Faci

l
iti
esandpr
ocesses
Theoilandgasindust
ryf
aci
l
iti
esandsyst
emsarebroadl
ydef
ined,
accor
dingtothei
ruseint
heoilandgasi
ndust
rypr
oducti
onst
ream:

Expl
orat
ionI
ncl
udespr ospecti
ng,sei
smicanddrill
i
ngactiv
iti
esthattake
placebeforethedev
elopmentofaf
iel
disf
inal
lydeci
ded.
Upst
ream Typical
lyref
erstoallfacili
ti
esf orproducti
onandst abil
izati
on
ofoi landgas.Ther eservoiranddr il
li
ngcommuni tyoften
uses upst r
eam f ort he wel lhead,wel l
,compl eti
on and
reservoi
r only, and downst r
eam of t he wellhead as
production or pr
ocessi ng. Expl
orat
ion and
upstream/producti
ont ogetherisrefer
redt oasE&P.
Mi
dst
ream Br
oadly defi
ned as gas tr
eat
ment,LNG producti
on and
regasi
fi
cat
ionpl
ant
s,andoi
landgaspi
pel
i
nesystems.
Ref
ini
ng Wher eoilandcondensatesar eprocessed i ntomar ketabl
e
productswithdefinedspecif
icati
onssuchasgasol i
ne,diesel
orfeedstockforthepetrochemicalindust
ry.Refi
neryoffsit
es
suchast ankstorageanddi stri
buti
ont er
minalsareincluded
i
nt hissegment ,ormaybepar tofasepar atedistr
ibuti
ons
operati
on.
Pet
rochemi
calThese products are chemicalproducts wher
et he mai n
feedst
ockishy drocar
bons.Exampl esareplast
ics,f
ert
il
izer
andawi derangeofindustr
ialchemical
s.

Expl
orat
ion
Inthepast ,surfacef eatur es
such as t arseeps orgas
pockmar ks pr ovided i nitial
clues t o the l ocat ion of
shallow hydr ocar bon
deposi ts.Today ,aser i
esof
surv eys,start
ingwi thbr oad
geol ogicalmappi ngt hrough
i
ncr easingly adv anced
met hods such as passi ve
seismi c,r ef
lectivesei smi c,
magneti
candgravi
tysurvey
sgivedat
at osophisticatedanal ysist ool st hat
i
dent
ifypot
ent
ial
hydrocar
bonbeari
ngrockas“prospect s.”

4
Thismeanst hatoilcompaniesspendmucht i
meonanalysismodelsofgood
explorat
iondat a,andwi l
lonlydr i
llwhenmodel sgiv
eagoodi ndicati
onof
sourcer ockandpr obabi
l
ityoffindingoilorgas.Thefi
rstwel
lsinar egion
arecal l
edwi ldcatsbecausel i
tt
lemaybeknownaboutpot enti
aldanger s,
suchast hedownhol epressurest hatwillbeencount
ered,andt her
efore
requir
epar t
icularcareandattent
iont osaf
etyequi
pment.

Ifafind(str
ike,penetr
ati
on)ismade,addi t
ionalreser
voi
rcharact
eri
zati
on
suchasproductiontest
ing,appr
aisalwell
s,etc.
,areneededtodeter
minethe
size and producti
on capacity of the reservoi
ri n or
der t
oj usti
fya
devel
opmentdeci si
on.

Pr
oduct
ion
Thi
sil
l
ust
rat
iongi
vesanov
erv
iewoft
ypi
cal
oil
andgaspr
oduct
ionf
aci
l
iti
es:

Fi
gur
e1.Oi
landgaspr
oduct
ionf
aci
li
ti
es

Although ther
ei sa wide r
ange ofsi
zesand l
ayouts,mostpr
oduct
ion
facil
it
ies have many ofthe same pr
ocessi
ng sy
stems shown i
nthis
simplifi
edovervi
ew:

4
Pr
oducti
o
n
Well
heads

Product
io Meteri
ng
n Gas and Expor
andTest st
or age
L H
Gas
Met
e Pig Gas
Launcher

Pig Oi
l
Launcher
Pr
oduct
ion
1
Tanker
Loadin

Crude Oi
l
ø pump

Wat
ert
reat
ment

Test

Oi
lSt
orage

Dr
il
li
n Ut
il
it
ysy
stems

PowerGener
ati
on
I
njecti
o I
nject
io
n n
wel l
s manif
ol
Water I
nstr
ument
i
nject
ion Mudand Ai
r
pump

Pot
abl
eWat
er
Gas
inj
ect
ion
compr esso
Fi
ref
ight
ing
sy
stems

4
 Figur e2.Oilandgaspr oductionov erview
Att hel ef tside,wef indthewel l
heads.Theyf eedi ntopr oduct i
onandt est
mani f
olds.I ndistribut edproducti
on,thisiscal ledt hegat her i
ngsy stem.The
remai nderoft hedi agram ist heact ualpr ocess,of t
encal ledt hegasoi l
separ ationpl ant( GOSP) .Whiletherear eoil-orgas- onlyi nstal
lations,mor e
oftent hewel l-
st r
eam wi l
lconsistofaf ullrangeofhy drocar bonsf rom gas
(met hane, but ane, pr opane, et c.
), condensat es ( medi um densi t
y
hydr ocar bons)t ocr udeoi l
.Wi tht hi
swel lflow,weal sogetav ariet
yof
unwant edcomponent s,suchaswat er,carbondi oxi
de, salts,sulfurandsand.
Thepur poseoft heGOSPi stopr ocesst hewel lfl
owi nt
ocl ean,mar ket
able
product s:oi l
,nat ur algasorcondensat es.Al soi ncludedar eanumberof
uti
litysy stems, whi char enotpar toftheact ualpr ocess butpr ovi
deener gy,
wat er,airorsomeot heruti
li
tytotheplant.

Upst
ream pr
ocesses
Theact i
vit
iesup tot hepr oducing wellhead (
dril
l
ing,casing,compl
eti
on,
wellhead)ar eoftencall
ed“ pre-compl
et i
on,”whiletheproducti
onfaci
l
ityis
“post-completi
on.”Forconvent i
onalfi
elds,theytendtober oughl
ythesame
i
ni nit
ialcapit
alexpendi
ture.

Wel
l
heads
Thewel l
headsi
tsontopoftheact
ualoilorgaswel lleadingdowntothe
reser
voi
r.Awell
headmayalsobeani nj
ect
ionwel l
,usedt oinj
ectwat
eror
gasbacki ntot
hereser
voi
rtomaintainpressur
eandl evelst
omaximize
product
ion.

Onceanat uralgasoroi l
wellisdr il
led and i
thas
been veri
fi
ed t
hat
commer cial
ly v i
able
quantiti
es ofnat ur
algas
arepr esentf orextr
action,
the wel l must be
“compl eted” t o al low
petroleum ornat ur
algas
to f low out of t he
format i
on and up t ot he
surface. Thi s pr ocess
i
ncludes st rengt
hening
4
 thewellhol
ewi thcasi ng,
eval
uati
ng the pr essure
andtemperatureoft hefor
mati
on,andinstal
l
ingt
heproperequi
pmentt
o
ensurean effi
cientf l
ow ofnat
uralgasf r
om thewel
l
.Thewel lfl
ow i
s
contr
oll
edwithachoke.

Wedi f
ferenti
atebet ween,dr ycomplet
ion( whichiseit
heronshoreoront he
deckofanof fshorest ructure)andsubseacompl et
ionsbelow thesurf
ace.
Thewel l
head st ructure,of tencall
ed aChr istmast r
ee,mustal l
ow fora
numberofoper at
ions r elati
ng to producti
on and wel lworkover
.Wel l
workoverr ef
er st ov ari
ous t echnol
ogies formai ntai
ning t
he welland
i
mpr ovi
ngitspr oductioncapaci ty
.

Thewel
l
Oncethewellhasbeendr i
l
led,itmustbecompl et
ed.Completi
ngawel l
consi
sts ofa numberofst eps,such as i
nstal
li
ng the wel
lcasing,
complet
ion,i
nstal
l
ingthewel lhead,andinst
all
i
ngl i
ft
ingequipmentor
tr
eati
ngthefor
mation,
ifr
equired.
Wel
lcasi
ng
Instal l
ing t he wel l
casi ngi sani mpor tant
par toft hedr i
l
lingand
compl et i
on pr ocess.
Wel lcasi ng consi st s
ofa ser ies ofmet al
tubesi nst all
ed i nt he
freshl y dr il
led hol e.
Casi ng ser ves t o
strengt hen t he si des
of t he wel l hol e,
ensur et hatno oi lor
nat uralgasseepsout
asi ti sbr oughtt ot he
sur face, and keep
otherf l
ui dsorgases
from seepi ngi ntot he
format ion thr
ough
thewel l.Agooddeal
ofpl anni ngi snecessar ytoensuret hattheri
ghtcasingforeachwel lis
i
nst alled.Ty pesofcasi nguseddependonsubsur f
acechar act
eri
sti
csof
thewel l,incl udingt hedi ameterofthewell(whi
chisdependentont hesize
oft hedr illbi tused)andt hepressur
esandt emperaturesexperi
enced.In
4
mostwells,
thediameterofthewellhol
edecreasesthedeeperiti
sdri
ll
ed,
l
eadingtoaconicalshapethatmustbetakenintoaccountwheninst
all
i
ng
casi
ng.Thecasi
ngi snormall
ycementedinpl
ace.Il
l
:wi
ki
pedi
a.or
g

Ther
ear
efi
vedi
ff
erentt
ypesofwel
lcasi
ng.
Theyi
ncl
ude:

 Conductorcasi
ng,whichi
susual
l
ynomoret
han20t o50feet(
7-
17m)l ong,i
sinst
all
edbefor
emaindr
il
li
ngt
opr ev
entthetopof
thewellfr
om cavinginandtohelpi
ntheprocessof
ci
rcul
ati
ngt
hedr
il
li
ngf
lui
dupf
rom t
hebot
tom oft
hewel
l
.
 Surfacecasi ngisthenexttypeofcasingt obei nstall
ed.Itcanbe
anywher efr
om 100t o400met ersl
ong,andi ssmallerindiamet erto
fi
tinsidetheconductorcasi
ng.It
spri
mar ypurposeist oprotectfresh
waterdeposi tsnearthesurf
aceoft hewel lfr
om cont aminationby
l
eakinghy drocarbonsorsal
twaterfrom deeperunder ground.Italso
servesasacondui tfordr
il
li
ngmudr etur
ningtot hesur f
aceand
hel
pspr otectthedril
lhol
efr
om damagedur ingdri
l
ling.
 Intermedi at
ecasi ngisusual l
ythelongestsect ionofcasingfoundi n
awel l
.I tsprimarypur poseist omi nimizet hehazardsassoci ated
withsubsur f
acef ormat i
onsthatmayaf fectt hewell
.Thesei nclude
abnor malunder ground pressure zones,under gr
ound shales and
format ions thatmi ghtot herwise cont ami natethe wel l
,such as
under groundsal twat erdeposit
s.Li nerst r
ingsar esomet i
mesused
i
nst eadofi ntermediatecasing.Linerstringsar eusuall
yjustattached
tot hepr evi
ouscasi ngwi t
h“hanger s”insteadofbei ngcement edinto
place, andaret huslesspermanent .
 Product i
oncasing, alt
er nat
ivel
ycalledt he“oilst r
ing”or' ”
longst r
ing,”
i
si nst
alledlastandi st hedeepestsect i
onofcasi ngi nawel l.Thisi s
thecasingt hatprov i
desacondui tfrom thesur faceoft hewel ltot he
petrol
eum- producingf or mati
on.Thesi zeoft hepr oduct i
oncasi ng
depends on a number of consi der at
ions,i ncl
uding t he l i
fti
ng
equipmentt obeused,t henumberofcompl etionsr equired,andt he
possibi
lityofdeepeni ngt hewel latal aterdat e.Forexampl e,i
fi tis
expectedt hatthewel lwi l
lbedeepenedl ater,t hent hepr oduct i
on
casingmustbewi deenought oal l
owt hepassageofadr illbitlater
on.I tis also instrument alin prev enti
ng blow- outs,al lowi ng t he
for
mat iont obe“ sealed”f r
om t het opshoul ddanger ouspr essur e
l
evelsber eached.

Oncethecasi
ngisi
nstal
l
ed,t
ubingisinser
tedinsi
dethecasi
ng,from the
openi
ngwellatt
hetoptotheformat
ionatt hebot
tom.Thehydrocarbons
4
thatareextractedrunupthi
stubingtot hesur f
ace.Thepr oductioncasi
ngis
typi
call
y5t o28cm ( 2-11i
n)wi t
hmostpr oductionwellsbei ng6inchesor
mor e.Producti
ondependsonr eserv
oir,bor
e, pressure,
etc.,andmaybel ess
than100bar r
elsperdaytosev er
althousandbar r
elsperday .(5,
000 bpdis
about555l it
ers/minut
e).Apackerisusedbet weencasingandt ubi
ngatthe
bottom ofthewell.

Compl
eti
on
Wellcomplet
ioncommonl yref
erstotheprocessoffi
nishingawellsothatit
i
sr eadytoproduceoi lornaturalgas.I
nessence,compl et
ionconsi
stsof
decidi
ng on the char
acteri
sti
csoft he i
ntake por
ti
on oft he wellinthe
tar
getedhydr
ocarbonf or
mat i
on.Therear
eanumberoft ypesofcomplet
ions,
i
ncluding:

 Openhol ecompl eti

onsarethemostbasictypeandareonl
yusedin
verycompet entfor
mationsthatareunl
i
kelyt
ocav ei
n.Anopenhole
compl eti
onconsistsofsimplyrunni
ngthecasi
ngdir
ectl
ydowninto
thef ormati
on,leav
ingtheendoft hepipi
ngopenwithoutanyot
her
protecti
vefi
lt
er.
 Conv enti
onalper foratedcompl etionsconsi stofpr oduct ioncasing
runt hr
ought hef ormat ion.Thesi desoft hiscasingar eper for
ated,
witht i
nyholesal ongt hesi desf acingthef ormat i
on,whi challows
hydrocarbonst of lowi ntot hewellhol ewhilesti
llprovi
di ngasui tabl
e
amountofsuppor tandpr ot
ectionf orthewel lhole.I nt hepast ,
“bul
letper f
orat ors”wer eused.Thesewer eessent i
allysmal lguns
l
ower edi nt
ot hewel lthatsentof fsmallbul l
etst openet r
atethe
casing and cement .Today ,“jetper for
at i
ng”i s pr eferred.This
consistsofsmal l,electricall
y-
fi
redchar gest hatarelower edintothe
well.Wheni gni t
ed,t hesechar gespoket inyhol est hrought othe
formation,i
nt hesamemannerasbul let
perforat
ing.
 Sandexcl usi
oncompl eti
onsaredesignedforpr
oducti
oninanar ea
thatcontainsalargeamountofl oosesand.Thesecompl et
ionsare
designedt oall
ow fort hefl
ow ofnaturalgasandoilint
ot hewell
,
whilepreventi
ngsandf r
om ent
eri
ng.Themostcommonmet hodsof
keepingsandoutoft hewellhol
earescr eeni
ngorf
il
teri
ngsy st
ems.
Bothoft hesetypesofsandbar r
ier
scanbeusedi nopenhol eand
perforat
edcompl et
ions.
 Permanentcompleti
ons arethose i
n which t
he compl
etion and
well
headar
eassembledandinstal
ledonl
yonce.I
nstal
li
ngthecasing,
cementi
ng,per
for
ati
ngandothercompleti
onworkisdonewithsmal l
-di
ametert
oolstoensur
et hepermanentnatur
eoft hecompletion.
4
 Completi
ngawelli
nthi
smannercanl
eadt
osi
gni
fi
cantcostsav
ings
comparedtoot
herty
pes.
 Mul ti
plezonecompl etionist hepr acti
ceofcompl eti
ngawel lsuch
thathydr
ocarbonsf r
om t woormor ef or
mati
onsmaybepr oduced
simul
taneousl
y,wit
houtmi xi
ngwi t
heachot her.Forexampl e,awel l
maybedr i
l
ledthatpassest hroughanumberoff ormationsoni ts
waydeeperunderground, ori
tmaybemor edesirabl
einahor i
zontal
wel
ltoaddmul t
ipl
ecompl et
ionst odrainthef ormati
onmostef fect
ively.When
i
tis necessaryto separat
e di ff
erentcompl eti
ons,hardr ubber“ packing”
i
nst
rument sar
eusedt omaintainseparation.
 Drai
nholecompl eti
onsar eaf orm ofhori
zontalorslanteddr i
ll
i
ng.
Thistypeofcompl eti
onconsistsofdril
l
ingouthorizontall
yintothe
for
mat i
onfrom av erti
calwell
,essenti
all
yprovidi
ngadr ai
nf orthe
hydrocar
bonstor undowni nt
othewell.Thesecompletionsar emore
commonl yassociat
edwi t
hoilwell
sthanwithnatur
algaswel ls.

Wel
l
head
Well
headscaninvol
vedryorsubseacomplet
ion.Dr
ycomplet
ionmeanst hat
thewelli
sonshoreoront hetopsi
destruct
ureonanof f
shoreinstal
lat
ion.
Subseawell
headsar
elocat
edunderwateronaspeci
alseabedtemplate.

The wel lhead has equi pment

mount edatt heopeni ngoft hewel lt o
regulateandmoni t
ort heext ractionof
hydrocarbons f rom t he under ground
formation.Thi s also pr ev ents oi lor
naturalgasl eakingoutoft he wel l,
and pr eventsbl ow-out sduet o hi gh
pressuref ormat i
ons.For mat i
onst hat
are under hi gh pr essur e ty pical l
y
requirewel lheadst hatcanwi thst and
agr eatdealofupwar dpr essuref r
om
the escapi ng gases and l iqui ds.
These must be abl et o wi thst and
pressuresofup t o 140 MPa( 1,400
Bar).Thewel l
headconsi st soft hr ee
component s:t he casi ng head,t he
tubi
nghead, andt he“Chr istmast ree.”
Phot
o:Vet
coGr
ay

At
ypi
calChr
ist
mast
ree,
composedof
4
amast ergatevalv
e,apr essuregauge,
awi ngv alve,aswab v alveand a
chokei sshownabov e.The
Christmast reemayal sohav eanumberofcheckv
alv
es.Thef
unct
ionsof
thesedev icesareexpl
ainedbel ow.
Il
l
:Vet
coGr
ay

Att
hebot tom wef i
ndthecasingheadandcasinghangers.
Thecasingisscr ewed,bolt
edorwel dedtothehanger.Sev eralval
vesand
pl
ugsarenor mall
yf i
tt
edtogiveaccesstothecasi
ng.Thi
sper mi t
sthecasi
ng
tobeopened, cl
osed,bleddown,andinsomecases, al
l
owt heflowingwellt
o
beproducedthrought hecasi
ngaswel lasthetubi
ng.Thevalvecanbeused
todeter
mi neleaksincasing,tubi
ngort hepacker
,andisal sousedf orli
ft
gasinj
ecti
onintothecasing.

