel, spare parts, chemical, etc.).
‐ Definition of the operative costs.

The revenues and the costs must be normalized with respect to a reference time, usually the
actual. The objective consists in maximizing their difference. In this way, we can find the best
process alternative to realize our project. Eni’s strategy to measure and compare the
profitability of investments, consist in taking into account these key economic indicators; Net
Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), and Payback Period. These indicators
enable the comparison of different solutions. The economic framework includes the study
period (the time frame in which the cash flows are evaluated), the discount rate which takes
into account the risks related to oil price and other pertinent elements such as the
environment in which the company would operate. Sensitivity and risk analysis are included
in the economic evaluation, to provide insight into the major risk factors in the development
of Eni’s projects.

-6-
The net present value (NPV) of a time series of cash flows is defined as the sum of the
present values of the individual cash flows. The NPV of a sequence of cash flows takes as
input the cash flows and a discount and outputs a price. Each cash flow (inflow and outflow)
is discounted back to its present value and then they are summed. Therefore NPV is the sum
of all terms:

Rt
(1 + i )t
t - time of the cash flow
i - discount rate
Rt - net cash flow (inflow minus outflow) at time t
R0 - project’s investment

The rate used to discount future cash flows to the present value is a key variable of this
process. An approach to choose the discount rate value is to decide the rate which the
capital needed for the project could return if invested in an alternative venture. It is
appropriate to use higher discount rates to adjust for risk or other factors. NPV is an indicator
of how much value an investment or project adds to the firm. With a particular project, if Rt is
a positive value, the project is in the status of discounted cash inflow in the time t. Instead, if
Rt is a negative value, the project is in the status of discounted cash outflow in the time t.
Appropriately risked projects with a positive NPV could be accepted. This does not
necessarily mean that they should be undertaken since NPV may not account for opportunity
cost (the advantage forgone as the result of the acceptance of an alternative) in other words,
comparison with other available investments. In financial theory, if there is a choice between
two mutually exclusive alternatives, the one producing the higher NPV should be selected.

The investment
NPV > 0 would add value to The project should be economically accepted
the firm
The investment
NPV < 0 would subtract The project should be rejected
value from the firm
We should be indifferent in the decision whether to accept or reject
The investment
the project
would neither gain
NPV = 0 This project adds no monetary value
nor lose value for
Decision should be based on other criteria, for example strategic
the firm
positioning or other factors not explicitly included in the calculation
Tab. 1: NPV decision criteria

The internal rate of return (IRR) is the rate used in capital budgeting to measure and
compare the profitability of investments.The IRR is a rate quantity, so it is an indicator of the
efficiency, quality or profitability of an investment. This is in contrast with the NPV, which is
an indicator of the value or magnitude of an investment. An investment is considered
acceptable if its internal rate of return is greater than an established minimum acceptable
rate of return. This minimum rate is the cost of capital of the investment (which may be
determined by the risk adjusted cost of capital of alternative investments). Given the pairs,
time and cash flow of a project the IRR follows from the NPV as a function of the rate of
return. The rate of return for which this function is zero is the IRR. Given for each time t the
cash flow Rt where t is a positive integer, the IRR is given by i in:

N
Rt
∑ (1 + i )
t =0
t
=0

N is the the study period that is usually given in years or in months (using months if most of
the cash flows occur at monthly intervals).

-7-
As an investment decision tool, the IRR should not be used to rate mutually exclusive
projects, but only to decide whether a single project is worth investing in.
Payback period in capital budgeting refers to the period of time required for the return on an
investment to repay the sum of the original investment. Payback period intuitively measures
how long something takes to pay for itself. The shorter payback period is preferred because:

‐ The investment costs are recovered sooner and are available again for further use.
‐ A shorter payback period is viewed as less risky. It is usually assumed that the longer
payback period is the more uncertain. For this reason, payback period is often used
as a measure of risk.

