Energy Convers. Mgmt Vol. 38, No. 15-17, pp.

1577-1584, 1997
~ Pergamon © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
Printed in Great Britain
PII: S0196-8904(96)00219-1 0196-8904/97 $17.00 + 0.00

E X E R G Y A N A L Y S I S OF P E T R O L E U M S E P A R A T I O N
P R O C E S S E S IN O F F S H O R E P L A T F O R M S

SILVIO DE OLIVEIRA JI]NIOR and MARCO VAN HOMBEECK

Institute for Technological Research and Polytechnic School of the University of S~o Paulo, Av. Prof.
Almeida Prado, 532-Cidade Universit~ria-05508-901-S~o Paulo-SP, Brazil
P E T R O B R A S Research Centre, Cidade Universitfiria-Quadra 7-11ha do Fund~o-21949-900-Rio de
Janeiro-RJ, Brazil

Abstract--This paper presents the exergy analysis of petroleum separation processes that take place in
offshore platforms, in order to characterize the thermodynamic performance of these processes and
identify possible ways of increasing the overall performance of the platform. In offshore platforms
petroleum is separated into water, oil and gas. After the separation, water is sent back to the sea or
reinjected into the reservoir, oil is pumped and gas is compressed and sent to the refineries. Gas-turbines
and furnaces are employed to generate electricity, mechanical power and hot water that are utilized in
the platform. These equipment consume part of the natural gas produced by the platform. The exergy
analysis developed for the offshore platform evaluates the exergy efficiency and the exergy destroyed in
each set of equipment (separators, pumps, compressors, furnaces and gas-turbines), as well as the overall
platform performance. The importance of each set of equipment in the overall efficiency is quantified by
the use of the factor f , defined as the relation between the consumed exergy in a particular set of equipment
and the consumed exergy in the platform. This analysis is employed to evaluate the performance of a
typical Brazilian offshore platform. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Offshore platforms Exergy analysis

NOMENCLATURE
b = Specific exergy (kJ/kg)
B= Exergy rate (kW)
f = Relation between the exergy consumed in the module i and in the whole plant
h, H = Specific enthalpy (kJ/kg), enthalpy rate (kW)
AH= Enthalpy variation between reactants and combustion products (kJ/kg)
m ~ Mass flow rate (kg/s)
p= Pressure (bar)
Q= Heat transfer rate (kW)
s, S = Specific entropy (kJ/kgK), entropy rate (kW/K)
AS= Entropy variation between reactants and combustion products (kJ/kgK)
W= Power (kW)
q= Efficiency
0= Carnot factor (1 - To~T)
pm= Specific gas consumption

Superscripts and subscripts

b = Exergy
ch = Chemical
comp = Compressor
dest = Destroyed
e = Inlet
f= Furnace
fu = Fuel
g= Gas
ger = Generated
go = Reference for the calculation of gas exergy
gs = Gas at the exit of the separator
h = Heating
i= Indicates a flow or a module
o = Oil, reference for the calculation of exergy
oo = Reference for the calculation of oil exergy
os = Oil at the exit of the separator
overall = Considering the whole plant
pu = Pump

1577
1578 DE OLIVEIRA J U N I O R and VAN HOMBEECK: PETROLEUM SEPARATION PROCESSES

p --- Petroleum
po = Reference for the calculation of petroleum exergy
rec = Heat recovery system
s = Outlet
sep = Separator, separation process
t = Turbine
w = Water
wo = Reference for the calculation of water exergy.

INTRODUCTION

In an offshore platform, petroleum is separated into oil, gas and water. This plant consumes exergy
in order to heat the petroleum, compress the natural gas and pump the oil to the coast. The
fuel utilized in the offshore platform is normally part of the natural gas produced. This gas is
consumed in gas-turbines or engines, to generate electricity for the plant and to drive gas
compressors, and in furnaces to heat the petroleum before the separation process. The heating load
can be partially supplied by the exergy of turbine (or gas engine) exhaust gases. The recovery of
prime movers exhaust gases for heating purposes characterizes the offshore plant as a typical
cogeneration plant.
Figure 1 shows a scheme of the energy conversion processes that take place in an offshore
platform. It can be seen that there are two modules of gas turbines, one that drives a gas compressor

ELECTRIC LOAD

WASTE HEAT
0
PETROLEUM

COMPRESSOR
=

ii ilii Fi TR.SFER SUMS

~PETROLEUMJ._~
m

iiiiiiii!:!:iiii!JiiiiiilZJii]
[ii,
iiiiiiii
iiiiiiiii{iiiiiiii
i :SOOSTERPOMS
...
JJ WATER JJ

Fig. I. Schematic representation of a petroleum primary processing plant.