The t ubing hanger ( also

call
ed a donut )i s used to
positi
ont hetubi
ngcor r
ect
lyin
thewel l.Seali
ngal soall
ows
Christ
mas t ree r
emov alwith
pressureinthecasing.

Mast er gat e v alv e. The

mast ergat ev al
v ei s a hi gh
qualit
yv alv
e.I tpr ov idesf ul
l
opening,whi chmeanst hatit
opens t o the same i nside
diamet erast het ubingsot hat
specializedt oolsmayber un
throughi t.I
tmustbecapabl e
ofhol dingthef ullpr essureof
the wel l saf ely f or al l
antici
pat ed pur poses. Thi s
valveisusual l
yleftf ullyopen
andi snotusedt ocont rolf
low.

Pressure gauge. The

minimum instrumentati
onisa
pressur
egaugepl acedabove
themast ergat evalvebef
ore
the wing v al
ve.In addit
ion,
otherinstr
ument ssuchasa
temperature gauge ar e
normall
yf i
tt
ed.
4
 Wingv alv
e.Thewingv
alv
ecanbeagateorbal
lval
ve.Whenshut
ti
nginthe
well
,thewi nggat
eorv
alv
eisnor
mal
lyusedsothatthet
ubi
ngpressur
ecan
beeasilyread.

Swabv alve.Theswabv al
veisusedt ogainaccesst othewel lforwirel
ine
operations, i
nterv
ent i
onandot herwor koverprocedures(seebel ow).Ont op
ofitisat reeadapterandcapt hatmat eswi tharangeofequi pment .
Variablef l
owchokev alve.Thev ariabl
ef l
owchokev alveistypi
cal l
yal arge
needlev al
ve.I t
scal i
bratedopeni ngi sadjustablein1/ 64inchi ncrement s
(cal
ledbeans) .High- qualit
yst eeli susedi nor dertowi t
hstandt hehi gh-
speedf low ofabr asivemat er
ialst hatpasst hroughthechoke,usual l
yov er
manyy ears,wi t
hlit
tledamageexceptt othedar torseat.Ifavar i
ablechoke
i
snotr equired,al essexpensi veposi t
ivechokei snor mallyinstall
edon
smal l
erwel l
s.Thishasabui l
t-inr estr
icti
ont hatli
mitsflow whent hewing
valv
ei sf ul
lyopen.

Vert
icaltr
ee.Chri
stmastr
eescanal sobehor i
zontalwher
et hemast
er,
wingandchokeareonahor i
zontalaxi
s.Thi
sreducesthehei
ghtandmay
al
low easi
erint
erv
enti
on.Hor
izontaltr
eesareespecial
l
yusedonsubsea
well
s.

Subseawel
l
s
Subseawel l
sar eessent i
allythe
sameasdr ycompl et
ionwel ls.
Mechani call
y,howev er,theyar e
placed i n a subsea st ructure
(templat e)thatallowst hewel ls
to be dr il
led and ser viced
remot elyf r
om t hesurf ace,and
protected f rom damage,e. g.,
from t rawlers.Thewel lheadi s
placedi nasl otinthet empl ate
wher ei tmat est otheout going
pipeli
ne as wel las hy draulic
andel ectri
ccont rolsignal s.Ill
:
St
atoi
l

Control is f r
om t he
surf
ace, wher e a
hydraul
i
c power uni t
(HPU)providespowert o
the subsea instal
lat
ion
4
vi
a an umbi li
cal. The
umbi l
icalisacomposi t
e
cablecont ai ningt ension
wires, hy dr auli
c pi pes,
el
ect r
icalpower ,cont rol
and communi cati
on
si
gnal s.A
controlpodwi thinertgasand/oroilprotect
ioncontainscontrolelectronics,
and oper at es mostequi pmentv ia hydraul
ic switches.Mor e compl ex
subseasol ut i
ons may cont ain subsea separ ati
on/stabil
i
zat i
on and
el
ect r
icalmul ti
phasepumpi ng.Thismaybenecessar yifreservoi
rpr essure
i
sl ow,of f
set( distancet omainfacil
i
ty)islongorther eareflowassur ance
problemssot hatt hegasandl i
quidswi l
lnotstabl
yf l
owt othesurface.

Theproducti
spipedbackt
hroughpipel
i
nesandr
iser
stot
hesur
face.The
mainchokemaybelocat
edt
opside.

I
nject
ion
Wel l
sar ealsodivi
dedi ntoproduct i
onandi nject
ionwel l
s.Theformerar efor
product i
onofoilandgas.I njecti
onwel lsaredril
l
edt oinj
ectgasorwat eri
nto
ther eservoi
r.Thepur poseofi nj
ectionist omaintainoveral
landhy drostat
ic
reserv oi
rpressure and force the oilt owardt he pr
oduction wells.When
i
nject ed waterreaches t he production well,itis call
ed “i
njected water
breakt hr
ough.”Speci allogging instr
ument s,of t
en based on r adioacti
ve
i
sot opesaddedt oinjecti
onwat er,areusedt odetectbreakt
hrough.

I
nject
ionwell
sar efundamental
l
yt hesameaspr oduct
ionwell
heads.The
di
ffer
ence i
st hei
rdirect
ion offlow and,t
her
efore,mount
ing ofsome
di
rect
ional
components,suchasthechoke.

Ar
ti
fi
ci
all
i
ft
Productionwel l
saref r
eef lowingorl i
fted.Af r
eeflowingoi lwellhasenough
downhol e pressuret or each suitable wellhead producti
on pr essure and
maintainanaccept abl
ewel lf
low.Ift hef or
mat i
onpr essureist oolow,and
waterorgasi nj
ecti
oncannotmai ntainpressureorar enotsui tabl
e,thewel l
mustbear t
ifi
cial
lylif
ted.Forsmal l
erwel l
s,0.7MPa( 100PSI )wellhead
pressurewi t
hast andingcol umnofl iquidinthetubingismeasur ed,byar ul
e
of-t
humbmet hod, t
oal l
owt hewel ltoflow.Largerwel l
swillbeequi ppedwi t
h
arti
fi
cialli
fttoi ncr
easepr oduction,ev enatmuchhi gherpr essures.Some
arti
fi
cialli
ftmethodsar e:

4
 Rodpumps
Sucker rod
pumps, al so
call
ed donkey
or beam
pumps, arethe
mostcommon
art
if
icial li
ft
system usedi n
l
and- based
operations. A
mot ordr ivesar eciprocati
ngbeam, connect
edt oa
poli
shedr odpassi ngi nt
othetubi
ngv iaastuff
ingbox.
Thesuckerr odcont i
nuesdownt otheoillev
elandis
connect edt oapl ungerwi t
hav al
ve.

Oneachupwar dst r
oke,theplungerli
ftsav olumeofoi lupandt hroughthe
well
headdischarge.Onthedownwar dstr
okei tsinks(i
tshouldsink,andnot
bepushed)al l
owingoi ltoflow thought hev alve.Themot orspeedand
tor
que is cont
roll
ed foreffi
ciencyand mi nimalwearwi th a pump off
contr
oll
er(PoC).Useislimit
edt oshall
owr eservoirsdownt oafewhundr ed
meters,
andf l
owsupt oabout40l i
ters(10gal l
ons)perstroke.

ESP
A downhol e pump i nserts
the whole pumpi ng
mechani sm intot hewel l.In
moder n i nstall
at ions, an
elect
ricalsubmer gedpump
(ESP)i si nserted i ntot he
well. Her e, t he whol e
assembl y consi sting of a
l
ong nar row mot orand a
mul t
iphasepump, suchasa
progressive cav ity pump
(PCP)orcent rifugalpump,
hangsbyanel ectricalcabl e
withtensionmember sdown
thetubing.Il
l
:Wikipedia.
org

I
nst
all
ati
onsdownt
o3.
7km wi
thpowerupt
o750kW hav
ebeeni
nst
all
ed.
4
 Att
hesedept
hsandpowerr
ati
ngs,
medi
um v
olt
agedr
ives(
upt
o5kV)must
beused.

ESPswor kindeepreservoi
rs,butar
esensiti
vetocontami
nant
ssuchas
sand,andeff
ici
encyi
ssensit
ivetogasoi
lrat
ion(GOR)(
wheregasov
er10%
dramati
cal
lyl
owerseff
ici
ency.

Gasl
i
ft
Agasl
if
tinjectsgasintothewel
lfl
ow.Thedownhol ereser
voirpressur
eto
thewel
l
headf all
soff,duetothecount
erpressurefrom weightoft heoil
col
umnint het ubi
ng.Thus,a150MPar eser
voirpressureat1,600met er
s

36
willf allt o zer o i n t he
wellhead i ft he speci fi
c
gravityis800kg/ m2 (0.8
ti
meswat er)
.Byi njecti
ng
gas i nto t his oi l
,t he
specificgr avityislower ed
andt hewel lwillst ar
tt o
fl
ow. Ty picall
y, gas i s
i
njected bet ween t he
casingandt ubi
ng,anda
rel
easev alveonagasl if
t
mandr eli si nsert
ed i nto
the t ubi
ng abov e t he
packer .

Thev al v
ewi l
lopen ata
setpr essuret oinj
ectl i
ft
gas i nto t he t ubing.
Several mandr el
s wi t
h
valves set atdi f
ferent
pressurer angescanbeusedtoi
mpr
ovel
i
fti
ngandst
art
up.I
ll
:Schl
umber
ger
oi
l
fiel
dgl
ossar
y

Gasl i
ftcanbecont rolledf
orasi nglewelltoopti
mizeproducti
on,andto
reducesluggingeffectswherethegasdr opl
etscol
l
ecttoformlargebubbl
es
t
hatcanupsetpr oduction.Gasli
ftcanalsobeoptimizedoversever
alwell
s
t
ouseav ailablegasint hemosteffi
cient
way.

4
 Pl
ungerl
i
ft
Thepl ungerlif
tisnormal l
yusedonl ow pressuregaswel lswithsome
condensate,oilorwater ,orhi ghGOR wel l
s.Int hiscase,thewellflow
condi
tionscanbesucht hatliquidstar
tst ocoll
ectdownholeandev ent
uall
y
bl
ocksgassot hatthewel lproduct
ionst ops.I
nt hi
scase,aplungerwit
han
open/closevalvecanbei nsertedinthet ubi
ng.Apl ungercat
cheratthetop
opens t he v
alve and can hol dt he plunger
,whi le anot
hermechanism
downhol ecl
osestheval
v e.

Thecy clestartswi tht heplungerfal

l
ingint
ot hewellwithitsvalveopen.
Condensedgasandoi lcanpassthoughthepl
ungerunt
ili
treaches bott
om.
Ther e t he v al
ve i s
closed, now wi th a
volume of oil,
condensat e or wat er
on t op.Gas pr essur e
startst o accumul ate
undert heplungerand
after a t ime pushes
the pl unger upwar ds,
with l iquid on t op,
whi chev entual
lyflows
out of t he wellhead
discharge.

When t he pl unger
reaches t he wellhead
plunger cat cher,t he
valv e opens and
allows gas t o f l
ow
freelyf orsome t ime
whi le new liquid
col l
ectsatthebot tom.
Af terapresettime,t he
cat cherreleases t he
plungerandt hecy clerepeat
s.

Wel
lwor
kov
er,
int
erv
ent
ionandst
imul
ati
on
Aft
eroper
ati
ngforsomet i
me,awellmaybecomelessproduct
iveorf
aul
ty
duetor
esi
duebuil
dup,sander
osi
on,
corr
osi
onorreser
voi
rcloggi
ng.

4
Wellworkoveristheprocessofper for
mingmajormaint
enanceonanoilor
gaswel l
.Thismightincludereplacementofthetubi
ng,acleanupornew
completi
ons,newperf
orationsandv ari
ousot
hermaint
enanceworkssuchas
thei
nstal
lat
ionofgasli
ftmandrels,newpacki
ng,et
c.

Through-tubi
ngwor kov eroperationisworkper f
ormedwi thspeci
altoolst
hat
do notr equi
ret he t ime-consumi ng ful
lwor kover procedureinvolv
ing
repl
acementorr emov aloft ubing.Wellmaintenancewi thoutkil
l
ingthewel l
andper f
ormingfullwor koverist i
me-savi
ngandof t
encalledwellint
ervent
ion.
Variousoperati
onst hatar eper f
ormedbyl oweringinstr
ument sortoolsona
wireint
ot hewellarecal l
edwi reli
neoperati
ons.
38
Wor kont hereser
voirsuchaschemicalinj
ection,aci
dtreatment
,heating,etc.
,
i
sr eferr
edt oasr eservoi
rst
imulat
ion.Stimulati
onserv estocorrectvari
ous
formsofst r
uctur
edamageandi mproveflow.Damagei sagenerictermf or
accumul ati
onofpar t
icl
esandflui
dst hatblockfract
uresandpor esandl imit
reservoi
rpermeabili
ty.

 Acids,such as hy drochloric acid( HCL)ar e used t o open up

cal
car eous r eservoir
s and t o treat accumul ation of cal ci
um
carbonat es int he reserv oirst r
ucture around the wel l.Sev eral
hundr edl i
tersofacid( typicall
y15% sol uti
oni nwat er)arepumped
i
ntot hewel l
underpressur et oincr
easeper meabi l
i
tyoft heformation.
Whent hepressureishighenought oopent hefractures,t
hepr ocess
i
scal ledf r
actureacidizi
ng.I fthepressureislower ,i
tiscalledmat rix
aci
dizi ng.
 Hy drauli
cfracturingi sanoper ati
oni nwhi chaspeci all
ybl ended
l
iqui dispumpeddownawel landi nt
oaf ormationunderpr essur e
highenought ocauset heformat iontocrackopen, f
ormi ngpassages
throughwhi choi lcanf lowintot hewel lbore.Sandgr ains,aluminum
pellets,walnutshel l
s,glassbeads,orsi milarmat eri
al s(proppi ng
agent s)arecar r
iedi nsuspensi onbyt hisf l
uidintot hef ractures.
Whent hepr essurei sreleasedatt hesurface,thef r
acturespar tiall
y
closeont hepr oppi ngagents,leav i
ngchannel sforoiltof l
owt hrough
tot hewel l
.Thef r
acturechannel smaybeupt o100met ersl ong.
Hy drauli
cfracturingi sanessent i
altechnologyf orunconv entional
shal egasandl iquidsext r
acti
on.
 Explosi
vefracturi
ngusesexpl osi
vestof r
actur
eaf or
mat i
on.Att he
momentofdet onati
on,theexplosi
onf urni
shesasour ceofhi gh-
pressuregast of or
cef l
uidint
othef or
mat i
on.Therubbleprevents
fr
actureheali
ng, makingtheuseofproppi
ngagentsunnecessary
.

4
  Damage remov
alrefersto otherforms ofr
emov
ing f
ormat
ion
damage,
suchasfl
ushingoutofdri
l
lfl
uids.
Flexi
blecoiled tubing canbewoundar oundal argedi ameterdr
um and
i
nserted orr emov ed much qui
ckerthan t
ubi
ng instal
l
ed from ri
gid pi
pe
segment s.Wellwor kov
erequi
pmentincl
udi
ngcoil
edt ubi
ngisof t
enmounted
onwel l
wor koverri
gs.

39
Mani
fol
dsandgat
her
ing
Onshor e,thei ndivi
dualwel l
streams ar e br oughti nto
the main product ion
facili
ti
esov eranet wor kof
gather i
ng pi pelines and
mani fold sy stems. The
purposeoft hesepi peli
nes
i
s t o al l
ow set up of
product i
on "wel lset s"so
thatf oragi venpr oduct ion
l
ev el,t he best r eserv oi
r
uti
lizati
on well f low
composi t
ion ( gas, oi l
,
wat er), etc.
, can be
selectedfrom theav ailablewel
l
s.

Forgasgat her
ingsystems,itiscommont omet ertheindi
vidualgathering
l
ines intot he manif
old as shown inthis pi
cture.Formul ti
phase flows
(combinati
onofgas,oi landwater)
,thehighcostofmul ti
phasef l
ow met ers
oftenleadstotheuseofsof t
wareflowrat
eest i
mat or
sthatusewel lt
estdat a
tocalculat
eactualf
low.

Of
fshor e,t
hedrycompl eti
onwel l
sont hemai nfi
eldcenterf
eed
direct
lyint
oproductionmani fol
ds,whil
eout l
yi
ngwel l
head
towersandsubseai nstal
lati
onsfeedv i
amul t
iphase
pipeli
nesbacktothepr oductionri
sers.Riser
sareasy st
em
thatall
owsapi pel
ineto" r
ise"uptothet opsi
dest r
uctur
e.
4
 Forf
loat
ingst
ruct
ures,t
hisi
nvol
vesawaytotakeupweight
andmovement.Forheavycr
udeandinArct
icar
eas,di
l
uents
andheat
ingmay beneededt or
educevi
scosi
tyandal
low
fl
ow.

Upst
ream oi
landgaspr
ocess
Theoi
landgaspr
ocessi
sthepr
ocessequi
pmentt
hatt
akest
hepr
oduct
from t
hewel l
headmani f
oldsanddel
iver
sstabi
li
zedmarket
ableproducts,i
n
theform ofcrudeoil
,condensat
esorgas.Component
softhepr ocessalso
existt
otestpr oduct
sandcleanwasteproduct
ssuchasproducedwat er
.

Pi
pel
i
nesandr
iser
s
Thisfacil
ityusessubseapr oductionwel l
s.Thet ypicalhighpressure(HP)
well
headatt hebottom ri
ght,wit
hitsChr i
stmastreeandchoke, i
slocatedon
theseabed.Apr oduct
ionriser(offshor
e)orgatheringl i
ne(onshore)bri
ngs
thewel lf
lowintothemani f
olds.Ast hereser
voirispr oduced,well
smayf al
l
i
npr essureandbecomel owpr essure(LP)well
s.