Payback period as a tool of analysis is often used because it is easy to apply and easy to
understand. The payback period does not account for the opportunity cost. When used to
compare similar investments, it can be quite useful but it has no explicit criteria for decision
making. This tool for investment decisions should not be used in isolation. An implicit
assumption in the use of this economic indicator is that returns to the investment continue
after the payback period.

III. CASES STUDIES


III.1 Mechanical Refrigeration (CPF Tazerka)
Maamoura and Baraka Facilities are designed to process the reservoir fluid delivered from
Maamoura and Baraka fields through the dedicated 10” and 12” pipelines to the CPF
(Treatment Plant). Maamoura and Baraka on-shore treatment plant is located, approximately
13 km northwards from Nabeul and located at 1.8 km from the coast.
The facilities are design to receive the off-shore fluids and produce sales gas, stabilized oil,
and Butapro I (A mixture of propane and butane). The streams are routed to the slug
catchers (Finger type) to separate water and liquid hydrocarbons from the gas. The fingers
operate at approximately 12 Bara and 20 °C. Liquids from the two slug catchers are
combined and sent to the oil treatment section (Three phase separator and crude oil
stabilizer) for further separation.
Gas from the three phase separator is combined with the crude oil stabilizer overhead gas
and sent through a booster compressor before combining with gas from the slug catchers.
Then the gas will be combined with gas from the LPG unit and routed to the three main
compressors. Compressed gas from the main compressors passes through the amine unit to
remove carbon dioxide in the gas stream before going to the dehydration unit and then to the
LPG unit. Dry gas from the top of the TEG contactor is sent through the TEG outlet coalescer
to remove any glycol carryover before being cooled to -37 °C through the Gas/Liquid
Exchanger (340-HA-001), the Gas/Gas Cooler (340-HA-002) and the Propane Chiller (340-
HA-003). Condensed liquids are removed through the Cold Separator (340-VA-001). Treated
gas from the top of the Cold Separator is heated to 41 °C through the Gas/Gas Cooler and
the Sweet/Sales Gas Exchanger before going to sales. Hydrocarbon liquids from the Cold
Separator bottoms are heated through the Gas/Liquid Exchanger and then fed to the LPG
Stripper (211-VE-001). The LPG Stripper Reboiler (211-HR-005) is heated by hot oil. The
overhead gas from the top of the LPG Stripper is partially condensed via propane refrigerant
through the LPG Stripper Overhead Condenser (211-HA-006) before going to the LPG
Overhead Accumulator (211-VA-005). Gas from the LPG Overhead Accumulator is heated
up through the Gas/Propane Exchanger (400-HA-001) before it is recycled back to the main
compressors. Liquid from the LPG Overhead Accumulator is recycled through the LPG
Reflux Pumps (211-PA-001 A / B) to the top tray of the LPG Stripper. Condensed liquid from
the LPG Stripper is routed to the Debutanizer (211-VE-002). Also the Debutanizer Reboiler
(211-HR-004) is heated by hot oil. The overhead vapor is condensed by the Debutanizer
Overhead Air Cooler (211-HC-001) and flows to the Debutanizer Overhead Accumulator
(211-VA-004). The off-gas from the top of the accumulator is sent to the flare header. Liquid
product (Butapro I) from the accumulator a fraction is pumped to the top tray of the
Debutanizer as reflux and the rest to storage. The Debutanizer bottom liquid is recycled back
to the stabilizer. The propane refrigeration system supplies propane refrigerant to the
Propane Chiller (340-HA-003) and to the LPG Stripper Overhead Condenser (211-HA-006).

-8-
Propane gas from the users is routed to the Propane Receiver (400-VN-001) to remove the
entrained liquids. It is then compressed to 17.3 Bara by Propane Compressors (400-KA-001
A / B). The compressors are oil flooded two stage screw compressors. The discharged
propane gas flows to the Propane Lube Oil Coalescers (400-CQ-001 A / B) to remove
entrained lube oil and is condensed through the Propane Condenser (400-HC-001A / B).
Condensed liquid propane is sent to the Propane Surge Drum (400-VA-001). Propane liquid
from the surge drum is flashed and routed to the Propane Economizer (400-VN-002). Vapor
from the economizer is routed to the second stage Propane Compressors suction and liquid
from the bottom is sent to the Propane Chiller and the LPG Stripper Overhead Condenser.