 DE OLIVEIRA JI3NIOR and VAN HOMBEECK: PETROLEUMSEPARATION PROCESSES 1579

Jrn~, AH+,,,,,asf., Bfu] Im0, h,, S., b.

T
---~1 mo, ho, $o, bo ]
m I I.,+,,,-.-,,,-, [
Fig. 2. Mass flow rate, energy, entropy and exergy rates in an offshore platform.

and one that is coupled to an electric generator, one booster compressor (driven by an electric
motor), a set of two pumps (driven by electric motors), a heat recovery system, a furnace and a
separator. The heat load required by the separator is supplied by the furnace and by the turbine
exhaust gases that are sent to the heat recovery system. Figure 1 shows also the flows of petroleum
(sent to the separator), water (discarded from the plant), oil (sent to the pumps) and gas (that is
partially consumed in the plant).
As natural gas is used as the plant fuel, inefficient energy conversion processes imply additional
petroleum consumption for the plant operation. This fact shows the importance of developing the
exergy analysis of the platform.

EXERGY ANALYSIS OF AN OFFSHORE PRIMARY PETROLEUM PROCESSING PLANT

Figure 2 shows the mass flow rates, enthalpy, entropy and exergy rates during the operation of
an offshore platform. Considering that it operates in steady-state conditions and that there are no
heat interactions with the environment, the balances of mass (restricted to the petroleum
separation), energy, entropy and exergy are given by equations (1)-(4).
mo + mg + m,,, =mp (1)

mphp + mfu A H f . = moho + mghg + mwh~ (2)

moSo + mgSg ~- m ~ s , -- (mpSp + mr, ASfu) = Sger (3)

mpbp + Bf, = mob° + mgbg + mwb~ + Bdo~,. (4)

Overall enthalpy and exergy of petroleum separation (considering the processes of separation,
compression and pumping that take place in the platform) are defined, respectively, by equations
(5) and (6):
Hover., = moho + mghg + m~hw -- mphp (5)

Bover~lt = mob° + mgbg"q- m w b . - mpbp. (6)

Writing equation (4) in terms of specific enthalpies and entropies:
mp[hp - hpo - To(sp - Spo)] + Bf. = mo[ho - hoo - To(so - Soo)]

+ mg[hg - hgo - To(sg - Sgo)] + mw[hw - hwo - To(s. - Swo)]+Bdes, (7)

it is possible to obtain the following expression:

Bfu = mo(ho - Toso) + mg(h~ - Tosg) + mw(hw - Tosw) - - mp(hp - Tosp)

- [mo(hoo - Tosoo) + m~(hgo - Tosgo) + mw(hwo - Toswo)- mp(hpo - Tospo)] + Bd,~t.

As the plant operates in steady-state conditions, according to Kotas [1]:
Eimi(hto - Tosio) = 0 (8)
1580 DE OLIVEIRA J(JNIOR and VAN HOMBEECK: PETROLEUMSEPARATION PROCESSES

and then equation (7) is reduced to

Bf~ = mo(ho - Toso) + rng(hg - Toss) + mw(hw - Tosw) - mp(hp - Tosp) + Bdes~. (9)
With equation (9) it is possible to evaluate the thermodynamic performance of the processes of
separation, compression and pumping that take place in the offshore platform. The exergetic
efficiency of these processes can be calculated by means of the following expression [2, 3]:
useful exergetic effect (10)
~/b = consumed exergy
For the plant presented in Fig. 2 the global exergetic efficiency is:
aoverall
[r/b]....." = Bfu

[r/b]..... . mo(ho - Toso) + mg(hg - Tosg) mw(hw- Tosw) - mp(hp - Tosp) (11)
= Bfu + Bfu

The exergetic efficiency of the main modules that compose the separation plant: separator
(including the heat recovery system and the furnace), compressor and pumping, are given by
equations (12)-(14):
[r/b]sep = mo(hos - Tosos) + mg(hg~ - ToSgs)at - mw(hw - Tosw) - mp(hp - ToSp) (12)

[?]b]comp = mg(b~omp~-- bcompe ) (13)

Wcomp

[r/b]pu - mo(bpo,s - bpo,e) (14)

W~o
It is interesting to introduce the factor f , defined as the relation between the exergy consumed by
each module and the exergy consumed by the plant. Their expressions are:

f~ep -- Bfu (15)

fcomp = We°raP (16)

Bru

fpu = Wp~ (17)

nfu "

With the factors f,. it is possible to relate the global efficiency [~/b]g~ob~with the exergetic efficiencies
of each module:
[?]b] ..... 11 = [r/b]sepfsep "1- [r/b]compfcomp "[- [r/b]pqfpu. (18)
It must be pointed out that
fsep "{"fcomp"~-fpu < 1 (19)
due to the irreversible processes of heating, compression and pumping. The [r/b]..... ~ can also be
written as:
[r/,,] ..... ,, = z([r/,,]~). (20)