Thisl i
nemayi ncl
udesev eralcheckv al
ves.Thechoke,mast erandwing
valvesarerelat
ivel
yslow.Therefor
e, i
nthecaseofpr oducti
onshutdown,t
he
pressure on the f
irstsecti
oning val
ve cl
osed wi l
lrise tothe maxi
mum
wellheadpressurebefor
ethesev al
vescancl ose.Thepipel
inesandri
ser
sare
designedwiththisinmind.

Shortpipeli
nedi stancesarenotapr oblem,butl ongerdi stancesmaycause
amul ti
phasewel lfl
ow toseparateandf orm sev eresl ugs–pl ugsofl iquid
withgasinbet ween–t r
aveli
nginthepipeli
ne.Sev eresl uggi
ngmayupsett he
separati
onpr ocessandcauseov er
pressuresaf etyshut downs.Sl uggingmay
also occurint he wellas descri
bed earli
er.Sl uggi ng can be cont r
olled
manual l
ybyadj ustingthechoke,orbyaut omat icslugcont rols.Addi t
ionally,
areasofheav ycondensat 41 yf
ema ormi nt hepi pelines.Athi ghpr essur e,
theseplugsmayf reezeatnormalseat emper ature,e.g.,i
fproduct ionisshut
downorwi t
hl ongof f
sets.Thi
scanbepr ev
ent edbyi njecti
nget hylenegly col.
Glycoli
njecti
oni snotusedat Nj
ord.

Pr
oduct
ion,
testandi
nject
ionmani
fol
ds
Checkv
alv
esal
l
ow eachwel
lto ber
out
edi
nto oneormor
eofsev
eral

4
 mani f
oldl ines.Ther e wil
lbe atl eastone f oreach pr ocess t rain plus
additi
onalmani fol
dsf ortestandbal ancingpurposes.I nthisdiagr am,we
show t hree:t est,low pressure and hi gh pressure mani fol
ds.The t est
mani f
oldal l
owsoneormor ewel l
st ober outedtot hetestseparator .Si
nce
thereisonl yonepr ocesstrai
n,theHPandLPmani fol
dsallowgr oupsofHP
and LP wel lst o be taken tot he f irstand second st age separ ators
respecti
v el
y.Thechokesar esettor educet hewellheadflowandpr essuret o
thedesiredHPandLPpr essuresrespect i
vely.
Thedesi redsettingforeachwel l
andwhi choft hewellsproduceatHPandLP
forv ar
iouspr oductionlevel
sar edef i
nedbyr eservoirspeci
alist
st o ensur e
optimum pr oductionandrecoveryrate.

Separ
ati
on
Somewel lshav epur egas
product i
on whi ch can be
taken di rectl
y f or gas
treatment
and/ orcompr essi on.Mor e
often,t hewel lpr oducesa
combi nationofgas,oi land
wat er, wi th v
ar i
ous
cont ami nant sthatmustbe
separ ated and pr ocessed.
Thepr oduct i
onsepar ator s
comei n manyf ormsand
designs,wi tht he classi c
variant bei ng t he gr av i
ty
separ ator. Phot o: JL Br yan
Oi
l
fiel
dEqui
pment

In grav it
ysepar ati
on,t hewel lflow i sfed i nto a hori
zontalvessel.The
ret
ent ionper iodist ypicall
yfivemi nutes,all
owi nggast obubbl eout,wat ert
o
settleatt hebott om andoi ltobet akenouti nthemi ddle.Thepr essur ei
s
often r educed in sev eralstages ( high pressure separator
,l ow pressure
separ ator,et c.
)t oal low cont r
olledsepar ationofv olat
il
ecomponent s.A
sudden pr essurer educti
on mi ghtal low f lash vapori
zation leading to
i
nst abili
tyandsaf etyhazards.
As descr ibed ear l
i
er ,the wel l-
st r
eam may consi st of cr ude oil
,gas,
condensat es,waterandv ar
iouscont ami nant
s.Thepur poseoft hesepar ator
s
i
st ospl itthef l
owi ntodesi r
ablefractions.

Testsepar
ator
sandwel
ltest
4
Testsepar atorsareusedt oseparatet hewel lf
low fr
om oneormor ewell
s
foranal ysi
sanddet ai
ledflow measur ement .I
nt hisway ,thebehav i
orof
eachwel lunderdi f
ferentpressuref l
ow conditionscanbedef i
ned.This
normal l
yt akesplacewhent hewel list akenintopr oducti
onandl at
erat
regularinterval
s( ty
picall
y1- 2 months),and wi llmeasur ethe totaland
componentf low rat
esunderdi f
ferentpr oduct
ioncondi t
ions.Undesirabl
e
consequences such as sl ugging orsand can al so be determined.The
separ at
ed component s are analyzed i nt he laborat
oryt o deter
mine
hydrocarboncomposi t
ionofthegasoi landcondensate.

Testsepar
ator
scanalsobeusedtoproducefuelgasforpowergener
ati
on
whent hemainprocessisnotrunni
ng.Alt
ernati
vel
y,athreephasef l
ow
metercanbeusedtosavewei
ght
.
Producti
on
separat
ors
Themai nsepar ator sshown
here ar e gr avi
tyt y pes.On
ther i
ght ,youseet hemai n
component s ar ound t he
fir
st st age separ ator. As
ment ioned bef ore, t he
product ion choke r educes
wellpr essur et o t he HP
mani fold and f ir
st st age
separat ortoabout3- 5MPa
(30-50 t i
mes at mospher i
c
pressur e).Inlettemper at
ure
i
sof teni nther angeof100-
150 º C.On t heexampl e
platf
orm, thewel lstream iscolderduet
osubseawel
l
sandr
iser
s.

The pr essureis of t
en
reduced i n sev eral
stages.Int hi
sinstance,
three stages are used
toallow t hecontroll
ed
separation of v olat
il
e
component s.The idea
i
st oachi evemaximum
l
iquid r ecover
y and
stabi
li
zed oi land gas,
4
 andt osepar at
ewater.
Al ar
ge
pressurereduct
ioni
nasi ngl
esepar
atorwi
l
lcausef
lashv
apor
izat
ion,
leadi
ng
toinstabi
l
ityandsaf
etyhazards.

Ther et
enti
onperiodi stypi
cal
ly5mi nutes,al
lowinggastobubbleout,wat
er
tosettl
eatthebot tom andoiltobet akenouti nthemiddl
e.Inthi
splat
for
m
thewat ercut(percentagewat erint hewel lflow)isalmost40%,whichis
qui
t ehi
gh.Inthefirststageseparator,thewat ercont
entisty
pical
lyr
educed
tolessthan5%.

Atthecrudeentr
ance,t
hereisabaf
fl
esl ugcatchert
hatwillr
educetheeff
ect
ofslugs(lar
gegasbubbl esorli
quidplugs).However,somet ur
bulenceis
desir
abl
east hi
swil
lrel
easegasbubblesfast
erthanalaminarfl
ow.

Attheend, t herearebar r
iersupt oacertainleveltokeepbackt hesepar ated
oilandwat er .Themai ncont r
olloopsaret heoi ll
evelcontr
olloop(EV0101
20abov e)cont rol
li
ngt heoi lfl
ow outoft hesepar at
oront her i
ght
,andt he
gaspr essurel oopatt het op(FV010520,abov e).Theloopsareoper atedby
thecont rolsy stem.Anot heri mportantfuncti
oni stopr ev
entgasbl ow- by
,
whichhappenswhenal ow oillevelcausesgast oex i
tviatheoi lout put
,
causing hi gh pr essure downst ream.Ther e are generall
y many mor e
i
nst r
ument sandcont r
oldev i
cesmount edont hesepar at
or.Thesewi l
lbe
discussedlat er.

Thel i
quidout l
etsfrom theseparatorwi l
lbeequi ppedwi thv ortexbr eakersto
reducedisturbanceont heli
quidtablei nside.Thisi sbasicall
yaf l
anget rapto
breakanyv ort
exf ormat i
onandensur et hatonlysepar atedl iquidist apped
offandnotmi xedwi thoilorwaterdr awni nthrought hesev ortices.Simi l
arl
y,
thegasout let
sar eequi ppedwi thdemi sters,essent i
alf i
lterst hatremov e
li
quiddropletsinthegas.
Emer gencyv alves( EVs)ar e secti
oni ng v alv
est hatsepar atet he process
component sandblow- downv al
ves, all
owi ngexcesshy drocarbonst obur nof f
i
nt hef lare.Thesev alv
esar eoper at
edi fcr i
ti
caloper atingcondi ti
onsar e
detectedoronmanualcommandf rom adedi catedemer gencyshut down
system.Thi smayi nvolveparti
alshut downandshut downsequences,si nce
thef l
aremaynotbeabl etohandl eaf ullblow-downofal lpr ocesssect i
ons
simultaneously.

A45,000bpddesignpr oduct
ionwi t
hgasand40%wat ercutwi
llgiv
eabout
10cubicmet ersf
rom t hewel l
headsperminut
e.Therealsoneedst obe
enough capaci
tyto handle normalsl
uggi
ng fr
om wel l
sand ri
sers.Thi
s
meanstheseparat
orhast obeabout100cubicmeter
s, e.
g.,
acyl
inder3m i
n
4
diameterand14m i nlengthatther at
edoper at
ingpressure.Thi
smeansa
veryheav ypi
eceofequi pment,typi
cal
lyaround50t onsf ort
hissi
ze,whi
ch
l
imitsthepr act
icalnumberofst ages.Othert y
pesofsepar ator
s,suchas
vert
icalseparat
orsorcyclones(centr
if
ugalseparati
on),canbeusedtosave
weight,spaceorimproveseparat
ion(tobediscussedlater
).

Ther
emustal sobeacer t
ainmini
mum pr essuredi
ffer
encebetweeneach
st
aget oal
low sat
isf
actoryperf
ormancei nthepressureandlevelcont
rol
l
oops.Chemical
addit
iveswil
lal
sobediscussedlat
er.

Secondst
agesepar
ator
Thesecondstageseparatori
squitesimi l
artot
hefir
stst
ageHPsepar ator.I
n
addit
iontoout
putf r
om thefi
rststage,italsor
ecei
vesproducti
onfrom well
s
connectedtot
hel owpressur
emani f
old.Thepressur
eisnowar ound1MPa
(10atmospheres)andtemper at
urebelow 100ºC.Thewat ercont
entwi l
lbe
reducedtobel
ow2%.

Anoi lheatercanbel ocatedbet weenthefi

rstandsecondst ageseparat
orto
reheattheoi l
/water/
gasmi xtur
e.Thismakesi teasiert
oseparateoutwater
wheni nit
ialwatercuti shighandt emperat
urei slow.Theheatexchangeris
normal l
ya t ube/shelltype wher e oi
lpassest hough tubesin a heati
ng
medium pl acedinsi
deanout ershel
l.

Thi
rdst
agesepar
ator
Thef i
nalseparatorisat wo-phaseseparator
,alsocalledaf lashdrum.The
pressureisnowr educedtoat mospher
icpressureofaround100kPa, sot hat
thelastheavygascomponent scanboilout.Insomepr ocesseswher et he
i
niti
altemperatureislow,itmightbenecessaryt oheatthel i
quidagain(ina
heatexchanger )beforethef l
ashdrum t oachievegoodsepar ati
onoft he
heavy component s.Ther e areleveland pr essur
e cont rolloops.As an
alt
ernati
ve,whenpr oduct
ionismainlygas,andremainingliquiddropl
etshav e
tobesepar at
edout ,thet
wo-phasesepar at
orcanbeaknock-outdr um (K.O.
drum).

Coal
escer
Af t
erthethi r
dst ageseparator,t
heoi lcangot oacoalescerforfinalremoval
ofwat er
.I nt hi
sunit,wat ercont entcanber educedt obelow 0. 1%.The
coalesceri scompl et
elyfil
l
edwi t
hl i
quid:wateratthebottom andoi lontop.
Internalelectrodesform anel ectricfiel
dtobr eaksurfacebondsbet ween
conduct i
vewat erandi sol
atingoili nanoi l
-wateremulsi
on.Thecoal escer
fiel
dpl at
esar egenerall
yst eel,
somet imescov er
edwi t
hdielect
ricmat eri
alto
4
pr
eventshort
-ci
rcuits.Thecri
ti
calfieldstr
engt
hinoili
sinther angeof0.
2t o
2kV/cm.Fieldintensityandfrequencyaswel lasthecoalescergri
dlayout
ar
ediff
erentf
ordifferentmanufacturersandoi
lty
pes.

El
ect
rost
ati
cdesal
ter
Ift he separ at
ed oi l
contains unaccept able
amount sofsal t
s,t hey
canber emov edinan
elect
rost ati
c desal t
er
(notusedi nt heNj ord
exampl e) . The sal ts,
whichmaybesodi um,
calci
um or
magnesi um
chlori
des,comef rom t hereservoi
rwat erandar ealsodissol
v edi
nt heoil
.
The desal t
ers wil
lbe pl aced aft
ert he firstorsecond st age separ
ator
dependi ngonGORandwat ercut
.Phot
o:BurgessManni
ngEur
opePLC

Wat
ert
reat
ment
Onani nstall
ationsuchast his,wherethewatercutishigh,therewillbea
hugeamountofwat erproduced.Inourexample,awat ercutof40% gi ves
waterproductionofabout4, 000cubicmetersperday( 4mi l
l
ionlit
ers)that
mustbecl eanedbef oredischargetosea.Of t
en,thi
swat ercontainssand
part
icl
esboundt otheoi l
/wateremulsi
on.
Theenvironment alregulat
ionsinmostcountr
iesarequit
est r
ict
.Forexampl e,
i
nt heNor t
heastAt l
ant i
c,t
heOSPARconv ent
ionli
mitsoili
nwat erdi
scharged
toseato40mg/ l
it
er (
ppm) .

4
 Fi
gur
e6.Pr
oducedwat
ert
reat
ment

Italsoplacesl i
mit
sonot herformsofcont aminants.Thissti
llmeansthat
theequivalentofuptoonebar r
elofoilperdayi ncont aminant
sfrom the
abov epr
oduct i
onisdi
schargedintot
hesea, butinthisform,micr
oscopi
coil
dropsarebr okendownquickl
ybynaturalbacter
ia.

Vari
ouspi ecesofequipmentareused.Thisil
l
ustr
ati
onshowsat ypi
cal
watertreatmentsyst
em.Wat erfr
om thesepar
ator
sandcoal escer
sf i
rst
goest oasandcy cl
one,whichremovesmostoft hesand.Thesandi s
fur
therwashedbeforei
tisdi
schar
ged.

Thewaterthengoestoahy dr
ocyclone,acent
rif
ugalsepar
atort
hatremoves
oildr
ops.Thehydrocycl
onecreatesast andi
ngv or
texwhereoilcol
lect
sin
themiddl
eandwat eri
sforcedtotheside.

Fi
nal l
ythewat eriscollect
edi nthewaterde-gassingdrum.Dispersedgas
sl
owl yri
sesandpul lsremainingoildr
oplet
stot hesurfacebyflotat
ion.The
surfaceoilf
il
mi sdrained,andtheproducedwatercanbedi schargedtosea.
Recov er
edoilinthewat ertreat
mentsystem i
st ypi
cal
lyrecycl
edt othethi
rd
stageseparator.
Gast
reat
mentandcompr
essi
on
Thegast r
ainconsi
stsofsever
alstages,eacht aki
nggasf r
om asui
tabl
e
pressur
elevelinthe pr
oducti
on separator
's gas out
let
,and fr
om the
previ
ousst
age.

4
A t ypi
calst age i s
shownont heright.
Incoming gas ( on
the r i
ght )i s f i
rst
cooled i n a heat
exchanger .I tt hen
passest hrought he
scrubbert oremov e
l
iquids and goes
i
nt othecompr essor.
Theant i-surge loop
(thi
n or ange l ine)
andt hesur gev alve
(UV0121 23)al low
the gas to
recir
culate. The
component saredescr i
bedbel
ow.

Heatexchanger
s
Fort hecompr essort ooperateeffi
ci
ent
ly,gastemperat
ureshouldbelow.
Thel owert het emper ature,t
helessener
gywi l
lbeusedtocompressthegas
forthegi venfinalpr essure
andt emper atur e.Howev er
,
both gasf rom separ ators
and compr essed gas ar e
rel
ativelyhot .Whengasi s
compr essed, i t must
remai ni nt her mody nami c
balance,whi chmeanst hat
thegaspr essur et imest he
volume ov er the
temper ature( PV/ T) must
remai n const ant .( PV =
nkT).Thi s ends up as a
temper atureincr ease.

Heatexchanger sofv ar
iousformsar eusedt ocoolthegas.Pl ateheat
exchangers(upperpictur
e)consistofanumberofpl ateswherethegasand
cooli
ngmedi um passbet weenalternati
ngpl atesinopposing di rections.
Tubeandshel lexchangers(nextpi
cture)placetubesinsi
deashel lfi
lledwi t
h
cooli
ngflui
d.Thecoolingflui
disoftenpurewat erwit
hcorrosi
oninhibitors.

4
When desi gning the
process,i ti si mport antt o
plan t he t her mal ener gy
balance.Heat shoul d be
conser ved,e. g.
,by usi ng
the cool i
ng f lui
df rom t he
gast r
ai ntor eheatoi lint he
oilt r
ai n.Ex cess heat i s
dispersed,e. g.,byseawat er
cool ing.
Howev er,hotseawat eri s
extremel y cor rosi
v e, so
mat er
ial s wit
h high
resist
ance t o cor rosion,
such ast itanium mustbe
used.Phot o:SECShellandTube
HeatExchanges

Scr
ubber
sandr
eboi
l
ers
Thesepar at
edgasmaycont ainmistandot herl i
quiddr oplets.Dropsof
waterand hy dr
ocarbonsalso form when t hegasi scool ed i ntheheat
exchanger
,andmustber emov edbefor
ei treachest hecompr essor.Ifli
qui
d
droplet
senterthecompr essor,theywillerodet hef astrotatingblades.A
scrubberi
sdesignedtoremovesmal lfr
actionsofliquidfr
om t hegas.

Therearev ari
ousty pesofgas-dry
ingequipmentav ai
labl
e,butt
hemost
common suct ion (compressor
) scrubber i
s based on dehydr
ati
on by
absorpt
ionintri
ethy
leneglycol(
TEG).Thescrubberconsist
sofmanylev
els
ofgly
col l
ayer
s.

Al ar
genumberofgastraps(
enl
argeddet
ail
)for
cethegastobubbl
eup
thr
ougheachgly
coll
ayerasitfl
owsfrom t
hebottom t
othet
opofeach
secti
on.

Pr
ocessedgly
coli
spumpedi
natthetopfr
om thehol
dingt
ank.I
tfl
owsf
rom
l
evelt
ol ev
elagai
nstt
hegasfl
ow asitspi
ll
sov ert
heedgeofeachtr
ap.

