Chemical Engineering

in
Oil & Gas Industry
13-17 Jul 2022
Ahmed Mohamed Shafik Ali Attia
Process & Operations Engineering Expert
professionalche@gmail.com
Biography

Name: Ahmed Mohamed

Shafik Ali Attia
Age: 42 years 5 months 17
days 18 hrs 30 minutes
Marital Status: Married and
blessed with two Angels
Professional memberships

• OPITO Certified Competence Assessor – OPITO

• Certified Functional Safety Engineer – TUVSUD

• Certified PHA HAZOP Leader – TUVSUD

• Certified Process Safety Professional – AICHE

• Certified Engineer for SIL Design and Assessment – TUVSUD

• Certified Aspen HYSYS User

• Professional Engineer - Engineers Australia

• American Institute of Chemical Engineers

Conducted various Free Online Webinars attended by more than 200 process, operations, and
piping engineers around the world. Recognized as Professional Speaker by SPE – Society of
Petroleum Engineers – Egypt Chapter and IRAQ Chapter, covering the following topics:

• Process Optimization principles and techniques.

• Steam Turbines design and troubleshooting.
• Pressure Transient Analysis and surge protection systems.
• Flare system design guidelines.
• Process Safety Management and importance to O&G development.
• Alarm Management for improvement of Plants Productivity.
• Gas process operation.
• Plant Process performance and efficiency monitoring.
• Chemical Engineering in Oil & Gas Industry.
• Process Optimization and Process Control.
• Process engineering contribution to Risk Bases Inspection RBI application.
• Distillation column Design Consideration.
• Sulphur production and granulation.
 Lecture - 1
Oil & Gas Overview
 • Today, we will have a Bird’s
View of the Oil & Gas
Industry.

Objective • We will get to know our

Potential Roles in the
development of this industry.
 • Introduction

• Process Overview

• Major Hazards
Agenda
• Market Review

• What are A Chemical Engineer

Roles in oil & gas?
 Introduction
•There is no doubt that oil and gas are one
of the most important resources that
countries rely on to develop their
economies.
•It is formed by the decomposition of
dead plants and animals that were trapped
beneath the ground for millions of years
and then swap up through the soil as a
result of high pressure and temperatures.
•Oil & gas compound consists mainly of
Carbon & Hydrogen atoms, that’s why it is
called HYDROCARBON.
 • Transportation Fuel (gasoline, diesel fuel, jet/aviation fuel,
marine fuel oil/MFO, natural gas vehicle/NGV, high speed
diesel/HSD)
• Power Plant Fuel (natural gas, compressed natural gas/CNG,
diesel fuel)
• Household Fuel (heating oil, liquefied petroleum gas/LPG,
kerosene)
Applications • Petrochemical Products (plastic, fertilizer, synthetic fiber,
synthetic rubber, insecticides, pharmaceuticals, detergent, paints,
of O&G in creams, solvent, industrial chemical, industrial gas, etc.)
• Asphalt / bitumen
our Life
O&G
Sectors
What is E & P?
• E & P Stands for Exploration & Production, where there are two stages required to be full filled
prior to starting production:
Exploration
• Using gravity surveying, magnetic surveying, and
seismic reflection surveying, activities are carried
out with the objective of discovering oil and gas
prospects beneath the earth's surface.
• Once a prospect is identified, it is then decided if it
is worth exploring and drilling in order to find out
if there are any oil and gas reserves present.
• There is a high probability that most wildcat driller
attempts will fail to find oil and gas (dry holes), and
only a small number of shots (less than 25%) will
find the oil and gas layer.
• After discovery, more drilling is required to
“appraise” the reservoir.
Appraisal
• The purpose of this is to determine the reservoir
size, which defines the volume of the reservoir,
thereby allowing better characteristics to be
derived.
• MMbbls can refer to the cubic feet of oil, and Bcf
can refer to the cubic feet of gas. Both these terms
refer to the initial in-place volumes (Oil Initial In
Place / OIIP and Gas Initial In Place / GIIP) as
well as the recoverable volumes.
• There are several important characteristics to take
into consideration such as pressure, temperature,
oil viscosity, hydrocarbon composition,
compartmentalization, and contaminants.
E & P Main Steps
O & G Overall Process Scheme
• Offshore and Separation
• NGL
• LNG
• GTL
• Refinery
• Utilities
Offshore & Separation
Offshore Process Overview
• Upon extraction of the oil and gas mixture from the wells through the
production facility, it will need to be separated into its main parts,
water, oil, and gas, then it will be treated primarily, and then it will be
distributed to the next point of use.
• A separator is used to separate the oil, gas, and water mixtures.
• After the oil has been stabilized by removing more gas, it will then be
pumped to refineries through pipelines or vessels.
• Gas will be treated to remove more liquid, then compressed to the
Gas processing plants through pipelines.
• Water will be treated before being disposed of overboard / re-injected
into the reservoir.
Offshore Process Scheme