Fig. 6: CPF Tazerka - LPG unit

Fig. 7: LPG unit - Hysys simulation


-9-
LPG unit was simulated using Hysys tool (Fig. 7). The results compared with the real
operatives conditions are showed in following table (Tab. 2).

Tab. 2: Hysys results and real data comparison

The setting of LPG unit with the actual operative conditions is not recommended because it
is in commissioning phase. Project team is regulating the parameters in order to obtain
Butapro I specifications. So now it is not in steady state conditions, necessary constrain to
set our model. After the handover, it will be possible to perform the setting and then optimize
the process. Actually the LPG stripper is the most critical part of the process. As we can see
from the results, the operative conditions of the column and its equipments are different from
the simulation outputs. Now the temperature of the top is bigger than the value provided from
our model. This means a high flow rate to LPG Overhead Condenser and then the design
capacity of only one propane compressor is not enough to cool down the stream to -37 °C.
Our simulation has permitted us to locate the problem and to help the project team in the
regulation phases.

III.2 Self-Refrigeration (Djebel Grouz)


The Djebel Grouz field lies in the northern part of the Saharan Platform and covers an area
of 144 km2. Actually, the exploitation of its reserves takes place through two wells PDG 3 and
PDG 4. The treatment plant is being designed to treat their productions in order to achieve oil
and gas sales specification.
The produced fluid is first directed to the oil treatment process that comprises separation,
stabilization and storage, then the separated associated gas is sent to the gas treatment
process composed by compression, cooling and glycol dehydration. Oil is exported to marine
terminal located in La Skhira, while the treated gas is delivered to the STEG pipeline.
Associated gas from the two first stage separators is routed to Compressor KB-500 suction
through a pressure control valve located on the flare line, to be compressed up to 95 Barg
through 3 compression stages. This valve maintains a constant pressure at compressor
suction of 3 Barg. Compressed gas from KB-500, at 95 Barg, after being air cooled down to
45 °C, flows to Gas Scrubber VC-510 to separate condensed liquids, then to Joule
Thompson Refrigeration Unit. In this unit, the compressed gas is first cooled by flashed
condensates from 45°C down to 40 °C, then it expands adiabatically through a Joule
Thompson valve from 95 Barg to 68 Barg and cools down to 30°C. Cold gas is then routed to

- 10 -
Gas Filter Coalescer VA-530 to be filtered down to 1 micron mesh before entering TEG
Contactor VE-700. Dehydrated gas from TEG Contactor is directed to export Gas Metering
Skid JM-1100 and then injected into 6” gas departing pipeline. Recovered gas condensate
from gas treatment plant is routed to the oil station via 4” pipe. Joule Thompson Refrigeration
Unit is composed by the following equipments:

‐ Gas/Condensates Heat Exchanger HX-510 to reduce the temperature of the gas


flowing from Gas Scrubber by heat up cold condensates recovered mainly from LP
Cold Separator.
‐ Joule Thompson Expansion Valve to expand adiabatically the cooled gas from 95
Barg to 68 Barg and to cool it down to 30 °C.
‐ HP Cold Separator upstream the Joule Thompson valve.
‐ LP Cold Separator downstream the Joule Thompson valve.

Gas/Condensates Heat Exchanger HX-510 is constituted by two exchangers collocated in


series. The first one uses the flashed condensates from VC-510, while the second one is
cooled by the condensates that come from the two separators. In the HP Cold Separator, the
gas separates from condensed liquids and then expands through the Joule Thompson valve.
After it is directed to LP Cold Separator where it separates condensed liquids and flows to
VA-530. After it goes to dehydration unit where it reaches the required water dew point (-5
°C at 77 Barg).
On the separators condensate outlet lines, methanol injection is used in order to prevent
hydrate formation.The gas treatment unit has being designed in order to obtain the required
gas specification for delivery to STEG and also the insertion of the Joule Thompson
Refrigeration Unit permit to recover condensates that otherwise would be lost in the gas.