In this way the importance of each module, in the overall exergetic efficiency, can be
 DE OL1VEIRA JI3NIOR and VAN HOMBEECK: PETROLEUM SEPARATION PROCESSES 1581

characterized, allowing the evaluation of the influence of the consumed exergy and of the efficiency
of the energy conversion processes of each module.
Considering that gas compressors and oil pumps are driven by gas turbines with thermal
efficiency r/t, that the heat recovery system has a thermal efficiency r/.... and that the furnace has
a thermal efficiency r/f, the consumed exergy is done by:
Bfu = B, + Bf. (21)
The exergy rates B, and Bf are given, respectively, by equations (22) and (23):

8, = 10:(Wcomp + W.u)) (22)

Of
(23)

where the heat transfer rate in the furnace is:

Qr=(Qh- r/r ~,~ Wpu)) (24)

neglecting turbine heat losses.

It can be observed that equation (23) reduces to equation (24) divided by the thermal efficiency
of the furnace (based on the lower heating value), when the chemical exergy of the fuel can be
considered close to the lower heating value. The mass flowrate of gas consumed in the turbines
and in the furnace is:

Br.
mfu = B-~h" (25)

The calculation of mfu allows to establish the relation between the mass flow rates of fuel gas and
of the produced gas in the platform:
pm = mfu/mg. (26)
This parameter, the specific gas consumption, can be considered as another platform performance
parameter.

EXERGY EVALUATION OF AN OFFSHORE PETROLEUM SEPARATION PLANT

Plant description
The analyzed offshore plant is composed of the following modules, presented in Fig. 3:
• separation, with a petroleum heater and two three-phase separators;
• compression, with four compression stages and five sets of gas cooling and liquid separation;
• pumping, with two pumps.
There is one inlet flow of petroleum (section FEED), one outlet flow of gas (section GAS), one
outlet flow of oil (section OIL) and two outlet flows of water (Sections 1A and 2A). Table 1 shows
the mole fractions of components of the inlet flow of petroleum and the outlet flows of oil and
gas. Table 2(a) and (b) shows important variables in several sections of the plant. The prime movers
of compressors and pumps are gas-turbines (that drive these machines directly and by means of
an electric motor), that are equipped with heat recovery systems in order to heat the petroleum
before the separation operation. The heating load is complemented by the use of a furnace that
consumes fuel gas.

Analysis of the plant

The analysis of the plant was developed utilizing the process simulator HYSIM, version C
1582 D E O L I V E I R A J I 3 N I O R and VAN H O M B E E C K : P E T R O L E U M S E P A R A T I O N PROCESSES

Compression Modul e
. . . . .

S - Separator I
C - Compressor I
L - Liquid Separator [

I
I

Separation
Module

Pumping M o d u l e

Fig. 3. Scheme of the analyzed offshore platform.

2.50 [4], in order to obtain the thermodynamic properties of the substances considered in the
analysis, and to give the energy balances for each module. The Peng-Robinson equation of state [5]
was chosen for the characterization of the behavior of petroleum and its derivatives. The
performance parameters of the equipment of the plant are listed below:

• polytropic efficiency of compression: 0.75

• mechanical efficiency of compressors: 0.90

Table 1. Mole fractions of inlet and outlet

platform flows
Section/
Component Feed Gas Oil
Methane 0.1255 0.8468 0.0037
Ethane 0.0092 0.0613 0.0022
Propane 0.0066 0.0421 0.0061
/-butane 0.0016 0.0094 0.0035
n-butane 0.0034 0.0190 0.0097
i-pentane 0.0014 0.0062 0.0080
n-pentane 0.0018 0.0072 0.0121
n-hexane 0.0031 0.0056 0.0370
n-heptane 0.0034 0.0014 0.0521
n-octane 0.0042 0.0002 0.0682
n-nonane 0.0066 -- 0.1078
n-decane 0.0019 -- 0.0310
n-Cll 0.0039 -- 0.0637
C12 + 0.0363 -- 0.5932
H20 0.7912 0.0008 0.0018
Nz -- -- --
C02 -- -- --
 DE OLIVEIRA JI~INIOR and VAN HOMBEECK: PETROLEUM SEPARATION PROCESSES 1583

Table 2a. Flow characteristics

Section/
variable Feed Gas Oil lA 2A 3 4
m (t/h) 450.000 29.013 285.068 135.917 -- 34.230 285.068
p (bar) 10.78 173.87 68.65 9.3 9.3 2.2
T (~C) 7.4 40.0 92.7 90.0 -- 90.0 89.9
H (kW) -67343.3 2930.1 16006.6 -61659.4 -- 6083.6 15240.1
s (kJ/kgK) 2.1178 6.6590 1.6933 3.8345 -- 8.1598 1.6810