Start
To Gas
Plant

To Oil
Refinery

Re-inject /
Disposal
NGL
NGL Process Overview

• Natural-gas processing is a range of industrial processes designed

to purify raw natural gas by removing impurities and heavy
hydrocarbons to produce what is known as pipeline-quality dry
natural gas.

• Natural-gas processing plants purify raw natural gas by removing

contaminants such as solids, water, carbon dioxide (CO2),
hydrogen sulfide (H2S), mercury, and higher molecular mass
hydrocarbons. Some of the substances which contaminate natural
gas have economic value and are further processed or sold.
NGL Process Overview
• It also shows how processing of the raw natural gas yields these
main products:

1. Natural gas to the domestic gas network and LNG facilities.

2. Ethane and Propane to the petrochemical industry.
3. Propane, Butane, and Pentane, LPG.
4. Natural gas liquids (NGL) Condensate, C5+, to
isomerization units in refineries.
5. Sulfur.
NGL Process Scheme
LNG
LNG Process Overview

• LNG is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with a minimum of

ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and
safety of non-pressurized storage or transport.

• It takes up about 1/600th the volume of natural gas in the gaseous state
(at standard conditions for temperature and pressure).

• It is odorless, colorless, non-toxic, and non-corrosive. Hazards include

flammability after vaporization into a gaseous state, freezing, and
asphyxia.
LNG Process Overview

• The liquefaction process involves the removal of certain components,

such as dust, acid gases, helium, water, and heavy hydrocarbons, which
could cause difficulty downstream.
• The natural gas is then condensed into a liquid at close to atmospheric
pressure by cooling it to approximately −162 °C (−260 °F); maximum
transport pressure is set at around 25 kPa (4 psi).
LNG Process Scheme
3D Model of LNG Train
GTL
GTL Process Overview
• Gas to liquids (GTL) is a process to convert natural gas into longer-
chain hydrocarbons, such as Naphtha, Kero, and diesel fuel.

• Methane-rich gases are converted into liquid synthetic fuels mainly

using Fischer–Tropsch processes that convert carbon monoxide and
hydrogen into hydrocarbons.

• The Fischer–Tropsch process starts with partial oxidation of methane

(natural gas) to carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen gas and
water.
GTL Process Overview

• The ratio of carbon monoxide to hydrogen is adjusted using the water

gas shift reaction, while the excess carbon dioxide is removed.
Removing the water yields synthesis gas (syngas).

• Syngas is allowed to react over an iron or cobalt catalyst to produce

liquid hydrocarbons.
GTL Process Scheme
Refinery
Refinery Process Overview
• An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant
where crude oil is transformed and refined into more useful products
such as petroleum naphtha, gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating
oil, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas, jet fuel, and fuel oils.
• Oil refineries are typically large, sprawling industrial complexes with
extensive piping running throughout, carrying streams of fluids
between large chemical processing units, such as distillation columns.