Fig. 8: Djebel Grouz process flow diagram

- 11 -
Fig. 9: ProII simulation - Joule Thomson unit
Actually Joule Thompson Refrigeration Unit does not work. For this reason, we have
simulated and optimized this unit using ProII tool (Fig. 9). We have used the PVT of the
levels actually on production and the last production data. Scope of this simulation is to
evaluate the amount of gas condensates that we can recover. The results are reported
below:

Tab. 3: Joule Thomson unit simulation results

Our simulation shows a gas condensate recovery of at least 3.5 m3/Day, which are recycled
to the oil treatment plant and then are sent with the oil to the storage tanks. Now the Joule
Thomson Unit does not work because in the tanks, a large amount of light hydrocarbons is
discharged in the atmosphere through the relief valve and then lost. So a modification of the
actual plant configuration is strictly necessary in order to reduce hydrocarbons losses. Two
different solutions can be carried out:

‐ Installing a dedicated pipeline with the necessary equipments, to connect STEG gas
condensate pipeline with Joule Thompson Refrigeration Unit.
‐ Installing a VRU on crude oil storage tanks.

An economic evaluation may help us in the choice.

- 12 -
III.3 Vapor Recovery Unit (Economic Evaluation - Oued Zar)
When heated during the treatment, some of the oil vaporizes. The heated oil inside the tanks
continues to vaporize, thus filling the space between the liquid and the top of the tanks.
When the pressure reaches a predetermined value, this vapor is vented into the atmosphere
or flared. This reduces the API gravity and decreases the value of the crude oil. As
temperature changes, pressure of the vapor also changes. If the temperature increases, the
vapor and the pressure increase. If the temperature decreases, vapor condenses and the
pressure decreases. If the pressure reaches a value too high, venting is necessary. Within a
battery of tanks, two or more tanks together, if vapor pressure is high in one tank gas goes to
the other one through the equalizing line. When the pressure in all tanks becomes equal and
reaches the set point, the VRU begins operative by draining the vapor through a gas line.
The gas by-pass system is made by a series of valves and pipes that re-circulates
compressed vapor back to the scrubber and the compressor. This doesn’t maintain vapor
pressure at a level which keeping compressor running until the pressure inside the tanks can
increase. Pressure inside the stock tanks is usually measured in inches of water. The
compressor starts when the vapor pressure increases to a predetermined set point, usually 2
inches of water. If the vapor pressure drops to 1 inch of water, the compressor stops. In the
gas by-pass system, the by-pass valve opens partially operates by a control pilot and some
of the compressed vapor re-circulates while the rest is discharged to the gas gathering
system. The vapor pressure drops well below one inch, a by-pass valve opens full and all
compressed gas re-circulates. However, a continue decrease behind a predetermined set
point will cause the shutdown of the unit.

Decision Process
Companies using fixed roof crude oil storage tanks can assess VRU economics by following
five steps:

‐ Identify possible locations for VRU installation. Virtually any tanks battery is a
potential site for a VRU. The keys to successful VRU project are a steady source and
an adequate quantity of crude oil vapors along with an economic outlet for the
collected product. The potential vapors volume depends on the make-up and the flow
rate of the oil through the tanks. Pipeline connection costs for routing vapors off-site
must be considered in selecting sites for VRU installation.
‐ Quantify the volume of vapor emissions. Emissions can either be measured or
estimated. A calibrated orifice and a pressure gauge can be used to measure the
maximum emissions rate that will be utilized to size the VRU. Orifice meters,
however, might not be suitable for measuring total volumes over time due to the
pressure of tanks. Calculating total vapor emissions from oil tanks can be complicated
because many factors affect the amount of gas that will be released:

o Operating pressure and temperature of the separator dumping the oil to the
tank and the pressure in the tank.
o Oil composition and API gravity.
o Tank operating characteristics (sales flow rate, size of the tank, etc.).
o Ambient temperature.