Dur i
ngthi
sprocess,i
tabsorbsliqui
dsfrom t
hegasandcomesoutasr ich
glycolatthebot
tom.Thehol di
ngt ankalsof
unct
ionsasaheatexchanger
forli
quid,
toandfrom t
hereboil
ers.

4
Thegl ycol i
srecycl edbyr emov i
ngt heabsorbedl iquid.Thi si sdonei nt he
reboiler,whichisfilledwi t
hr ichgly colandheat edt oboi loutt heli
quidsat
temper atureofabout130- 180° C( 260-350° F)foranumberofhour s.
Usual l
yt hereisadi st i
ll
ati
oncol umnont hegasv entt of urtherimpr ove
separ ati
onofgl ycol andot herhydr ocarbons.Forhi ghercapaci t
y,therear e
oftent wor eboil
erswhi chal t
ernatebet weenheat ingr ichgly colanddr aining
recycledpr ocessedgl ycol.Onast andaloneuni t,theheati ssuppl iedf rom a
burnert hatusest her ecoveredv apor i
zedhy drocar bons.I not herdesi gns,
heatingwi llbeacombi nationofhotcool ingsubst ancesf rom ot herpar tsof
thepr ocessandel ect ri
cheat er
s, andr ecycli
ngt hehy drocar bonliquidst o
thethi r
dst agesepar ator.

Fi
gur
e7,
Gly
col
regener
ati
on

Compr
essor
s,ant
i-
sur
geandper
for
mance
Compressor
sar eusedinmanypar t
soft heoilandgaspr ocess,fr
om
upst
ream pr
oducti
ontogasplant
s,pi
peli
nes,
LNGandpet r
ochemi calpl
ants.
Theoverv
iewgiv
enherewil
lther
efor
eberefer
encedf
rom othersecti
ons.

Sever
alty
pesofcompr essor
sar eusedf orgascompressi
on,eachwith
dif
fer
entchar
act
eri
sti
cs such as oper
ati
ng power
,speed,pressur
e and
vol
ume:

 Recipr
ocati
ngcompressor
s,whi
chuseapi
stonandcy
li
nderdesi
gnwi
th
2-2cyl
inder
sar e
buil
tup t o about30
MW power ,ar
ound500
4
 -1,
800 rpm ( l
owerf or
higher power ) with
pressure up to 5MPa
(500 bar s).Used for
l
ower capaci ty gas
compr ession andhigh
r
eserv
oir
pressuregasinject
ion.Phot
o:Ar
iel
cor
p.

 Scr ew compr essors ar e

manuf actured up t o
sev eral MW,
synchr onous speed
(3,000/ 3,
600 r pm) and
pressur e up t o about
2.5 MPa ( 25 bar )
.Two
count er-r
ot ating scr ews
with mat ching pr of i
l
es
prov i
de positi
ve
displacementandawi de
oper ati
ng r ange.Ty pical
usei snat ural gas
gat heri
ng.
Phot
o:Mycom/
Mayekawamf
g.

 Axi albladeandf int ype

compr essor swi thupt o
15 wheel s pr ovide hi gh
volumes ata r elatively
l
ow pr essuredi f
f erential
(discharge pr essur e 3- 5
ti
mes i nlet pr essur e) ,
speeds of 5, 000- 8,000
rpm, andi nletf l
ows up
to 200, 000 m3/ hour .
Appl i
cationsi ncludeai rcompr essor
sandcool
i
ngcompr
essi
oni
nLNG
plants.Axialrot
orphot o:DresserRand

 Lar ger oi l and gas

i
nst all
ati
ons use
cent ri
fugal compressors
with 3- 10 radi
alwheel s,
6,000–20, 000 rpm
(highestforsmallsi
ze),up
4
 to 80 MW l oad at
dischargepressureofup
to 50 bar s and i nlet
volumesofupt o 500, 000
m3/ hour. Pressure
diff
erenti
alupto10.
Phot
o:Dr
esserRand
Most compr essors will not
covert hef ul
lpressurerange
effi
cientl
y.Thelowestpressurei
sat mospher
ic,f
orgast opi pel
ine,some3t o
5MPa( 30-50bar)pressureisused,whilereser
voi
rr einjecti
onofgaswi ll
typi
callyrequi
re20MPa( 200bar)andupwards,si
ncether eisnol i
quidi
nt he
tubi
ng and t he ful
lreservoi
rpr essur
e mustbe ov er come.Ther efore,
compr essioni sdi
v i
dedi nt
osev er
alstagestoi mpr
ov emai ntenanceand
avail
abili
ty.
Alsoduetosingleunitpowerli
mitations,compressionisof t
endividedin
sever
alpar
all
elt
rains.Thi
sisnotthecasei nthisexampl e,si
ncegasi snot
expor
tedandrei
nject
ioncanbei
nterruptedduri
ngmai ntenanceper
iods.
Compr essorsar edrivenbygast urbi
nesorel ectr
icalmotor s(forlowerpower
alsor ecipr
ocat i
ngengi nes,st eam tur bi
nesar esomet imesusedi ft hermal
energyi savailable).Often,severalstagesint hesamet r
ainar edr i
venbyt he
samemot orort urbine.
Themai noper ati
ngpar ametersforacompr essorar e
theflowandpr essuredi f
ferenti
als.Thepr oductdefinest hetotalloadi ng,so
thereisacei l
i
ngsetbyt hemaxi mum desi gnpower .Furthermor e,thereisa
maximum di f
ferentialpr essure( Max Pd)and choke f low ( Max Q) ,the
maximum f low t hatcanbeachi eved.Atl owerf l
ow,t herei sami ni mum
pressur edif
ferent i
alandf l
ow bef or
et hecompr essorwi ll"surge"ift hereis
notenoughgast ooper ate.

Ifv ariati
onsinf low areexpectedordi f
ferencesbet weencommonshaf t
compr essorsoccur,thesituati
onwillbehandl edwithreci
rcul
ati
on.Ahi gh
fl
ow,hi ghpressurediff
erenti
alsurgecont
rolv alv
ewi l
lopentoletgasf r
om
thedi schargesidebacki nt
ot hesucti
onside.Sincethisgasisheated,i
twil
l
alsopasst hrought heheatexchangerandscr ubbersoasnott obecome
ov erheatedbycircul
ati
on.

4
 Fi
gur
e8.Compr
essorst
atedi
agr
am

The operati
ng character
ist
ics ar
e defined by t
he manufact
urer
.Inthe
di
agram abov e,thebluel i
nesmar kconstantspeedli
nes.Themaximum
oper
ati
ngl i
mi tsaresetbyt heorangelineasdescri
bedabov e.Thesur
ge
domainisthear eat
otheleftoftheredsurgecur
ve.

Theobj ect
iveofcompr essorper formancecont r
olist okeept heoper ating
pointcloset ot heopt i
malsetpoi ntwi t
houtv i
olati
ngt heconst raintsby
meansofcont roloutputs,suchast hespeedset t
ing.Howev er
,gast ur bine
speedcont rolr esponsei srelativ
elysl ow andevenel ectri
cmot orsar enot
fastenough,si ncesur geresponsemustbei nthe100msr ange.Ant i
-sur ge
controlwil
lpr otectthecompr essorf rom goingintosur gebyoper at i
ngt he
surgecontrolv alve.Thebasi cst r
ategyi st
ousedi stancebet weenoper ating
pointandsur gel i
net ocontrolthev alvewithaslowerr esponsetime, starting
att hesurgecont r
oll i
ne.Cr ossing thesur get r
iplinewi l
lcauseaf ast
responseopeni ngoft hesurgev al
vet oprotectt
hecompr essor.

Operati
on wi t
h r ecircul
ation wast es energy (which could resulti n
unnecessaryemi ssions)andpr oduceswearandt ear,par
ticul
arl
yont he
surgevalve.Eachv endorsuppl i
essev er
alvar
iantsofcompressorcontrol
and
anti
-surgecontrolt ooptimizeperformance,basedonv ari
ouscorrecti
veand
predict
ivealgor
ithms. Somest rat
egiesincl
ude:
Setpointadj ustment:Ifrapi
dv ar
iati
onsinloadcausesurgevalveacti
on,
thesetpointwillbemov edtoincreasethesurgemargin.
4
  Equalmar gin:Thesetpoi nti sadj ustedtoallow equalmarginto
surgebet weensev er
al compr essors.
 Modelbased cont rol:Out side the compr essoritsel
f,the main
paramet erfort hesur gemar ginist het ot
alvolumef r
om thesurge
val
v et
ot hecompr essorsuct ioninlet,andtheresponsetimeforthe
surgev alvef l
ow.Amodelpr edi
cti
v econtrol
lercouldpredi
ctsurge
condit
ions and r eactf ast
ert or ealsi t
uati
ons while pr
eventi
ng
unnecessar yrecir
culation.

Sincecompr essorsrequi
remai
ntenanceandarepotent
ial
l
yexpensi
vet
o
replace,
sev
er alot
hersyst
emsar
enor mal
lyi
ncl
uded:

Loadmanagement: Tobal anceloadingamongsev eralcompr essorsi na

trai
nandbet weent rains,thecompr essorcont r
olsy stem
oftenincl
udesalgorithmsf orl oadsharing,loadsheddi ng
andl oadi
ng.Compr essor sarenor mall
ypur gedwi t
hi nert
gas,suchasni t
rogendur i
ngl ongershut downs,e. g.,for
mai nt
enance.Therefore,startupandshut downsequences
wi l
lnormall
yincl
udepr ocedur estointroduceandr emov e
thepurgegas.

Vi
brat
ion: Vibr
ationisagoodindi
cat
orofproblems incompressors,
andaccelerometer
saremount edonv ar
iouspar
tsoft he
equi
pmentt o be l
ogged and analy
zed by a v
ibrat
ion
monitori
ngsystem.

Speed gov
ernor
:Ift hecompr essori sturbinedriv
en,adedi cated speed
governorhandlest hefuelvalvesandothercontr
olsont he
tur
binetomai ntaineffi
ciencyandcontrolr
otati
onalspeed.
Forelectr
icalmot orsthi
sf uncti
onishandledbyav ariabl
e
speeddrive.

Thef inalfuncti
onar oundthecompr essori t
sel
fi sl
ubeandsealoilhandl i
ng.
Mostcompr essorshav ewetseals,whi charetrapsaroundshaftswher eoil
athighpr essurepr eventsgasfrom leakingouttoatmosphereorot herparts
oftheequi pment.Oilisusedforlubricati
onoft hehighspeedbearings.This
oilgraduallyabsorbsgasunderpr essureandmaybecomecont ami nat
ed.It
needst obef i
l
teredanddegassed.Thi shappensi nsmallerr
eboi
lers,inmuch
thesamewayasf ortheglycol
reboil
er sdescri
bedearli
er.

4
 Met
eri
ng,
stor
ageandexpor
t
Mostpl antsdonotal low
l
ocalgasst orage,butoi l
i
s of ten st ored bef ore
l
oadi ngonav essel,such
asashut tl
et ankert aking
oilt o a l arger t anker
terminal ,ordi r
ectt oa
crude car rier. Of f
shor e
product ion
facil
iti
eswi thoutadi r
ect
pipeli
ne connect i
on
gener all
yr ely on cr ude
storage i nt he base or
hull
,al lowing a
shuttlet ankert ooffloadaboutonceaweek.Al ar
gerproducti
oncompl ex
gener all
yhasanassoci atedtankfar
m terminalal
lowi
ngt hestorageof
diff
erentgr adesofcr udetotakeupchangesindemand,delaysi
ntransport
,
etc.

Meter
ingstat
ionsall
owoperatorst
omonitorandmanaget henat
uralgasand
oi
lexported from the pr
oducti
on i
nst
allat
ion.These employ speci
ali
zed
meter
st omeasur ethenaturalgasoroilasi tf
lowsthroughthepi pel
ine,
wi
thoutimpedingit
smov ement.

This met ered volume

represents a t ransfer of
owner shipf rom apr oducer
to a cust omer( oranot her
divisi
onwi thint hecompany ),
and i s cal led cust ody
transfer met ering.I tforms
the basi sf ori nvoici
ng t he
sold pr oductand al so for
product i
on t axes and
revenueshar ingbet ween
partners.
Accur acyrequi rement sar e
oftensetbygov ernment alauthor
it
ies.

Typi
cal
l
y ,ameter
inginst
all
ati
onconsistsofanumberofmet err
unssot hat
onemet erwi
l
lnothav et ohandlethef ul
lcapaci
tyrange,andassociated
prov
erloopssot hatthemet eraccuracycanbet estedandcal i
brat
edat
4
r
egul
ari
nter
val
s.

Oi
landgasst
orage,
met
eri
ngandexpor
t
Thef i
nalstagebef
oretheoi
land gasleav
esthepl
atf
orm consi
stsof
st
orage,pumpsandpi
pel
i
neter
minal
equi
pment.

Fi
scal
met
eri
ng
Part
ners,aut hor
it
ies and cust omers allcalcul
atei nvoices,t axes and
payment sbasedont heactualpr oductshi
ppedout.Of t
en,custodyt r
ansfer
al
sot akesplaceatt hispoint,whi chmeanstransf
erofr esponsibil
it
yort i
tle
fr
om thepr oducertoacust omer, shut
tl
etankeroperat
ororpi pel
i
neoper at
or.
Alt
houghsomesmal linstal
lati
onsar estil
loperated withadi psti
ckand
manual records,l
argeri
nstall
ati
onshav eanalysi
sandmet eringequipment .

Tomakesur ereadingsareaccurate,af i
xedormov ableproverloopf or
cali
brat
ioni
salsoi nst
all
ed.Theill
ustrat
ionshowsaf ullli
qui
dhy dr
ocar bon
(oi
landcondensate)met er
ingsyst
em.Theanal yzeri
nstrumentsont hel eft
provi
deproductdatasuchasdensi ty
,v i
scosit
yandwat ercontent.Pressur e
andtemperatur
ecompensat ioni
salsoincluded.

4
 Fi
gure9.Met eringsy st
em
Forl iquids,t ur bi
ne met er
s wi th dualpul se out puts ar e mostcommon.
Alternatives ar e positi
ve di
splacementmet ers( pass a f ixed v olume per
rotati
onorst r
oke)andcor i
oli
smassf l
owmet ers.Thesei nst r
ument scannot
cov erthef ul
lr angewi t
hsuf f
icientaccur acy.Ther efore,themet eringi ssplit
i
ntosev er alruns,andt henumberofr unsdependsont hef l
ow.Eachr un
empl oysonemet erand sev eralinstrument st o pr ovidet emper atureand
pressurecor rect i
on.Open/cl
osev al
vesal lowr unst obesel ectedandcont r ol
valvescanbal ancet hefl
owbet weenr uns.Thei nstrument sandact uat orsare
moni toredandcont r
oll
edbyaf low comput er .I
ft hei nt
erf acei snotdi gi
tal,
dual pulset rai
nsar eusedtoallowdi r
ectionsensi ngandf aul tfinding.

To obt aint he requi red accur acy,t he meters are cal i

brated.The most
commonmet hodi sapr overloop.Apr overballmov est hought hel oop,and
acal ibrat
edv ol
umei spr ov i
dedbet weent het wodet ectors( Z)
.Whena
met eristobecal i
br ated, t
hef our -
wayv alveopenst oal l
owoi ltof l
owbehi nd
thebal l
.Thenumberofpul sesf rom itpassesonedet ectorZt otheot herand
i
scount ed.Afteronel oop,t hef our-wayv alvetur
nst or eversef l
owdi recti
on
and thebal lmov esback,pr ov i
ding thesamev olumei nr everse,agai n
countingt hepul ses.Fr om t heknownr ef
erencev olume,numberofpul ses,
pressureandt emper aturet hef lowcomput ercancal culatethemet erfactor
and pr ovide accur atef l
ow measur ementsusi ng f ormulasf rom i ndustry
standardor ganizationssuchasAPIMPMSandI SO5024.Theaccur acyi s
typi
cal l
y±0.3%ofst andar dv olume.

Gasmet er
ingi ssi mi l
ar,buti nstead,
analyzers wi llmeasur e hy drocarbon
contentandener gyv al
ue( MJ/ scm or
BTU,Kcal /scf )as wel las pr essure
and t emper ature. The met ers ar e
normal lyorificemet ersorul trasonic
met er
s.Or i
f i
cepl ateswi thadi amet er
l
ess t han t he pi pe ar e mount ed in
cassettes.The pr essur e di fferenti
al
over t he or ifi
ce pl ate as wel las
pressur eandt emper ature,isusedi n
standar dfor mul as( suchasAGA 3
and ISO 5024/ 5167)t o cal culate normali
zed f
low.Di
ff
erentr
anges ar
e
accommodat edwi t
hdi fferentsi zerest
ri
cti
ons.

Ori
fi
ceplatesaresensit
ivetoabui
ldupofresi
dueandaffectt
heedgesof
t
hehole.Largernewinst
all
ati
onst
heref
orepref
erul
tr
asoni
cgasmeterst
hat
4
 workbysendi ngmul t
ipleult
rasonicbeamsacrossthepathandmeasur
ethe
Dopplereffect
.
Gasmet er
ingislessaccur at
et hanli
quid,t
ypi
cal
ly±1.
0%ofmass.Thereis
usual
lynopr overl
oop,t heinstrument
sandor i
fi
ceplatesarecal
i
brat
edin
separ
at eequipmentinstead.

LNG i s of
ten metered
withmassf l
ow meters
thatcanoper at
eatt he
requi
red l
ow
temperatur
e. A t hree
run LNG met er
ingskid
i
sshownabov e.

Atv ari
ouspoi ntsint he
mov ement of oi land
gas, si
mi l
ar
measur ements are
taken,usual
lyi namor e
simpli
fied way.
Exampl es of di ff
erent
gast y
pesar ef laregas,
fuel
gasandi nj
ectedgas, wherer
equi
redaccur
acyi
s2-
5%per
cent
.

St
orage
Onmostpr oduction
sites,oi landgasar e
piped di rectl
yt oa
refinery or t anker
termi nal. Gas i s
difficul
t t o st ore
l
ocal l
y,
but
occasi onal ly
under ground
mi nes, cav er
nsor
saltdeposi tscanbe
usedt ost oregas.