Table 2b. Flow characteristics

Section/
variable 5 6 7 8 9 10 M2
m (t/h) 0.852 0.115 3.857 1.3095 0.774 0.014 6.069
p (bar) 2.2 1.7 8.6 22.9 69.9 173.9 1.7
T (~'C) 89.8 40.0 40.0 40.0 40.0 40.0 30.9
H (kW) 126.4 - 14.4 - 1015.8 -69.3 - 18.85 -7.0 - 1125.4
s (kJ/kgK) 5.7892 1.6896 2.2572 1.6192 2.2280 3.1787 2.1532

• t r a n s m i s s i o n efficiency: 0.95
• p u m p efficiency: 0.75
• gas t u r b i n e thermal efficiency: 0.30
• furnace t h e r m a l efficiency: 0.85
• heat recovery system thermal efficiency: 0.60.

The calculation of the chemical exergy of fuel gas was based o n data presented by K o t a s [1].
Tables 3-6 present some p e r f o r m a n c e parameters of the m o d u l e s a n d the whole offshore plant.
The results o f Tables 5 a n d 6 p o i n t out:

• The i m p o r t a n c e of the p e t r o l e u m heating o p e r a t i o n in the exergy c o n s u m p t i o n of the plant.

As the s e p a r a t i o n t e m p e r a t u r e was fixed at 90°C (due to the p e t r o l e u m characteristics), the
heating load required a n exergy c o n s u m p t i o n in the furnace 17% higher t h a n that of turbine,
even with the use of the heat recovery system.
• H e a t i n g a n d compression o p e r a t i o n s are the m a i n exergy c o n s u m e r s of the plant.
• The exergetic efficiency o f the s e p a r a t i o n m o d u l e presents the lowest value of the plant, due
to the difference between the separation t e m p e r a t u r e a n d the c o m b u s t i o n / e x h a u s t gases
temperature.
• T h e low value of [r/b]..... ,, is due to the high heating load required by the p l a n t a n d because
mechanical power is generated in a n internal c o m b u s t i o n m a c h i n e with a n exergetic efficiency
lower t h a n 30%.

Table 3. Energy inputs of the modules/equipment

Energy inputs (kW)
Heating load 28190.6
Power of compressor 1 40.8
Power of compressor 2 1493.3
Power of compressor 3 1604.5
Power of compressor 4 1139.7
Pumping power 835.3

Table 4. Exergy inputs of the

platform
Exergy inputs (kW)
Turbine demand 20942.8
Furnace demand 24492.1
Total demand 45434.9
1584 DE OLIVEIRA JI~NIOR and VAN HOMBEECK: PETROLEUM SEPARATIONPROCESSES

Table 5. Performance parameters of the modules of the

platform
Parameter/
module Separation Compression Pumping
r/* 0.222 0.480 0.621
f 0.186 0.094 0.018
(nf) 0.041 0.045 0.011
*To = 25°C, 0 = 0.3, (Bch)fu-----50953 kJ/kg.

Table 6. Performance parameters of the offshore platform

Overall separation exergy (kW) 4407.2
Overall exergetic efficiency 0.097
Combustion gas consumption (kg/h) 3210
Specific gas consumption 0.111

CONCLUSIONS

The methodology of exergetic evaluation, presented here, quantifies the thermodynamic

performance of an offshore petroleum separation plant as well as the performance of each one of
its components. The introduction of the factor fl is useful in order to characterize the influence of
each module of the plant in the overall exergy consumption.
The analysis developed for a typical offshore plant points out the importance of the exergy
consumption in heating operations that precede the separation of petroleum, showing the relevance
of the utilization of the exergy associated to the exhaust gases of gas turbines, as well as the correct
choice of the separation temperature. The utilization of new separation petroleum technologies like
the centrifugal separation can increase the exergetic performance of the plant and this will be the
subject of another paper.

REFERENCES
1. Kotas, T. J., The Exergy Method of Thermal Plant Analysis. Butterworths, London, 1985, pp. 236, 265.
2. de Oliveira Jfinior, S. et al. New structures and new types of heat transformers. Proceedings of the 3rd Brazilian Thermal
Sciences Meeting, Florian6polis, 1990, pp. 883-888.
3. Tsatsaronis, G., On the efficiencyof energy systems. Proceedings of the International Conference ECOS'95, Istanbul,
1995, pp. 53-60.
4. HYSIM User's Guide--Version C1.50, Hyprotech Ltd, 1991.
5. Peng, D. Y. and Robinson, D. B., A two-constantequation of state. In Industrial Engineering Chemistry Fundamentals,
1976, 15, 59-64.