There are two approaches to estimating the quantity of vapor emissions from crude
oil tanks. Both use the gas oil ratio (GOR) at a given pressure and temperature,
expressed in standard cubic meter per barrel of oil. The first approach analyzes API
gravity and separator pressure to determine GOR, through curves constructed at
different temperatures using empirical flash data from laboratory studies and field
measurements. This graph can be used to approximate total potential vapor
emissions from a barrel of oil. For example, given a certain oil API gravity and the
vessel dumping pressure, the total volume of vapors can be estimated per barrel of
oil. Once the emissions rate per barrel is estimated, the total quantity of emissions
from the tank can be determined by multiplying the per barrel estimate by the total
amount of oil cycled through the tank. The shortcoming of this approach is that it does
not generate information about the composition of the vapors emitted.
- 13 -
The second approach is to use a process simulation software (Hysys, Pro II, etc.) for
estimating vapor emissions from crude oil tanks. These tools can estimate the
quantity of vapor using thermodynamic flash calculations. An operator must have
several pieces of information to use a process simulation software, including:

o Separator pressure and temperature.


o Separator oil composition.
o Tanks reference pressure.
o Reid vapor pressure of sales oil.
o Sales oil production rate.
o API gravity of sales oil.

‐ Determine the value of recovered emissions. It depends on how these vapors are
used:

o Using the recovered vapors onsite as fuel produces a value equivalent to the
purchased fuel that is displaced, mainly natural gas.
o Piping the vapors to a natural gas gathering pipeline should generate a price
that reflects the higher heating value of recovered emissions.
o Piping the vapors to a processing plant that will strip the LPG from the gas
stream and resell the LPG and the methane separately should also capture
the full energy content of recovered hydrocarbons.

Value of recovered vapors


R=QxP
R = gross revenue
Q = rate of vapor recovery
P = price of natural gas

‐ Determine the cost of a VRU project. The major elements that impact the profitability
of VRU are the initial capital equipment, the installation and the operating costs.
Equipment costs are determined largely by the volume handling capacity of the unit,
the sales line pressure, the number of tanks in the battery, size and type of the
compressor and the degree of automation. The main components of VRU are the
suction scrubber, the compressor and the automated control unit. A VRU should be
sized to handle the maximum volume of vapors expected from the storage tanks.
When sizing a VRU, the industry rule of thumb is to double the average daily volume
to estimate the maximum emissions rate. Thus in order to handle a given volume of
vapor, a unit capable of handling at least the double should be selected. Installation
costs can add as much as 50 ÷ 100 % to the initial unit cost. Installation costs can
vary greatly depending on location (remote sites will likely result in higher installation
costs) and number of tanks (larger VRU systems will be required for multiple tanks).
Expenses for shipping, site preparation, VRU housing construction (for cold weather
protection) and supplemental equipment (for remote, unmanned operations) must
also be factored when estimating installation costs. Operations and maintenance
(O&M) expenses vary with the location of the VRU (sites in extreme climates
experience more wear), electricity costs and the type of produced oil. For instance,
paraffin based oils can clog the VRU and require more maintenance. Finally, the cost
of a pipeline to interconnect the tanks battery site with a processing plant or a pipeline
is a factor in overall VRU economics.
‐ Evaluate VRU project economics. Installing a VRU can be very profitable, depending
on the value of the recovered vapors in the local market. When assessing VRU
economics, gas price may influence the decision making process. Therefore, it is
important to re-examine the economics of installing vapor recovery unit as natural gas
prices change.

- 14 -
Economic Evaluation
The economic evaluation performed for supporting the installation of Vapor Recovery Unit in
Oued Zar plant was based on the following base case:

‐ Gas price equals 0.25 $/Sm3.