Onpl
atfor
ms wit
hout
api
pel
ine,oi
lisstor
edi
nonboar
dst
oraget
ankst
obet
ranspor
tedby

4
shuttl
et anker.Theoi li
sst oredinst oragecel lsar oundt heshaf tson
concreteplatforms,andi ntanksonf loati
nguni ts.Onsomef loaters,a
separatestoraget ankeri
sused.Bal lasthandlingi sv eryimpor tanti nboth
casest obalancet hebuoy ancywhenoi lvol
umev ari
es.Foronshor e,fi
xed
rooftanksareusedf orcrude,f
loat
ingr oofforcondensat e.Rockcav esare
alsousedf orst orageSpecialtankgaugi ngsy stemssuchasl evelr adars,
pressureorf l
oatar eusedt omeasur ethel evelinst oraget anks,cel l
sand
caves.Thel evelmeasur ementi sconv ertedtov olumev i
at ankst r
apping
tabl
es( dependingont ankgeomet ry)andcompensat edfort emper atureto
provi
dest andardv olume.Floatgaugescanal socal culatedensi t
y ,andso
masscanbeest abli
shed.

At ankfar
m consi
stsof10-100tanksofv ary
ingv olumeforatypi
calt
otal
capacit
yint hear
eaof1- 50 mill
ionbarrel
s.St orageorshuttl
etanker
s
normall
ystoreuptotwoweeksofpr oducti
on,oneweekf ornor
malcycl
e
andoneextraweekfordel
ays,e.
g.,
badweat her.Thiscanamounttosev
eral
mill
ionbar
rel
s.

Accur at
er ecordsofv olumesandhi st
oryarekeptt odocumentwhati s
receivedanddi spatched.Fori nstal
lati
onsthatservemul tipl
epr oduction
sites,diff
erentqual i
ties and pr oductblendi
ng mustal so be handl ed.
Anot herplanning t ask isf orecasti
ng forfuturereceiv
ed and del i
vered
products.Thisi sf orst ockcont r
olandwar ehousingrequirements.At ank
farm managementsy st em keepst r
ackofallstockmov ement sandl ogsall
transportoperationst hattakeplace.

Mar
inel
oadi
ng
Loadi
ngsy st
emsconsi stofoneor
morel oadi
ng arms/j
etti
es,pumps,
val
vesandamet er
ingsyst
em.

Tankerl oadi
ngsyst emsar ecompl ex,
bot hbecauseofthev olumei nvolved,
and because sev er alloading ar ms
will nor mall
y int eract wi th t he
tanker'
sbal l
astsystem t ocont rolthe
l
oadi ngoperati
on.Thet anksmustbe
fi
ll
ed i n a cer t
ain sequence;
otherwise t he t anker's st ructure
mightbe damaged due t o unev en
stresses.Iti
stheresponsi bi
lityoft he
tanker'
sbal l
astsy
st em t osi
gnaldat a
4
tot heloadi ngsy stem andt ooper ate
thedi ff
er entv al
v esandmoni tort he
tanksonboar dt heship.Photo:
Statoi
l
Utili
tysy stems
Ut i
li
tysy stemsar esystemswhi chdonothandlet hehydr
ocarbonprocess
flow,butpr ov i
desomeser vicet othemainprocesssafetyorr esi
dent
s.
Dependi ngont hel ocati
onoft heinstal
l
ati
on,manysuchfunctionsmaybe
av ai
lablef r
om near byi nfrastructur
e,such as el
ect
ri
cit
y.Manyr emote
install
at i
onsar ef ull
yself-
sust aini
ngandmustgener at
et hei
rownpower ,
wat er,etc.

Mi
dst
ream
Themi dstr
eam par
toftheval
uechai
nisoft
endef
inedasgasplants,LNG
producti
onandregasi
fi
cat
ion,
andoi
landgaspi
pel
i
netranspor
tsyst
ems.

Fi
gur
e3.Mi
dst
reamf
aci
li
ti
es

GasPl
ant
s
Gas pr ocessi
ng consi sts
ofsepar ati
ngthev ari
ous
hy drocarbons and f luids
from t hepur enaturalgas
topr oducewhati sknown
as “ pipeli
ne quality” dry
nat ural gas. Maj or
transpor t
ati
on pi peli
nes
usual ly i
mpose
rest r
icti
ons on the
makeup of nat ural gas
that i sal l
owed intot he
pipeline. Bef ore t he
4
 natur
al gas can be
tr
anspor
ted i
t must be
puri
fi
ed.

Whateverthesourceof thenat
uralgas,onceseparat
edf r
om crudeoil(i
f
pr
esent)itcommonlyexi
stsinmixtur
eswi t
hotherhydr
ocarbons,pri
nci
pall
y
et
hane,propane,but
aneandpentanes.I
nadditi
on,rawnaturalgascont
ains
watervapor,hydr
ogen sulf
ide(
H2S),carbondioxi
de,hel
ium,nitr
ogenand
ot
hercompounds.

Associ
atedhydr
ocar
bons,knownas“natur
algasli
qui
ds”(
NGL)
,ar
eusedas
raw mater
ial
sforoi
lref
iner
iesorpetr
ochemicalpl
ant
sandassour
cesof
ener
gy.

Gascompr
essi
on
Gas f rom a pur e nat ur al
gas wel lhead mi ghthav e
suf fi
cientpr essur etof eed
directly i nto a pi pel ine
transpor t sy stem. Gas
from separ ator s has
gener allyl ost so much
pressur et hati tmustbe
recompr essed t o be
transpor ted. Turbi ne-
driven compr essor s gai n
theirener gy by usi ng a
smal l propor t
ion of t he
nat ural gas t hat t hey
compr ess. The t ur bine
i
tsel fser vest ooper at eacent ri
fugalcompressor,whi chcont ainsat ypeof
fant hatcompr essesandpumpst henaturalgasthr ought hepi peli
ne.Some
compr essorst ationsar eoper atedbyusi nganel ectri
cmot ortot urnthe
cent ri
fugalcompr essor .Thi st ypeofcompr essi
ondoesnotr equir
et heuse
ofanynat uralgasf rom t hepi pe;however,i
tdoesr equirear eli
ablesourceof
electricit
ynear by.Thecompr essionincl
udesal argesect ionofassoci at
ed
equi pment such as scr ubbers( tor emov eliqui d dropl ets) and heat
exchanger s, l
ubeoi ltreat ment ,
etc.

Pi
pel
i
nes
Pi
pel
i
nes can measur
e anywherefr
om 6 to 48 i
nches (15-
120 cm)in
di
ameter
.Inordertoensur
et hei
ref
fici
entandsaf
eoper ati
on,oper
ator
s
4
 routi
nel yi nspectt heirpipel
inesforcorrosionanddef ects.Thisisdonewi th
sophi sticatedpi ecesofequi pmentknownas“ pi
gs.”Pi gsar eintel
li
gent
roboticdev i
cest hatar epropell
eddownpi pel
i
nest oev aluatetheinter
iorof
the pi pe.Pi gs can t estpi pe t
hickness,roundness,check f orsigns of
corrosi on, detectmi nuteleaks,andanyot herdefectalongt heinter
iorofthe
pipeli
net hatmayei therrestri
cttheflow ofgas,orposeapot enti
alsafety
risk
for the oper ati
on of t he
pipeli
ne. Sendi ng a pi g
downapi peli
nei sf itt
ingl
y
known as “ pi
gging.” The
exportf aci li
tymustcont ai
n
equipmentt o safelyi nsert
andr et rievepi gsf rom t he
pipeli
ne as wel l as
depressur i
zat i
on, r ef err
ed
toaspi gl auncher sand pi g
receivers.

Loading on t anker
s
i
nv ol
vesloadingsyst
ems, r
angingfr
om tankerj
ett
iestosophist
icat
edsi
ngle-
pointmoor i
ngandl oadi
ngsy stemsthatall
ow t
het ankert
odockandl oad
theproduct,eveni
nbadweat her.

LNGl
i
quef
act
ionandr
egasi
fi
cat
ionf
aci
l
iti
es
Nat ur
algast hatismai nly
met hane cannot be
compr essed t o l i
qui d
stateatnor malambi ent
temper ature.Exceptf or
special uses such as
compr essed nat ur
algas
(CNG) ,theonl ypract i
cal
soluti
ont olongdi stance
gast ranspor tat
ion when
api peli
nei snotav ailable
or economi cal i s t o
produceLNGat- 162 ° C.
This r equires one or
mor ecool ingst ages.Cool i
ngwor kconsumes6-10% oftheenergytobe
transported. Speci al i nsulat
ed tank LNG carri
ers are requir
ed f
or
transportati
on,andatt her ecei
vi
ngend,aregasi
fi
cat
iontermi
nalheatst
he

4
LNGt
ovapor
izat
ionf
orpi
pel
i
nedi
str
ibut
ion.Phot
o:CovePoi
ntLNGRegast
ermi
nal

Ref
ini
ng
Refiningaimst opr ovi
deadef inedrangeofpr oduct
saccordingtoagreed
speci f
icat
ions.Simpl erefi
neri
esuseadi sti
ll
ati
oncolumntosepar atecr
ude
intof r
acti
ons, andther el
ati
vequanti
tiesaredir
ectl
ydependentont hecr
ude
used.Ther ef
ore,itisnecessar ytoobtainar angeofcrudest hatcanbe
blended t o a sui table
feedstock t o pr oduce the
requiredquant i
tyandqual i
ty
ofend pr oducts.
Phot
o:St
atoi
lMongst
adRef
iner
y

Theeconomi csuccessofa
moder n refi
nery depends
on i ts abil
ityt o accept
almostanyav ai
l
abl ecr ude.
Wi t
hav ar
iet
yofpr ocesses
such as cracking,
reforming, addit
ives and
blending,itcan pr ovi
depr oducti
n quant
it
yand qual
i
tyt
o meetmar
ket
demandatpr emiumpr ices.

The r
efi
nery operat
ions of
ten i
ncl
ude pr
oductdi
str
ibuti
on termi
nalsf or
di
spensi
ngpr oducttobulkcustomerssuchasair
ports,gasol
inestat
ions,
por
tsandindustr
ies.

Pet
rochemi
cal
Chemi calsderi
vedfrom petr
oleum ornat uralgas–pet r
ochemical
s–ar ean
essentialpartoftoday ’
schemi calindustry.Petrochemi calpl
ant
spr oduce
thousandsofchemi calcompounds.Themai nf eedstockisnaturalgas,
condensat es(NGL)andot herrefineryby product
ssuchasnapht ha,gasoi l
,
and benzene.Pet rochemicalplants are di v
ided int
ot hree mai
n primar y
productgr oups accordi
ng tot heirfeedstockand pr i
mar ypetr
ochemi cal
product:

Olef
ins i
ncl
ude ethy
lene,propylene,and but
adi
ene.These ar
ethe mai
n
sour
cesofpl ast
ics(
polyet
hylene,poly
ester
,PVC),i
ndust
ri
alchemi
cal
sand
synt
heti
crubber.

Ar
omat
icsi
ncl
udebenzene,t
oluene,andxy
lenes,whi
chal
soar
easour
ceof

4
plastics( polyurethane,polystyr
ene,acrylat
es,ny l
on),aswel lassy nthet
ic
det ergentsanddy es.
Sy nthesisgas( sy
ngas)i sformedbyst eam refor
mingbet weenmet haneand
steam t ocreateami xtureofcar bonmonoxi deandhy drogen.Itisusedt o
makeammoni a,e. g.
,f orfert
il
izerurea,and met hanolasa sol ventand
chemi cali
ntermedi ary.Syngasisalsofeedstockforotherprocessessuchas
theFi scher–Tr opschpr ocessthatproducessyntheti
cdiesel
.

Phot
o:DOW,
Ter
neusen,
Net
her
lands

Mi
dst
reamf
aci
l
iti
es
Raw naturalgasfr
om thewel lconsistsofmet haneaswel lasmanyother
small
erf r
acti
onsofheav i
erhy drocarbons,andv ar
iousothercomponents.
Thegashast obeseparatedintomar ketabl
efracti
onsandt r
eatedt
otrade
speci
fi
cationsandt
oprotectequipmentf r
omcont aminant
s.

Gat
her
ing
Manyupst
ream f
aci
l
itiesincl
udet
hegat her
ingsystem i
nthepr
ocessi
ng
pl
ant
.However,f
ordistr
ibut
edgasproducti
onsystemswi t
hmany(oft
en
4
small
)pr oducers,therei slit
tl
e processi
ng ateach locat
ion and gas
pr
oducti
on from t housands ofwells overan area i
nst
ead feed i
ntoa
di
str
ibut
edgat heri
ngsystem.Thissystem i
ngener
al i
scomposedof:

 Flowl i
nes: Al i
neconnect ingthewel lpadwi t
haf iel
dgat her i
ngst at
ion
(FGS) ,i
ngener alequi ppedwi t
haf i
xedormobi letypepigl auncher.
 FGS i sasy stem al lowinggat heringofsev eralf l
owlinesandper mits
transmi ssionoft hecombi nedst ream t othecent ralpr ocessingf aci
li
ty
(CPF)andmeasur estheoi l
/water/gasr atio.EachFGSi scomposedof :
o Pi gr eceiv er(
fixed/mobile)
o Pr oduct i
onheaderwher eal lflowl i
nesar econnect ed
o Testheaderwher easinglef l
owl ineisroutedforanal ysis
pur poses( GORGast ooilratio, watercut)
o Testsy stem( mai nl
ytestsepar atorormul t
iphasef lowmet er )
o Pi gt raplauncher
 Tr unkline–pi pelineconnect i
ngt heFGSwi ththeCPF.Equi ppedwi tha
pigr eceiveratt heend.

Gaspl
ant
s
Gascomposi
ti
on
Whengasi sexpor ted,manygast r
ainsincl
udeaddit
ionalequi
pmentfor
fur
thergasprocessingtoremoveunwantedcomponentssuchashy dr
ogen
sul
fide and car bon dioxi
de. These gases are called acids and
sweeteni
ng/
acidremov ali
sthepr
ocessofremovi
ngthem.

Natur algassweet eni ngmethodsi ncludeabsorptionpr ocesses,cryogeni

c
processes,adsor ption processes ( PSA,TSA and i ron sponge) and
membr anes.Of t
enhy bri
dcombi nationsar eused,suchascr yogenicand
membr anes.
Gast reatmentmayal soincl
udecal i
brati
on.Ift
hedeliveryspecifi
cati
onisfora
specificcalor
ifi
cv alue( BTUperscforMJperscm) ,gaswi t
hhi gherval
ues
canbeadj ust
edbyaddi nganinertgas, suchasnit
rogen.Thi sisoftendoneat
acommonpoi ntsuchasapi pel
inegat her
ingsystem orapi pel
ineonshore
ter
mi nal.

Raw nat
uralgasfr
om thewellconsist
sofmethaneaswell,asmanyother
smal
lerfr
acti
onsofheavi
erhy
drocarbonsandv
ariousot
her
components.

Component Chemical Boi

l
ingPoi
nt Vaporpr
essure
Formula at101kPa at20°Capprox.

4
 Met
hane CH4 -
161,
6°C Tcrit−82.
6°C
@ 4, 6MPa
Ethane C2H6 -
88.
6°C 4200kPa
Propane C3H8 -
42.
1°C 890kPa
But ane n-
C4H10 −0.
5°C 210kPa
Higheror derHC
Alkenes CnH2n
Ar omat i
cs e.
g.C6H6
Acidgases
Car bondi oxi
de CO2 −78°
C 5500kPa
Hy drogensul f
ide H2S -
60.2°
C
Mer capt ansex.
Met hanet hi
ol CH3SH 5.
95°
C
Et hanet hiol C2H5SH 35°
C
OtherGases
Ni trogen N2 -
195.
79°
C
Hel i
um He -
268.
93°
C
Wat er H2O 0°
C
Tracepol lut
ants
Mer cury
Chl orides
Dat
asour
ce:Wi
ki
pedi
a,Ai
rLi
qui
deGasEncycl
opedi
a

Nat
uralgasi
scharact
eri
zedi
nsev
eral
way
sdependentont
hecont
entof
t
hesecomponents:

o Wetgasi
srawgaswi
thamet
hanecont
entofl
esst
han85%.
o Drygasisrawortr
eatednat
uralgast
hatcontai
nslessthan15l
i
ter
s
ofcondensat
eper1,000SM3.(
0.1gal
lonper1000scf)
.
o Sourgasisrawgaswithacontentofmoret
han5.7mghydrogen
sul
fi
de(H2S)perscm (
0.25gr
ainsper100scf
);t
hisi
sabout4ppm.

o Acidgashasahi ghcontentofaci
dicgasessuchascarbondi oxi
de
(CO2)orH2St
.Pi
pel i
nenatur
algasspeci
fi
cati
onisty
pical
lylessthan
2%CO2.Acidgasfiel
dswithupto90%CO2exist,
butthenormalrange
forsourr
awgasis20-40%.
o Condensatesareami xt
ureofhydrocar
bonsandot hercomponent
sin
the abovetable.These ar
e normally gaseous from the wel
lbut
condenseoutasl i
quidduri
ngthepr oductionprocess( seepr
evi
ous
chapter
).Thi
sisaref
iner
yandpetrochemicalfeedst
ock.
Rawgasi
spr
ocessedi
ntov
ari
ouspr
oduct
sorf
ract
ions:

4
 o Naturalgasinit
smarket
abl
eform hasbeenprocessedf
ora speci f
ic
compositi
onofhy dr
ocar
bons,sourandacidcomponent s,etc.
,and
energycontent
.Cont
enti
stypi
cal
ly90%met hane,wit
h10%ot herl
ight
al
kenes.
o Naturalgasl i
qui
ds( NGL)isaprocessedpur i
fi
ed productconsist
ing
ofethane,propane,butaneorsomehi gheral
kenessepar at
ely,ori
na
bl
end.Itispr i
maril
yar aw mater
ialforpetr
ochemicalindustr
yandi s
oft
enpr ocessedfr
om thecondensate.
o Liquef i
ed petr
oleum gas (
LPG)r efer
st o propane orbut ane ora
mi xture ofthese thathas been compr essed tol i
quid atr oom
temper atur
e(200t o900kPadependingoncomposi tion)
.LPGi sfil
led
i
nbot tlesforconsumerdomest i
cuseasf uel,andi salsousedas
aer osolpropell
ant (i
n spray cans) and refri
gerant (
e.g.,in air
condi t
ioner
s).Energyt
ovol
umer ati
ois74%ofgasol i
ne.
o Liquef
iednaturalgas(LNG)i snat ur
algast hatisr ef
ri
geratedand
l
iquefi
edatbelow -162°C,forstorageandt ransport.Iti sstor
edat
cl
oset oatmospheri
cpressur
e,ty
picall
ylessthan125kPa.Asal iquid,
LNGt akesup1/ 600ofthev ol
umeoft hegasatr oom t emperature.
Energytovol
umer ati
ois66%ofgasol i
ne.Aft
ertransportandst orage
i
tisreheat
ed/vapori
zedandcompr essedforpi
peli
net ransport.
o Compr essednaturalgas(CNG)i snaturalgast hatiscompr essedat2-
2,
2MPat olessthan1% ofv ol
umeatat mospher icpressure.Unli
ke
hi
gheral kenes,met hanecannotbekeptl i
quidbyhi ghpr essureat
nor
malambi enttemper at
uresbecauseofal ow cr i
ti
caltemperature.
CNGi susedasal esscostlyal
ternat
ivetoLNGf orlowercapacityand
medium distancetransport
.Methanef orvehiclef ueli
salsost oredas
CNG.Ener gytovolumer at
ioistypi
cal
ly25%ofgasol i
ne.