• Petroleum refineries are very large industrial complexes that involve

many different processing units and auxiliary facilities such as utility
units and storage tanks.
• An oil refinery is considered an essential part of the downstream side
of the petroleum industry.
Refinery Process Scheme
Utilities
Utilities - General
• Air Separation Plant: Produce the following required utilities
1. Instrument Air
2. Plant Air
3. Nitrogen (Liquid / Gaseous)
4. Oxygen (Liquid / Gaseous)
• Water Treatment Plant: Produce water used in the process at the required
specification for process water, potable water, and demi-water for Boilers to
generate steam with different pressure profiles (HP/MP/LP)
• Wastewater Treatment: Treat all the process unit's wastewater to achieve either
the disposal spec (guided by environmental regulations) or reuse as process
water.
• Power generation: Produce the required Power to run the facility/plant.
• Fuel Gas System: Ensure the availability of the required fuel gas to run the
facility/plant.
MAJOR EQUIPMENT
Major Equipment in O & G
• Pipelines
• Separators
• Pumps
• Compressors
• Valves As a chemical Engineer, You should be able to
design, operate, monitor performance and
• Turbines optimize these items.
• Tanks
• Pressurized vessels
• Reactors
• Heat exchangers
• Distillation columns
MAJOR HAZARDS
What is Risk?

Risk = Probability * Consequence

• Probability: What is the likelihood that something may happen?
• Consequence: What is the result of the incident happening?
• Assessing Probability and Consequence are HIGHLY dependent
on a strong Knowledge of Process Systems and Standards!

39
Why do you need to know HAZARDS in your plant?
January 7 February 4 March 2 April 1 April 20 June 17

Chemical Plant Worker Burned Fatality At 7 Fatalities At 11 Fatalities In 4 Workers Hurt

Explosion In Montana Navajo Tesoro Deepwater During Release
Results In 2 Refining Co. Refinery In Refinery in Horizon At Valero’s
Deaths In Fire New Mexico Washington Explosion Benecia
Northwest Due To Refinery
China Explosion
Major Hazards
• Vehicle Collisions
• Struck-By/ Caught-In/ Caught-Between
• Explosions and Fires
• Released gas / Vapors
• Falls
• Confined Spaces
• Ergonomic Hazards
• High-Pressure Lines and Equipment
• Electrical and Other Hazardous Energy
As a chemical Engineer, You should be able
• Machine Hazards to identify HAZARDS embedded in your
Process and determine a mitigation plan to
ensure safe and reliable operation.
What’s wrong here?
 2.Union located
inside first block
valve

3.No seal welds or

1. Missing check valve gussets (braces)

What’s wrong here?

What’s wrong here?
MARKET REVIEW
Chemical Engineer Role
Why a Chemical Engineer Can Be of g reat benefit
to O&G Plant?
Chemical Engineers’ Potential Roles
• Operations
• Process Engineering
1. Design
2. Operations Technical Support
3. Process Control
4. Process Optimization
• Process Safety / Loss Prevention
• Environmental Engineering
• Production Planning
• Corrosion Engineering
• Reliability Engineering
THANK YOU
Backup
Backup
 Refrigeration
Refrigeration cools the natural gas stream by passing
the stream through a chiller. Chilling causes the heavier
hydrocarbons to liquefy, and these can then be
separated from the gas
 E-2 GSales
F-2 E-1
D-1 as
D-1 D-1
F-1 A B C E-6

E-3 C-1
V-3
FEED
GAS A-1
V-1 C-2
E-4 E-8
C-4
H-1

V-4 V-13
Enterm. V-12
C-3
Feed Gas V-5

E-6
E-5 LPG to
A-3 Pumping
V-9 V-10

V-6
T-1 T-2 P-3
P-2 Cond. to
E-7
ST-1/2/3/4 Pumping
R-1 R-2

A-4

Typical LPG plant

 Storage , Loading and Chemical injection .

• Spherical tanks used to

minimize force against
the tank wall .

Mercaptan injected into

LPG loading line as an
odorant