‐ Oil price equals 92.44 $ (Zarzaitine Mélange - January).
‐ Discount rate variable 2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10 %.
‐ Operating and Maintenance costs equal 33678 $/Day.
‐ Capital costs equal 118810 $/Day.
‐ Installation costs equal 89108 $/Day.
‐ Gas recovery factor equals 80 %.

The VRU was based on the compressor operating at 100 psig and on a design capacity of
15000 Sm3/Day, corrected by a factor to take into consideration the recovery of
hydrocarbons from the gas phase stream. In fact, the amount of gas from Adam and Oued
Zar fields that is sold to STEG (Société Tunisienne de l’électricité et du Gaz) is less than the
produced, all the rest is burned. But the gas recovered by the VRU, contains a great quantity
of gas condensate. So the value of this gas is higher and its recover brings an economic
gain.The flow rates of gas and liquid recovered by this process were estimated by a
simulation with Hysys using the PVT data of well HAWA 1 (Adam concession). The results of
our simulation are:

‐ Gas flow rate equals 10265 Sm3/Day.


‐ Gas condensate flow rate equals 0.4252 BBL/Day.

The results of the economic evaluation are the follows:

DISCOUNT RATE IMPACT ON ECONOMIC ANALYSIS


DISCOUNT RATE (%) 2,5 5 7,5 10
PAYBACK PERIOD (MONTHS) 4 4 5 5
NPV ($) 880825 631418 459625 337751

In the table above we can see how the variation of discount rate variable influencing the NPV
and the payback period. The project was justified with 29 % of IRR at a discount of 10 % in a
period of 5 months.
Finally this project should be economically accepted.

- 15 -
CONCLUSIONS
This article has illustrated the different technologies used or being evaluated in Eni Tunisia
fields, in order to increase gas condensate recovery. We have spoken about the existing
LPG recovery plants in Djebel Grouz, Maamoura and Baraka fields. We have studied and
simulated each process and where was possible optimazed. The differents steps are:

‐ Data collection:

o Project data (Technical equipments data, P&ID, PFD, O&M manual, etc.).
o Actual operative conditions (Flow rate, temperature, pressure, etc.).
o PVT data of wells on production.
o Delivery specifications.

‐ Building the model of the process using a simulation tool (Hysys, ProII, etc.).
‐ Setting the model using actual operative conditions.
‐ Optimizing the model by regulating where is possible, the operative parameters.

The Djebel Grouz study consists in quantifying the amount of recovered gas condensate.
Actually this unit does not work. The scope of this article is to explain why now this process
is not profitable and what we can do to obtain an economic gain. Gas refrigeration process is
simple to manage but the recovered LPG is off spec. It is necessary another treatment or as
we can see in the actual configuration, we can stock it with the oil. But this solution is not the
best because an important quantity of light hydrocarbons can be lost in the atmosphere. To
improve the performances of this plant, we have proposed some alternative solutions and
one of these consists in joining two different technologies (VRU and expansion valve). For
choose, we need an economic evaluation.

In Tazerka plant, The LPG recovery unit consists in a complex process that uses an external
mechanical refrigeration cycle. Also in this case we have simulated the plant but we did not
set the model with the real data because actually the CPF is in commissioning phase. For
the existing plants we can optimize the process or study different technical solutions in order
to increase the performances.

The evaluation of vapor recovery unit in our fields is in progress. For the non-existing plants
many alternatives have to be considered and the choice depends on economic evaluation.
Each alternative must to be profitable and the best is selected for the development phase.

REFERENCES
Natural Gas Epa Pollution Preventer, “Installing vapor recovery unit on crude oil storage
tanks”.
Gas Processors Suppliers Association, “GPSA Engineering Data Book”.
Saeid Mokhatab - William A. Poe - James G. Speight, “Handbook of natural gas transmission
and processing”.

- 16 -

You might also like