Gaspr
ocessi
ng
Raw nat
uralgasmustbeprocessedtomeetthet r
adi
ngspecif
icat
ionsof
pi
pel
ineandgasdi st
ri
but
ioncompanies.Aspartofthepuri
fi
cati
onother
componentssuchasNGLi
sproduced,
andpoll
utant
sextr
act
ed.

Thediagram showsanover
viewofatypicalgaspl
ant.Mar
ketabl
epr
oducts
areli
stedinblueandtheproduct
ionprocessisshowningreyasitisnot
consi
deredpartoft
hegaspl
ant.

4
 Fi
gur
e10.Ty
picalgaspl
ant

Aci
dgasr
emov
al
Acidgasessuchascar bondioxi
deandhy dr
ogensulfidefor
m aci
dswhen
reacti
ngwit
hwater,andmustber emov
edt opreventcorr
osi
vedamaget o
equipmentandpipel
ines.Hydrogensul
fideisalso toxi
candt ot
alsul
fur
contenti
snormal
l
yregulat
ed.

4
Themai
nremov
alpr
ocesscanbebasedonsev
eral
pri
nci
ples:

Absor ption all

ows
acidic gases t o be
dissolvedi nasol vent,
to be r eleased by
regenerat i
oni nalater
stage. Ami ne
absor pti
on( asshown
ont heright )isthemost
commonpr ocess f or
acid gas r emov al.
Monoet hanol amine
(MEA) domi nat
es f or
CO2r emov al.Soluti
ons
withinor gani csolvents
basedonammoni aar e
underdev elopment .Il
l:
Wi
ki
pedi
a

Atypicalaminegast r
eatingprocess( asshowninthefl
owdi agram)consi sts
ofanabsor beruni t
,ar egenerat
oruni tandaccessor yequi pment .Int he
absorber,a"lean"ami nesol ut
ionabsor bsH2SandCO2f r
om t heupf l
owi ng
sourgast opr oduceasweet enedgasst r
eam asaproduct.The" r
ich"ami ne
sol
utioncontai nstheabsor bedacidgasesandi srout
edi ntother egenerator
(astr
ipperwithar eboiler
).Thest r
ippedov er
headgasfrom ther egeneratoris
concentrat
edH2SandCO2.

Adsorpti
onrel
iesonthemol eculestobi
ndtot hesurf
aceofcer t
ainsol
i
ds.
Aft
eracer t
aintimethemat eri
almustber egener
atedt orel
easethegas.
Pri
nci
plesusedincl
udepressureswingadsor
pti
on(PSA) ,t
emperatur
eswing
adsor
ption(
TSA)andelect
ricswingadsor
pti
on(ESA).

Cryogenicremov
alusesat urboexpander
:A gasturbineisdri
venbyt
he
expandinggaswhichthencoolst
obel ow t
hedew pointfort
hegastobe
removed.

Theinl
etgastot hecompressori
sprecool
edbyt heacidgasremov ed.
Cry
ogeni
cremovalismostof
tenusedwhenthecont
entofcar
bondioxi
dei s
hi
gh,t
ypi
cal
lyar
ound50%.

Membr anebasedremov
alisbasedoncert
ainmater
ial
sthatal
l
ow theaci
d
gases,butnotthehydr
ocarbons,t
odi
ffusethr
oughthemembr ane.Thi
s
4
pr
ocedur
ecanbeper
for
medal
oneori
ncombi
nat
ionwi
thabsor
pti
onl
i
qui
d.

SulfurUnit
.TheH2S- ri
chst r
ippedgasstr
eam ist henfedtoaClauspr ocess
–amul ti
stagepr ocesswi thtwomainsections:At hermalsect
ionfi
resH2S
withairoroxy gentopr oduceSO2 andelement alsulfur
,whichisreleased
whencool ed.A cat alyti
csect i
onall
owsmor eH2St oreactwithSO2 with
al
umi naort it
anium dioxide(Ti
O2)topr
oducewat erandelement
alsulf
ur(the
Clausreaction:2H2S+SO2→ 3S+2H2O) .TheCl ausprocesscanrecover95-
97%oft hesul furi
nthef eedgases.

At ailgastreatmentuni tser vestoreducet hesulfurcontenttobel ow 250

ppm,cor responding toat otalsulf
urr ecover
yof99. 9%.Mor e compl ex
soluti
onscanr educetotal sulf
urdownt o10ppm.Somei mportantprocesses
i
nclude SCOT ( Shel
lCl aus of f
gas t r
eatment) which remov es SO2 by
combust i
onwi thhydrogenov ercatalyst
st oproduceH2Sandwat er.H2Sis
recycledtot heClausuni t.Othersoluti
onsar etheBeav onsul f
urr emov al
process(BSR) ,
basedonami nesolventandcataly
sts.

Dehy
drat
ion
Dehydr
ati
oniseithergl
ycol
-basedscrubber
sasdescr
ibedinchapter4.
3.2or
based on pr
essure swi
ng adsorpt
ion (PSA)
.Newerpr ocesses al
so use
membranes.

Mer
cur
yremov
al
Mercuryremov ali
sgener al
lybasedonmol ecularsi
eves.Amol ecularsieve
i
sasubst ancecont ai
ning amat eri
alwi thtinyporest o achi
eveal arge
sur
facear ea,suchasact iv
atedcarbon.Thesur f
aceoft hematerialall
ows
cer
tainmol ecul
est obindbysur facet ensi
on.Themol ecul
escanl aterbe
ext
ractedandt hesievemat er
ialregenerat
edbyheat i
ng,pressureand/ or
pur
gingwi thacarri
ergas.

Amolecul
arsieveiscommonl
ycy
cli
cwi
thoneact
iveuni
tandone(
ormor
e)
uni
tsi
nregenerat
ion.

Ni
tr
ogenr
eject
ion
Excessi
ve ni t
rogen is remov ed by cr y
ogenic dist
il
lat
ion and higher
concentr
ationsarer emovedbyabsor pti
onwi thleanoiloranotherspecial
solv
entifasmal lerfract
ionisdetected.(Seeaci dgasremov alforboth
pri
ncipl
es).Cryogeni
cr emovalalsopermit
spr oducti
onofheli
um,ifpresent,
asav al
uablebyproduct.

4
 NGLr
ecov
eryandt
reat
ment
Remai ni
ngNGLsar erecover
edf rom t
hegasst ream inmostmoder npl ants
byacr yogenict ur
boexpander -basedprocessf ol
lowedbyaf ract
ionating
process.Thispr ocessl eadsthecool edNGLst houghdi st
il
lat
ioncolumns
call
ed de- et
hanizer,de-propanizerand de-butanizer
,t o extractet hane,
propaneandbut anerespecti
velyandleavear esi
dualstream ofpentaneand
higherhydrocarbons.

Thef i
nalstepistoremovemer capt
ans(smell
yorganicgases,e.
g.,
CH3SH)if
present,i
nasweet eni
ngprocessbasedonmol ecularsievesadsorpt
ionor
catal
yti
coxi di
zati
onsuchasMer oxmercapt
anoxidizat
ionorSulfr
ex,where
themai ndi
f f
erenceist
hety
peof catal
yst
.

Sal
esgasspeci
fi
cat
ions
Theexactsalesgasspecif
icat
ionisspecif
iedbypipel
i
neoperat
orsand
di
str
ibut
ors.Typi
calst
andard sal
es gas r
equi
rement
s use t
he f
oll
owi
ng
par
ameters:

Vol
umeismeasur
edinstandar
dcubi
cmeter
s(scm)def
inedas1m3at0º
C
3
and101.
325kPaorst
andardcubi
cfeet(
scf
)as1ft at60°F(16°
C)and
14.
73PSIA.

Cal
orif
icval
uespecifi
esthet
otalamountofener
gyperuni
tgener
ateddur
ing
combusti
onoft hegas.Theval
ueisusedtocalcul
atet
heamountofenergy
del
iv
ered.Sever
alval
uesarel
i
sted:

 Gross cal
orif
icv al
ue orgross heatofcombust i
on ist he heat
rel
easedwhenaspeci fi
cquantit
yoffuelinmi xt
urewithairi
signited
and the end product
s haver etur
ned tot he ini
ti
alt emperature,
normall
y25º C.EUspecifi
cat
ionsarety
pical
ly38.8MJ( 10.8 kWh)
±5%perscm.I ntheUS1030BTU±5%perscf .
 Netcal or
if
icv al
ue ornetheatofcombust i
on ist he netheat
generat
edwhent hewatervaporinthegasdoesnotcondense( water
for
msdur i
ng combustion)and can be 10% lower.Wobbei ndex
measurestheheati
ngef fectthataburnerisexposedtoduring
combusti
on.Ahi ghervaluemeansagr eat
erthermalloadon
thebur
ner.Diff
erentgaseswi t
hthesameWobbei ndexwi l
l
i
mposet hesamel oadon t heburner.Anexcessivelyhigh
val
ueisasaf et
yhazar d,asi tcanleadt oburneroverheat
ing
and to excess pr oduction of carbon monoxi de during
4
 combust
ion.

Cal
ori
fi
cv alueand Wobbeindexcanbeadjust
ed byblendi
ng gasf
rom
di
ff
erentsourcesaswel
lasbyaddi
ti
onorr
emoval
ofnit
rogen(N2)
.

Met
hanenumberisav al
uesi
mil
artooctaneval
ueforgasoli
ne,andis
i
mport
antwhent
hegasi
susedf
ori
nter
nal
combusti
onengi
nes(asCNG).

Hydrogensul
fi
deandov eral
lsul
furcontent
:Bothhydr
ogensulf
ide( H2S)and
tot
alsulf
urmustbereduced.H2Sistoxi
caswellascorr
osi
vefort hepipel
ine,
asitformssulfur
icacid(H2SO4)andshoul dbekeptasl ow aspossi ble.
Typi
calmaximum val
uesar e5mgperscm ofH2Sandt ot
alsulfurat10mg
perscm.

Mer curyshould bekeptbelow 0.001 ppb (part

s-per
-bi
ll
i
on)whi ch i
sit
s
detectabl
eli
mi t
.Thegoali stoli
mi temissi
onsandt opreventdamageto
equipmentandpi pel
inesbymercur
yamal gamat i
on,whichmakesal umi
num
andot hermetal
sbrit
tle.

Dew pointisat emperaturebel

ow whi chsomeoft hehy dr
ocarbonsinthe
gascancondenseatpi peli
nepressur
e, for
mingl
iquidslugsthatcandamage
thepi
peline.Thegasmustal sobecl earofallwaterv aportopr ev
entthe
for
mationofmet hanehydrateswithi
nthegaspr ocessingplantorwithi
nthe
sal
esgast ransmissi
onpipeli
ne.

Part
iclesandothersubst
ancesmustbef reeofparti
cul
atesol
i
dsandal
l
l
iqui
dst oprev
enterosi
on,corrosi
onorotherdamaget othepi
pel
i
neand
sati
sfyli
mit
soncarbondi
oxide,
nitr
ogen,
mercapt
ans,
etc.

Additi
ves: When t he natur
al gas i s intended for domest
ic use,
tet
rahydrot
hiophene(THT)isaddedsot hattheother
wiseodorl
essnat
ural
gascanbedet ect
edintheev entofagasl eak.Thesulfur
ous-
smel
li
ng
substanceaddedisequalt
oasulfurcont
entof4-7mgperscm.

Pi
pel
i
nes
Pi
peli
ne install
ations consi
stofdr i
vi
ng compressors and pumps,val
ve
st
ati
ons,pigr eceive/l
aunchf acil
i
ties,wherethepigisusedf orcl
eani
ngor
i
nspecti
ngt hepi peli
ne.ApipelineSCADAsy st
em andpipeli
nemanagement
sy
stem i
sr equiredtocontrolandoper atethepi
pel
ine.

4
 Pi
pel
i
net
ermi
nal
Pipeli
nes t r
anspor
t gas or
l
iquid,and ar efed from the
highpr essur
ecompr essor
sor
pumps.

Thepi peli
net erminalincludes
termination sy st
ems f or the
pipel
ine.A pi gl auncherand
recei
v er i s a mi nimum
requir
ement ,all
owingi nsert
ion
ofa pi peline pigging dev i
ce
usedt ocleanori nspectt he
pipel
ine on t he inside.Essent i
all
y,i
tisal ar
ge chamberthatcan be
pressur i
zedandpur gedt oinser
tandr emov
ethepigorscraperwit
hout
depressur i
zingthepipeline.

Thepi gisoft
endr i
venbypipeli
neflow,eit
herdir
ectlyorthr
oughapumpor
turbi
nearrangementthatalsodriv
eswheel sthatrollagai
nstthewall
sand
mechanismst or ot
atebrushesandot herscr
apingmechani sms.Int
ell
i
gent
pigsalsocontai
ninstr
umentati
onforremotecontrolandcameras,et
c.

GasPi
pel
i
nes,
compr
essorandv
alv
est
ati
ons
Oneormor ecompr essorstati
onsareneededt okeept herequi r
edgasf low
i
nt hepi peli
ne.Int
ernalfri
cti
onwi l
lcauseapr essuredropalongt hepipeli
ne
thatincreaseswi t
hf l
ow.Thus, t
hestarti
ngpressuremustbehi ghenought o
maintaindesi gncapacityf
lowupt othefinalt
erminal.I
fthi
sisnotpr acti
cally
possible,additi
onalcompr essorstat
ionsareneededal ongt het ot
allength.
Typicalst art
ing pressureis about150- 250 bar( 15-
25 MPa) .The final
pressurecanbeasl owas50bar( 5MPa)att hepipeli
neter
mi nalend.

Thecompr essorsar edriv

eni nt hesamewayasexpl ainedinthecompr essor
chapt erunderpr oducti
on( seeChapt er4.3.
3).
Asanexampl e, about150MW i ncompr essorpoweri srequiredtot r
ansport
70 mi l
lscm/ dayt hough t he1166 km Langel ed pi peli
newi t
h a st
art
ing
pressur eof250Or menLangeNy hamna.Thei nit
ialsectioni s42in,which
i
ncr easest o44i natSl eipner,al ittl
emor ethanhal f
way( 627km f r
om
Ny hamna,540km f rom Easi ngton,UK) ,wheret hei nter
medi atepr
essureis
155barmaxi mum.

The 1200 km Nor

thst
ream pi
pel
i
ne f
rom Russi
a(Por
tov
aya,Vy
bor
g)t
o
4
Ger
many (by Hannover
),has t
wo par
all
elpipes ofalmostthe same
di
mensi
ons,pr
essureandcompr
essi
onpowereachasLangel
ed.

Fi
gur
e11.Gaspi
pel
ine

Blockv alvestati
ons( orv i
nev al
vest ations)ar er equiredt oal lowclosur eof
offf l
ow atr egularintervalstol i
mi tacci dentalr el
easeofgasi ncaseof
pipeli
ne r upt
ure.Thi s willbe det ermi ned by t he maxi mum per missible
released gas v olume.A v al
v e stati
on i s nor mal l
y oper ated by r emot e
telemetryandi nadditi
ont othecl osingv alv
e,atl eastcont ainspr essur e,
temper atureandsomel evelofflowmeasur ement .Thesewi l
lfeedbacki nto
thepi peli
nemodel i
ngsy stem.Ev enifmet hane( CH4)i slightert hanai rand
willrapidl
yr i
se,othergasessuchaspr opane( C3H8)ar epr esenti nupt o8%
byv olume,andar eheav ierthanai r
.Theywi l
lsink,andr apidlycr eat
eal arge
volumeofcombust i
blegasmi xture.

Incaseswher emul ti
pleproducersandpipel
inesf eedint
oal ar
gerpipel
ine
gri
d,t he pressure balanci
ng to maintai
nr equired f
low and observe
contr
actualvolumeal l
ocati
onsbackt oindi
vi
dualpr oducti
onsit
espresents
addit
ionalchal
lengesforthepipel
i
nebalanci
ngsy stem.

Li
qui
dpi
pel
i
nes,
pumpandv
alv
est
ati
ons
Liqui
dcr udeorpr
oductpi peli
nesarehandledmucht hesameway ,wi
thpump
stati
onsandbl ockv alvestati
onsalongt hepi peline.Howev er,whent he
pipel
inegoesupordownov erhil
lsandmount ai ns,theybehavedi f
ferently
.
Liqui
d,duet othemuchhi gherspecif
icgravity,wi l
lexperiencemuchhi gher
pressuredropsuphil
l,andincreasesdownhi l
l,thangas.Thi soften requires
additi
onalpumpi ng capaci t
y uphil
land cor responding
pressure-
reduci
ngt ur
bi nes(orbraki
ngst ati
ons)downhi l
l.Incaseel ectri
cal
poweri sused,thebraki ngpowerf r
om thet urbinecanbef edbacki ntothe
gri
d.

4
 Fi
gur
e12.Li
qui
dpi
pel
ine

Blockv alv
est at
ions( orli
nev al
vestati
ons)areusedwi thmanyoft hesame
functi
onsasgaspi pelines.I
tisimportanttoli
mitaccident
alspi
ll
sincaseof
ruptur
eoft hepipel
ine,andpl acementwillbedeterminedbothbymaximum
l
eakv olumeaswel lasci t
y ,ri
verorv all
eycrossingsandwher everiti
s
parti
cularl
yi mport
antt opreventspi
ll
s.

Pi
pel
i
nemanagement
,cont
rol
andsaf
ety
Pipel
inemanagementi susedtomai nt
ainoper
ati
onandi ntegr
ityoft he
pipel
inesystem.Itisusual
l
yhandledbyaSCADAsy stem,whichi nter
faces
withr emotelocat
ionsandcoll
ectsdataandcontr
ol svalvesandpr ocess
setpoint
s.Thepipeli
nemanagementsyst
em mayi
ncludef uncti
onssuchas:

Super
visor
ycont
rol
toov
erseet
heoper
ati
onoft
heent
ir
epi
pel
i
nesy
stem.

DemandFor ecast
ingtomodeldemandf ort hecomi ngdaysacr osst he
system based on parameter
sl ike contractualvolumes,forecastsfrom
consumer sandproducer
sandmet eorol
ogyt odeterminenecessarysupply
rat
esandcor r
espondi
ngpressuresatv ari
ouspointsint henetwork.Since
thet r
anspor
tdelaycanbeconsi derableduringtheof f
-peakseason,delays
canbecompensat edbypre-chargingthelineinantici
pati
onofincreases,or
all
owingpressuret
obebledoffifar educti
onisexpected.

Pipelinemodel i
ngmodel stheent i
repipeli
nesy stem toaccountforpressure,
temper ature and f l
ow atmaj orcheckpoi nts.Based on t his modelt he
managementsy stem canper form:
 Pr essurebal anci
ngt omakecer tai
nt hatpressuresetpointsarecorr
ect
tomeetdemandf or ecast
sandav oidpotentialoverl
oadconditi
ons.
 Pr oduct i
onal l
ocation,whichensur esthatproducer sar
eabl etodeli
ver
theircontractualvolumesi ntothenetwor k.
 Leakdet ection,whi chcompar esact ualmeasur eddataagai nstdynami c
datapr edictedbyt hemodel .Adiscrepancyi ndi
catesal eak(oraf ai
li
ng
4
 measur ement).Simpleli
quidsy stemsonl ycalculatebasicmassbalance
(i
n-out),whil
eanadv ancedmodel ingsystem cangi vemor epreci
sedata
onsizeandposi tionofthel
eakwi thinacert
ainr esponsetime.
 Pigorscr apertr
ackingisusedt ot r
acktheposi ti
onoft hepigwit
hinthe
pipel
ine,bothf rom pigdet ecti
oni nst
rumentsandt hepressur
edr op
causedbyt hepigi nthepi
peline.
I
ncaseofl iquidpipelinestransport
ingbat chesofdi ffer
entpr oducts,abat ch
transfersy stem isneeded.Basedoni nformat i
ononwheneachpr oducti s
i
nj ectedintot hepipeline,andgr avi
tymeasur ementatt her eceivi
ngend,i tis
possi bletosequent iall
ytransferdiffer
entpr oducts,suchasgasol i
neand
dieseli nthesamepi peli
ne.Dependi ngonpr oductchar acter
isti
cs,therewi l
l
beani nterf
acesect ionbet weent hetwopr oduct sthatwi densast heproduct
mov esal ongt heli
ne.Thi s“ offspec”pr oductmustbedi scardedatt he
receivingendt oavoidpr oductdegr adati
on.I tisof tendisposedbymi xi
ng
wi thlargerv olumesofl ow gradef uelproduct s.Thissy stem isof t
enused
wi thcount r
ywi deref
inedpr oductdistri
buti
ont oter
mi nal
s.
Safetysystemsar eused,asf orot herpr ocesspl ants,t oensur ethatt he
systemsshutdowni ncaseofmal functi
onsandout -of-
boundscondi ti
ons.Of
parti
cularimpor t
ance i st he hi gh integrity pr essure pr otect
ion sy stem
(HIPPS).Thisi s a hi ghlyr eli
able sy stem t hati s needed t o mai ntain
protect
ionagai nstoverpressures, andmanageshut downs.Thest rategyused
bynor malsaf etysy st
em t oi solateanddepr essur e,orsi mplyfai
lto saf e
conditi
on,oftencannotbeappl i
edt opi pelinesduet ot hel ar
gev ol
umesof
productinthepi peli
nes.Si mpl yopeni ngorcl osingav alv ewouldpot entiall
y
causeov erpressurecondi tionsorov erl
oadsaf etydev icessuchasf lares
HIPPSmoni torsandexecut est heser esponsesi naspeci ficsequence.

LNG
LNGi sagast r
ansportproduct.Thegas,whichispri
mar i
lymet hane( CH4),i
s
conv ert
edt oli
quidformf oreaseofst orageortransport,asi tsvolumei s
about1/ 600ththevolumeofnat uralgasi
nt hegaseousst ate.Itisproduced
close tot he producti
on facil
it
ies i
n an LNG liquefacti
on pl ant,stored,
transportedincryogeni
ct anksonanLNGcar r
ier
,anddel i
veredt oanLNG
regasifi
cati
onterminalf
orstorageanddeli
v er
ytoapipel
inesy stem.

LNGcar r
iersareusedwhent het ransportdi
stancedoesnotj ust
if
ythecost
ofapipeline.Themai ndrawbacki sthecostoft heli
quefacti
on,cal
culated
ashowmuchoft het otalenergycont entofthegasisusedf orli
quefacti
on.
About6%ofener gycont enti
susedt oproduceLNGi nal argemodernpl ant,
duetoov erallt
her malef f
ici
ency .Mor ethan10% couldbeconsumedwi t
h
small
er,gast urbine-
driventrains.Thiscompar estolossesofabout0. 9%
4
per1,
000km oft
ranspor
tdi
stancef
orl
argepi
pel
i
nesy
stems.

Mel
køyaLNGPl
antwi
thLNGCar
ri
erAr
cti
cPr
incessPhot
o:St
atoi
l

TheLNG f eedstockcomesf rom agaspl antasout l

i
nedabove.Itmust
sati
sfysales gas specifi
cati
ons.Et hane,pr opane and but
ane al
lhave
fr
eezingpointsoflesst han-180° Candcanbepar toftheLNG,butthe
concentr
ati
onofmet hanei sgener al
lyabov e90%.SomeNGLsar ealso
neededasr ef
ri
gerantforthecryogenicprocess.

LNGl
i
quef
act
ion
LNG processesaregeneral
lypatentedbyl ar
geengineer
ing,oilandgas
companies,butaregener
all
ybasedonaone-t wo-orthr
ee-stagecooli
ng
processwithpureormixedref
rigerant
s.Thet hr
eemainpr ocesstypesof
LNGpr ocesswi
thsomeexamplesofpr ocessli
censor
sare:

 Cascadecy cle:
o Separ ateref r
igerantcycleswithpropane,ethyleneand
met hane( ConocoPhi l
li
ps)
 Mixedrefr
iger antcy cle:
o Si ngl emi xedr ef
riger
ant( SMR)(PRICO)
o Si ngl emi xedr ef
riger
ant( MUM®)(
LI Li
nde)
o Pr opanepr e-cooledmi xedr ef
ri
gerant
:C3MR( somet i
mes
r
efer r
edt oasAPCI :AirProducts&Chemi cals,Inc.
)
o Shel ldual-mi xedpr ocess( DMR)(Shell
)
o Dual mixedr efri
gerant(Liquef
inAxens)
o Mi xedf lui
dcascadepr ocess( MFCP)(Statoi
l/Linde)
 Expandercy cle
o Kr y opakEXP® pr ocess

Fi
gur
e18.LNGt
ermi
nalpr
ocessov
erv
iew
4
At t he r ecei
ving
terminal, LNG i
s
stored i
n l
ocal
cryogenictanks.I tis
regasifi
edtoambi ent
temper at
ure
on demand,
commonl yi n a sea
wat erheatexchanger ,
andt heninjectedinto
the gas pi pel
ine
system.
Covepoi
ntLNGt
ermi
nal

Ref
ini
ng/Downst
ream pr
ocesses
Uptotheear l
y1970s,cr
udeoi lpr
iceswerekeptreasonabl
yst abl
ebymaj or
i
nter
nati
onaloi lcompanies and indust
rial
i
zed nati
ons.Less v alue was
cr
eatedint heupstr
eam producti
onoper ati
onsandr el
ati
velymor eprofi
ts
weregeneratedinrefi
ninganddi stri
but
ionoperati
ons.Wi t
ht he1973oi l
cr
isi
sandrisingcr
udeoilpri
ces,moreofthev al
uewascreatedupstream.

Now, thesuccessofamoder nrefi

nerydependsmor eoneconomi esofscal e
andt heabil
it
yt opr
ocessawi derangeofcrudesintothemaxi mum quant i
ty
ofhighv al
uef uel
sandf eedst
ock.Ar ef
iner
ythatisablet ohandlemul t
iple
typesfrom heavytolightcr
udeissaidtohav etohaveal argeswing.Trade
specifi
cati
onssuchas” WestTexasI nter
mediate”(WTI)API38. 3°,“Br
ent
Blend”API38. 3°,“HeavyArabCr ude”API27.7°or“ Grane”API18. 7°ar e
exampl esofsuchcrudes.

Medi um li
ghtcrudescanbeuseddi rect
lyi near l
yengi nesandbur ners.
Moder n consumers,such as gas and dieselengi nes,aviat
ion tur
bojet
enginesandshipbunkersneedfuel
smanuf acturedtopr eci
sespecif
icat
ions.
Thisincl
udesremov i
ngcontami
nantsandpol l
utants,suchassulf
ur.

Fr
act
ional
dist
il
lat
ion
Thebasicr
efi
ner
yusesfr
acti
onaldi
sti
l
lati
on.I
ncomingcr
udei
sheatedt
oits
boi
li
ng poi
nt.I
tthenenter
st hedist
il
lat
ioncolumn,whi
chsepar
atesthe

4
di
fferentf
racti
ons.Thecolumnisoft
her efl
uxt y
pe, wher
ecoldercondensed
fl
uidsrunni
ngdownar ereheat
edbyrisi
ngv aporsthatintur
ncondense.This
producescleart
hermalzoneswheret
hedi f
ferentproduct
scanbedr ai
ned.

NOTE:Theschemat i
cont hefoll
owingpagei ssimpli
fi
ed.Bot hcontinuous
andv acuum dist
ill
ati
onisusedinsepar atecol
umnst oav oi
dheatingther aw
crudetomor ethan370° C.Overheati
ngwoul dcauset hermalcrackingand
excessivecoket hatmayalsopl
ugpi pesandv essel soasi
s.Al decutstri
pper
i
sused,i n additi
on tothemai n column,t of ur
therimprovesepar ati
on.
Sidecutisanothernamef ort
hefracti
onsemer gingfrom t
heside(ratherthan
topandbot tom)oft hemaincolumn,i .e.
,naphtha,gasoli
ne,keroseneand
diesel
.

Thef r
actionsareami xofal
kanesandar omaticsandotherhydr
ocarbons,
so
ther
ei snotalinearandunif
ormlyrisi
ngrel
ati
onshipbetweencarbonnumber
andboi l
ingpoi ntanddensit
y,althoughthereisar oughf i
t.Evenso,this
meanst hateachf ract
ioncont
ainsadi str
ibuti
onofcar bonnumber sand
hydrocarbons.

Basi
cpr
oduct
s
Thebasi
cpr
oduct
sfr
om f
ract
ional
dist
il
lat
ionar
e:

4
 Fi
gur
e19.
Fract
ionat
ingcont
inuousdi
sti
ll
ati
on,
over
view

Liqui
dpet
rol
eum gas(
LPG)hascar
bonnumbersof1-
5andaboi
li
ngpoi
ntup
to20°C.Mostoft
heLPGsarepr
opaneandbut
ane,wi
thcar
bonnumber

3and4andboi l
ingpoint
s- 42°
Cand- 1°C,respecti
vely
.Typicalusagei
s
domest
icandcampinggas,LPGvehi
cl
esandpetrochemicalf
eedstock.

4
Naphtha,or ful
lrangenapht ha,i
sthefract
ionwithboil
i
ngpoint
sbetween
30° Cand200° Candmol ecul
esgener
all
yhavingcarbonnumbers5to12.
Thef r
act
ionistypi
call
y15–30%ofcr udeoilbyweight
.Itisusedmai
nlyasa
feedst
ockforotherprocesses:

 I
nt herefi
neryforpr
oducingadditi
v esforhi
ghoct
anegasol
i
ne
 Adi l
uentfortr
ansporti
ngv er
yheav ycr
ude
 Feedstocktothepetrochemicalolefi
nschai
n
 Feedstockformanyot herchemicals
 Asasol venti
ncleani
ng

Gasol i
nehascar bonnumber smai nlybet ween4and12andboi l
ingpoints
upt o120° C.It
smai nuseisasf uelf orinternalcombust i
onengines.Ear l
y
on,t hi
sf racti
oncoul dbesol ddirectlyasgasol i
nef orcars,buttoday ’
s
enginesr equi
remor eprecisel
yformul atedf uel,solessthan20%ofgasol ine
atthepumpi sther aw gasol
inefraction.Addi tionalsour
cesar eneededt o
meett hedemand,andaddi t
ivesarerequi redt ocont r
olsuchparametersas
octaner ati
ngandv olat
il
it
y.Also,othersour cessuchasbi oet
hanolmaybe
added, uptoabout 5%.

Kerosene has mai

n car
bon number
s 10 t
o 16 (
range 6 t
o 16)boil
ing
between150° Cand275°C.It
smainuseisasavi
ati
onfuel
,wherethebest
knownblendisJetA-1.Ker
oseneisal
sousedforli
ghti
ng(paraf
fi
nlamps)
andheati
ng.

Dieseloi,orpet
l rodiesel
,isusedfordieselengi
nesincar
s,tr
ucks,shi
ps,
tr
ainsandutil
i
tymachinery.I
thasacarbonnumberrangeof8to21(mainly
16-20)andist
hefracti
onthatboi
lsbet
ween200° Cand350°C.

Whiteandbl ackoils:Theabov eproductsar

eoftencaledwhi
l teoil
s,andt he
fr
actionsaregener all
yav ai
l
abl efr
om theatmospheri
cdisti
ll
ati
on column.
Ther emainingf r
actionbelow ar ethe bl
ackoils,whichmustbef urther
separated byv acuum di st
il
lati
on due tothe temperat
urer est
ri
cti
on of
heati
ngr aw crudet onomor ethan370-380° C.Thi
sal l
owst helighter
fr
actions to boilof fata l owertemperatur
es than with atmospher i
c
dist
il
lati
on,avoi
dingov er
heati
ng.

Lubr icati
ngoi s,ormi
l neralbasel ubri
cati
ng oi
l(asopposedt osynt
hetic
lubricants),form t
he basisf orlubricat
ing waxes and pol
i
shes.These
typicallycontai
n90%rawmat erial
wi t
hcarbonnumbersf r
om 20to50anda
fr
actionboi l
ingat300-
600° C.10% addi ti
vesareusedt ocontroll
ubr
icant
properties,suchasvi
scosi
ty.

4
Fueloi lsi sacommont erm encompassi ngawi derangeoff uelst hatal so
i
ncludesf ormsofker oseneanddi esel,aswel last heheav yf ueloi land
bunkert hati spr oducedatt hel ow endoft hecolumnbef orebi tumenand
coker esi dues.Fueloi lisgr adedonascal eof1t o6wher egr ade1and2i s
similartoker oseneanddi esel,3isr arelyusedany mor e.4- 6ar et heheav y
fuels,alsocal l
edBunkerA,BandC,wher eBandCar ev eryhi ghv i
scosi tyat
normalambi entt emper aturesandr equirespr eheati
ngt oabout100° C and
120° Cr espect ively,beforeitflowsenought obeusedi nanengi neorbur ner
.
Fueloilgr ade4doesnotr equirepreheat i
ngandi ssomet imesmi xedwi thof f
specpr oduct s,suchast ankr esi
dueandi nterf
acel i
qui df rom mul t
iphase
pipeli
nesorwi thgr ade2f ueloiltoachiev elow-enoughv i
scosi tyatambi ent
temper atur es.Fueloi l6ist hel owestgr ade,i t
sspecificational soal l
ows2%
wat erand0. 5% mi neralsoi landi sconsumedal mostexcl usivelybyl arge
ships ini nt
ernat i
onalwat ers,wher e pol l
utants such as sul f
uri sl ess
regulated.

Bit
umenandot herresi
duesl ikecokeandt arhascarbonnumber sabove70
andboi l
ingpointsabov e525° C.Lowsul furcokecanbeusedf oranodesi n
themet alsindustry(al
umi num andst eel)af t
erprocessing(cal
cining)
.The
remainderisapr oblem fuel,becauseofhi ghsulfurcontentandev enhigher
CO2 emi ssi
onst han coal( typicall
y15% hi gher
).Bitumen int hef or
m of
asphaltboili
ngabov e525° Cisusedf orr oofi
ngandr oadpav ing.Asphalt
concretepavementmat eri
aliscommonl ycomposedof5%asphal t
/bit
umen
and95%st one,sand,andgr avel(aggregat
es) .

Bl
endi
nganddi
str
ibut
ion
Aftertherefi
ningprocesses,t
hevari
ousf racti
onsar estor
edinint
ermediate
tanks,thenbl
endedi ntomarket
ableproductsforloadingontor
ail
cars,
trucks
orships,anddistr
ibuti
ontogasstati
onsori ndust
ries.

Eachpr oductisblendedt oaspeci fi

cati
onofupt o25paramet erssuchas
octaner ati
ng,energycont ent,vol
ati
li
tyandsul f
urcontent.Thet askisto
achievet he speci
f i
cation (
and notexceed,wher e appl
icabl
e)wi ththe
minimum amountofov er-
spec“ gi
veaway.
”Thebl endi
ngqualit
yi smanaged
wit
hi nfr
ared or chr omatograph type process anal
yzers.These can
determinetheprecisef r
acti
onsofasampl ebymol ecul
etype.

4
 Thest andardspecifi
cationgasol
ineist her
eforestandardfrom companyto
company i nt he indivi
dualmarkets,ensur i
ng compat ibi
l
ity wi
thv ehi
cle
manuf act
urer requirements. Al
so,t he t er
minal operator may be an
independentthir
dpar t
yorr unasco-distri
buti
on,sot hatat er
minali
none
regiondistr
ibut
esf orsev er
alcompaniesbasedont hesamepr oduct
sinthe
samet anks.

Each company
then seeks t o
diff
erentiate it
s
productbyaddi ng
smal lquantiti
esof
unique addi ti
ves
thataremar keted
toincreaseengi ne
performance,
l
ifeti
me, cl
ean
combust i
onandso
fort
h. These
additi
ves are
added as the
product is
dispensedt ot r
ucks
fordeliverytothatbr andgasol
i
nest
ati
on.

Amai
ntaski
stoensur
ethebal
anceofincomi
ngandout
goi
ngpr
oduct
sand
4
consol i
date with stored v ol
umes.These hav et o be compensated for
temper atur
e,wat ercontent( wat ermaybeabsor bedfrom ai
rhumi dit
yand
releasedatlowt emper aturesasbot tom sl
opintanks)andv aporl
oss.Vapor
orv olat
il
eor gani
ccompounds( VOCs),for
m abov etheproductinfixedroof
tanksandwhenf il
l
ingupcompar tmentsincarsorv essel
s.VOClosscanbe
signifi
cantforhighv ol
atil
i
typr oductsli
kegasoline,andmustber ecovered
and/ orhandledtor educeemi ssionsandexplosiv
ehazar d.

Thet er
minalmanagementsy stem t racksbat chesofproductr eceivedor
dispensed,aswellasthoseev entuallyreceivedbygasoli
nest at
ions,ai
rports
orot herconsumersandconsol i
dateswi t
hst oredvol
umes.Eachoper at
ion
shouldbev al
i
datedagainstorders,bi l
lsofladingandposi t
iveidenti
fi
cation
oftrucks,vessel
sandt hei
roper ators.Incount r
ieswher
et hi
spr ocessisnot
wellmanaged,l ossesofpr oductduet ot heftandotherfactorscanbeas
hi
ghas15%ormor einthedi st
ri
but i
onoper ati
ons.

Event
uall
ythemaingoalistoensurethator
der
saremet,andstakehol
der
s
payorgetpai
dint
heform ofVAT,t
axes,pr
oduct
,del
i
ver
ycharges,
etc.

Pet
rochemi
cal
Petr
ochemicals ar
e chemical
s made fr
om petr
oleum ornat ur
algas.
Pri
marypetrochemical
saredivi
dedint
othreegr
oups,dependi
ngontheir
chemical
struct
ure:

Olefi
nsincl
udeethy
lene,pr
opylene,andbut
adiene.Et
hyl
eneandpropy l
ene
ar
ei mpor t
antsources ofindustri
alchemical
s and pl
asti
cs products.
Butadi
enei susedinmaki ngsy nt
heti
crubber.Olef
insareproducedby
cr
acking.

Aromati
cpetrochemicalsincl
udebenzene,tol
uene,andxylenes.Benzene
i
susedi nt
hemanuf actur
eofdy esandsy nthet
icdeter
gents.Tolueneis
usedinmakingexplosiv
es.Manufactur
ersusexy l
enesinmaki ngplasti
cs
andsynt
het
icfiber
s.Aromat i
csar
eproducedbyr ef
orming.

Synt
hesisgas( SynGas)isami xt
ureofcarbonmonoxi
deandhy dr
ogen,
andisusedtomaket hepetrochemical
sammoni aandmethanol
.Ammonia
i
susedi nmaki ngfer
til
i
zersandexpl osi
ves,wher
emethanolserv
esasa
sour
ceforotherchemicals.

4
 Fi
gur
e23.
Pet
rochemi
cal
tree:
feedst
ockandpr
imar
ypet
rochemi
cal
s

Thepr i
mar ypetrochemical sar enotendpr oducts,butform buildingblocks
forawi derangeofmat erials.Therefore,eachprimar ypetr
ochemi calgi
v es
name t o a chai n ofr eact i
ons leading tot hose mat eri
als.Ther e are
almost
200pet rochemicalst hatcanbedescr ibedthisway .Therear e mor e
processesthanendpr oduct s,aseachpr oductmayr equir
emul tipl
est eps,so
anexhaust i
veli
stwoul dnotf i
twithi
nt hisbook.Instead,wewi llfocusont he
mainchai ns,properti
esandusesoft hemosti mpor t
antcompoundsand a
fewkeypr ocessesf orthi
sov ervi
ew.

Manyoft hesepr ocessesarebasedonpol ymeri

zati
on,whi chmeanst hatit
i
sbasedonpr ocessesthatfi
rstfor
m monomer sthenletthesebindtogether
tof orm pol ymer s as long chains or a three dimensionalnet work.
Compoundswhosenamesst artwith“
poly
”ar egener
allypolymers,butmany
othertr
adenames,suchasny l
onwhichisagener i
cnamef oraf amil
yof
polyamides,ar epolymers.

Petrochemi calsareof t
enmadei nclust
ersofplant
sinthesamear ea.These
pl
ant sareof tenoperatedbysepar at
ecompanies,andthi
sconceptisknown
asi nt
egratedmanuf actur
ing.Groupsofrel
atedmat er
ial
sareoftenusedi n
adjacentmanuf act
uringplants,t
ousecommoni nfr
astr
uctur
eandmi ni
mize
tr
anspor t
.

4
WST-ExxonSi
ngapor
ePet
rochemi
cal
Compl
ex

Ther
eser
voi
r
Theoil
andgasbear i
ngst r
uctur
eistypi
call
yporousrock,suchassandst one
orwashedoutli
mestone.Thesandmayhav ebeenlaiddownasdeser tsand
dunesorseafl
oor.Oi
landgasdeposi t
sf or
m asorganicmaterial(
ti
nyplants
andanimals)deposi
tedi nearl
iergeologi
calperi
ods,typi
call
y100t o200
mil
li
ony ear
sago,under ,overorwiththesandorsi l
t,aretransfor
medby
hi
ghtemperatur
eandpr essurei
ntohydr
ocarbons.
Ant
icl
ine Faul
t Sal
tdome

Gas
Oil Por
ousrockImper
meabl
erock
Fossilwat
eri
npor
ousreser
voi
rrock

4
 Fi
gur
e5.Reser
voi
rfor
mat
ions

Foranoi lreservoirtoform,por ousr ockneedst obecov er

edbyanon-
porous l
ayersuch as sal t,shale,chal k ormud r ock thatpr eventt he
hydrocar
bonsf rom leaki
ngoutoft hest ruct
ure.Asrockst r
uct
ur esbecome
fol
dedandr aisedasar esultoft ectonicmov ements,thehy dr ocar
bons
migrateoutoft hedepositsandupwar di nporousrockandcol l
ecti ncrests
underthenon- permeabler ock,withgasatt hetopandoi landf ossi lwater
at
thebottom.Saltisat hi
ckfluid,andifdeposi t
edunderthereservoir, i
twil
l f
low
upinheav i
errockov ermill
i
onsofy ears.Thisprocesscreat
essal tdomeswi t
h
asimilarr
eservoir-
formingef f
ect.Thesear ecommone. g.intheMi ddleEast .

Thisext raor dinarypr ocessisongoi ng.Howev er,anoi lr

eservoirmaturesi n
the sense t hatan i mmaturef ormat i
on may noty ethave al l
owed t he
hydrocar bonst of orm andcol lect.A y oungr eser
voirgenerallyhasheav y
crude,l esst han20API ,andi sof tenCr etaceousinor igi
n(65- 145mi ll
i
on
yearsago) .Mostl i
ghtcr uder eservoirstendt obeJur assicorTriassi
c( 145-
205/ 205-250 mi l
l
ion y ears ago) ,and gas r eservoi
rs wheret he organic
mol eculesar ef urt
herbr okendownar eoftenPer mianorCar bonif
erousi n
origi
n( 250- 290/ 290-350mi ll
i
ony earsago) .

Insomear eas,strongupl ift

,er
osionandcr ackingoft her ockabovehav e
all
owedhy drocarbonst ol eakout,leavi
ngheav yoilr eser voir
sortarpool s.
Someoft hewor ld'slargestoildepositsar etarsands,wher ethevolatil
e
compoundshav eev apor atedfr
om shallow sandyf ormat ions,leav
inghuge
volumesofbi tumen- soakedsands.Thesear eof tenexposedatt hesur
f ace
andcanbest r
ip-
mi ned,butmustbesepar ated
101
fr
om t he sand wi t
h hotwat er,steam and kPa
dil
uents,andf urt
herpr ocessedwithcr acki
ng 10°C

and refor
mi ng i
nar efinerytoimpr ovef uel
yi
eld.

Theoi landgasi spr essurizedint hepor esof

theabsor bentformationr ock.Whenawel lis
dri
ll
ed i nto the r eservoir structure, t he
hydrostati
c formation pr essure dr ives t he 20 Gasexpands
hydrocarbonsoutoft her ockandupi nt
ot he MPa andpushesoil
100°C downwar
ds
well.Whent hewellf
lows, gas, oi
landwat erare
extr
acted,andt helev el
sshi ftasther eserv
oir
i
sdepl eted.Thechallengei stoplandr il
li
ngso
thatreservoi
rut
ili
zat
ioncanbemaxi mized. 40
4 MPa
200°C

Reser
voi
rhy
drost
ati
cpr
essur
e
 Seismicdat a and adv anced 3D v i
sual
izati
on
modelsar eusedt opl anext r
action.Ev enso,
theaverager ecov eryr ateisonly40%,l eavi
ng
60% oft he hy drocar bons trapped i nt he
reser
voir.Thebestr eser voi
rswi thadv ancedenhancedoi lrecov er
y( EOR)
all
owupt o70%r ecov ery.Reservoir
scanbequi t
ecompl ex,withmanyf olds
andsev erallayersofhy drocarbon-beari
ngr ockaboveeachot her(insome
areasmor et hant en).Moder nwel l
saredr i
ll
edwithlargehorizontalof
f sets
to
reachdif
f erentpar tsoft hestructureandwi t
hmul t
ipl
ecompl etionssot hat
onewellcanpr oducef r
om sev erallocati
ons.
Shal
egasandcoal
bedmet
hane
Oilshal esar eal sobecomi ngani mpor t
antsour ceofshal egas,andsome
analystsexpectt hatthissourceofnat uralgascansuppl yhalfoft hegas
consumpt i
oni ntheUSandCanadaby2020.Shal esnor mal l
ydonothav et he
requiredmat ri
xper meabi l
it
yfort hegast obepr oduced,andi nthepast ,gas
couldbepr oducedonl yf r
om sour cer ockwi t
hsignifi
cantnat uralfracturing.
Thenat uralgascomesf r
om decomposi t
ionofshal eoilandi sheldi nnat ur al
fractures,somei nporespaces,andsomeadsor bedont oor ganicmat erial.
Recent ly,therehav ebeenst r
ongadv ancesi next r
acti
ont echnology,whi ch
usesacombi nati
onofhor i
zontalwel lsandhy dr
aulicfr
act uri
nginawayt hat
mai ntainsf racturi
ng( seechapt er3. 7)andf l
ow ofgasmuchbet tert han
before.Ev enso,pr oducti
ont y
pi call
yr equiresahi ghnumberofwel l
swi th
l
imi t
edl i
feti
mes,socont inuousdr ill
ingofnew wel lsisr equir
edt omai ntain
output .Met hanei sapot entgr eenhousegas,andemi ssionsf r
om l eaking
cappedwel l
sandf ract
uresisapot entialpr obl
em duet ot helar
genumberof
wel l
s.

4
 Fi
gur
e37.Schemat
icgeol
ogyofnat
uralgasr
esour
ces

Thi
sform ofpr
oduct
ioni
sdif
ferentf
rom oi
lshalegas,whichi
sproducedby
pyr
oly
sis(
heati
ngandhydr
ocarbondecomposi
tion)ofminedoi
lshal
e.

Coaldeposi t
salsocont ai
nlar geamount sofmet hane,ref
erredt
oascoalbed
met hane.Themet hanei sabsor bedi nthecoalmat ri
xandr equi
resextracti
on
techniquessimil
art oshalegas.Of t
ent hecoalbedi sf l
ooded, soafterwel l
compl eti
onandf r
acturi
ng, t
hecoalseam ( l
ayerofcoal )mustbedewat ered.A
commonsol uti
oni stoext ractwat ert hrought hewel ltubi
ng.Generall
y,the
waterneedst obepumpedoutandt hereforecont r
olisneededt opreventthe
gasf rom enteri
ngt hewat eri nt het ubing( t
hewel lbecomesgassy ).This
reducest hepressureandal lowsmet hanet odesor bfrom thematr
ixandbe
producedt hr
ought hecasing.

Oi
lshal
e
Mostoilshalesarefi
ne-
grainedsedimentaryrockscontaini
ngrel
ativel
ylar
ge
amountsofor gani
cmatter,from whichsigni
fi
cantamount sofshaleoiland
combustibl
egascanbeext ractedbydestructi
vedist
il
lat
ion.Si
gnif
icantshal
e
“pl
ays”havebeendiscover
edi nthelastdecade,suchast heMarcell
usinthe
nort
hernUSandCanada,Eagl eFordont heUSeastcoastandBakkeni n
southTexas.

Oi
lshal
edif
fer
sfr
om coali
nthatorgani
cmat t
eri
nshaleshasahigher
at
omichydr
ogent
o car
bonrat
io.Coalal
so hasanorgani
ctoinor
ganic
4
matt
errati
oofmor et
han4,i.
e.,
75to5,
whil
eoi
lshal
eshaveahi
ghercont
ent
ofsedimentar
yr ock.Sour
cesesti
matethewor
ldreser
vesofoi
lshalesat
morethan2.5tri
l
lionbar
rel
s.

Oilshalesar ethoughttof or
m whenal gaeandsedi mentdeposi tinlakes,
l
agoons and swamps wher e an anaer obi
c( oxygen-f
ree) envi
ronment
preventsthebreakdownofor ganicmat t
er,thusall
owingittoaccumul at
ein
thi
cklayers.Theselayerswerelatercov
eredwi t
hov er
lyi
ngrock,tobebaked
underhight emperatur
eandpr essure.Howev er
,theheatandpr essurewere
l
owert haninoilandgasr eser
voir
s.

Shalecanbest r
ip-
minedandpr ocessedwithdisti
ll
ation.Extr
actionwi t
h
fr
acturing and heating is sti
llr el
ati
vel
y unproven. Compani es ar e
experimenti
ng wi
th directel
ectr
icalheati
ng r
athert han steam inject
ion.
Extr
actioncosti
scurrentlyar
ound$25-30perbarrel
.Coal,gastoliquidsand
syntheticf
uel

Coalissimil
arinori
gint
ooilshales,buttypi
call
yfor
medf rom theanaerobic
decay ofpeatswamps and r elati
vel
yf ree fr
om non-organic sedi
ment
deposit
s,ref
ormedbyheatandpr essure.Tof or
m a1-meterthickcoall
ay er
,
asmuchas30met ersofpeatwasor i
ginall
yrequi
red.Coalcanv aryfrom
rel
ati
vel
ypurecarbontocar
bonsoakedwi t
hhy dr
ocar
bons,sulf
ur,et
c.

(Forsynt
hesisgas,seealsochapter7.
3.)
Ithasbeenknownf ordecadest hatsynthet
icdi
eselcouldbecreatedfrom
coal.Thi
si sdone,fi
rstbycreatingwat ergasassynthesi
sgasbypassi ng
steam overred-
hotcoke.Thereacti
onisendother
micandr equi
resheat
ing:

C+H2O→ H2 +CO

Mor
ehy
drogeni
spr
oducedi
nthewat
ergasshi
ftr
eact
ion:

CO+H2O→ H2 +CO2

Oft
ent wostagesareused:ahi ght emperat
ureshi
ft(HTS)at350°Cwith
cat
aly
stironoxidepromotedwi t
hchr omium oxi
de,andalow t
emperat
ure
shi
ft(
LTS)at190–210° Cwit
hcat al
ystcopperonamixedsuppor
tcomposed
ofzi
ncoxideandaluminumoxide.

Thesesy
nthesi
sgasesar
ethenusedi
ntheFi
scher
–Tr
opschpr
ocess:

(
2n+1)
H2+nCO→ CnH(2n+2)+nH2O

4
Thispr ocessr unsatapr essur
eof2- 4MPa.Wi thironcatalystahigh
temperaturepr ocessat350° Cwillyiel
dadieself uelquit
esimilartonormal
dieselwi t
h an av erage carbon numberof12,and a cer t
ain cont
entof
unwantedar omatics.Thel ow temper at
ureprocessusesacobal tcatal
yst
andat emper at
ureof200° Candy ieldsapur
esy nthet
icdieselcomposedof
alkaneswi t
hacar bonnumberof10- 15andanav eragecarbonnumberof12.

Synt
hesisgascanal
sobecr
eat
edf
rom nat
uralgasbyl
eancombust
ionor
st
eamr ef
orming:

CH4+1/2O2→ CO +2H2 Leancombust

ion
CH4 +H2O→ CO+3H2 Steamref
ormi
ng

Thiscanbef edt othewatershi

ftr
eact
ionandt otheF-Tpr
ocess.Thi
s
process,toget
herwi ththef
oll
owi
ngapplicat
ion,areoft
encal
ledgas to
l
iquids(GTL)processes.

Analt
ernat
iveuseoft hesynt
hesi
sgases(
CO andH2)i
spr
oduct
ionof
met
hanolandsynt
het
icgasol
i
ne:

2H2+CO→ CH3OH Met

hanol
synt
hesi
s

Then,
themet
hanol
isconv
ert
edt
osy
nthet
icgasol
i
nei
ntheMobi
lpr
ocess.

2CH3OH→ CH3OCH3+H2O Dehy

drat
iont
odi
met
hyl
ether

Thesecondstagef
urtherdehy
drat
estheetherwi
thceol
i
tecat
aly
stt
oyi
elda
synt
heti
cgasoli
newit
h80%car bonnumber5andabove.

Therear ethreemai ntypesofconv ent

ionalwells.Themostcommoni sanoi l
wellwi t
hassoci atedgas.Nat ur
algaswel l
saredr ill
edspeci f
ical
lyfornatural
gas,andcont ai
nlitt
leornooi l
.Condensatewel lscontainnat ur
algas,aswel l
asal iquidcondensat e.Thiscondensateisaliquidhy drocarbonmi xt
ur et
hat
i
sof tensepar atedfrom thenat ur
algaseitheratt hewel lhead,orduringthe
processingoft henat uralgas.Dependingont hewel ltype,completionmay
di
fferslightl
y.Itisimportanttoremembert hatnat uralgas,beingli
ghterthan
4
ai
r,willnatur
allyri
setothesurfaceofawell
.Consequently
,li
ft
ingequipment
andwel ltreat
mentar enotnecessar
yinmanynat ur
algasandcondensat e
wel
ls,whi lef oroilwel l
s,manyt ypes ofart
if
icialli
ftmaybe i nstal
l
ed,
par
ticularl
yast hereserv
oirpr
essurefal
l
sduri
ngy earsofpr
oducti
on.

Thereisnodi st
inctt
ransi
ti
onf r
om conventi
onaltounconventionaloi
land
gas producti
on.Lowerpor osi
ty(t
ight
err eser
voir
s)and v ar
ying matur
it
y
createarangeofshal
eoilandgas,t
ightgas,heavyoil
,et
c.,
thatissimpl
yan
extensi
onoftheconventi
onaldomai
n.