Upstream Process Engineering Course: 2. Product and Discharge Specifications

Upstream Process
Engineering Course
2. Product and Discharge
Specifications
Upstream Process Engineering Course Prepared by Genesis Oil and Gas Consultants Ltd Product and Discharge Specifications
1
Contents
• Crude Oil Product Specifications • Quality Tests for LPG
• RVP Specification • Valuation of Crude Oil
• Gas Sales • Crude Yields
• Water Content of Natural Gas • Value Adjustment
• Wobbe Index • Brent Blend
• Gas Transportation • Crude Oil Contaminants
• LPG Specification • Metal Contaminants
2
Crude Oil Product Specifications
• Crude oil is usually exported to market by tanker or by pipeline. Road and
rail shipments are sometimes used for smaller volumes.
• For safe handling of crude, the vapour pressure and maximum delivery
temperature are specified.
• For storage in tanks and transport by ship/road/rail, the True Vapour
Pressure (TVP) must be less than 1 bara to prevent vapour loss in transit.
• Pipeline TVP is set in conjunction with the operating parameters of the
system. TVP will be less than the lowest system pressure to prevent
vapour breakout.
• The TVP of the export oil is controlled by the exporting plant operating The lighter ends of the
conditions, e.g. pressure and temperature of the final stage of separation. crude (shaded area) are
removed to meet the TVP
• specification of the export
Water and salt content also need to meet specified values to suit
system
downstream processing requirements.
3
Crude Oil Product Specifications
• For pipeline transmission other variables require to be controlled. These are

fixed by the sales requirement, the following are typical values
– Water content: 2-5 wt %
– Salt content: 70 - 200 mg per litre
• Note, higher water contents reduce the pipeline or storage capacity and crude
sales value
• For tanker transport, a more stringent water specification is often specified:
– BS&W (Basic Sediment and Water) Content: 0.5 vol% maximum
• Pour point and/or viscosity may be considered for pipeline capacity and
storage problems but in general facilities are designed to accept the product
rather than vice versa
4
RVP Specification
Nomograph for estimating the RVP of crude oil
TVP cannot be measured directly, so instead
an experimental method measures the Reid
Vapour Pressure (RVP). The TVP is then
calculated using a correction factor.
RVP is determined experimentally as follows.

The sample is placed in a standard cell –
one fifth oil four fifths air. The RVP is
the pressure of the vapour in the cell at
100 ºF
Typical RVP spec is 0.7 bara (10 psia) at 38 ºC.
5
Gas Sales Specifications
• In order to condition gas for sales distribution a range of quality specifications
require to be achieved. These vary from country to country, common features
are hydrocarbon and water dewpoint, temperature, pressure and composition
e.g. H2S and CO2
• Water dewpoint limits are required to avoid corrosion and hydrate formation,
and depend on typical ambient conditions. May be stated as a dewpoint (e.g.
-10 deg C at 69 barg) or as a water content (e.g 2lbs/ mmscf).
• Temperature - A maximum temperature at the delivery point may be specified,

usually around 30-50 ºC
• Pressure - The maximum gas pressure will be decided by the design pressure of
the system and the allowable back pressure on other system entrants. Nominal
gas pressure is the normal entry pressure to the pipeline, typically 70 - 140 Bar
6
Gas Sales
• Hydrocarbon Dewpoint Control
– To prevent hydrocarbon condensation, with the
consequences of the pipeline flowing two-phase,
the pipeline operator often sets a limit on the gas
cricondenbar. The significance of the
cricondenbar is evident from the phase envelope -
provided system pressures are higher than the
cricondenbar then a single phase will always exist
irrespective of temperature. A typical
cricondenbar specification is 105-110 bara
maximum.
– An alternative to cricondenbar control a
hydrocarbon dewpoint or a liquid loading
maximum value may be given
• Solids: Free of particulates in amounts
detrimental to transmission and
utilisation equipment
7
Gas Sales
• The sales gas specification will be subject to a pricing agreement
which is likely to include the following:
– Gross Calorific Value (GCV) or Higher Heating Value (HHV) GCV of dry
• The total heat produced by combustion of the fuel gas at 15 ºC
– Net Calorific Value (NCV) or Lower Heating Value (LHV) & 101.325
• The total heat produced by combustion of the fuel minus the latent heat Gas kPa (MJ/m 3)
contained in the water vapour discharged as fuel gas, NCV represents the Methane 37.69
available heat Ethane 66.03
– Wobbe Index (WI) Propane 93.97
• Wobbe Index is used to compare fuel quality for different gases it i-Butane 121.43
characterises flame stability n-Butane 121.78
• WI is the ratio of GCV to the square root of the gas s.g. - units are MJ/Sm 3 i-Pentane 149.32
• This may be estimated from the molecular weight of the gas and corrected n-Pentane 149.65
for N2 and CO2 Hexane 177.56
– Impurities Heptane 205.43
• Inert gases, usually N2/Ar, are removed to improve the gross calorific value CO2 0
of the gas H2S 23.79
– Sulphur Content
• Sulphur content is controlled for safety reasons, to prevent pipeline corrosion
and improve the sales value of the gas
8
Sales Gas Specifications
Sales Gas Specifications
Units Continental Sales Gas UK Sales Gas (Transco) US
Gross Calorific Value MJ/Nm3 38 - 43.6 38.9 - 44.6 35 - 45
Wobbe Index MJ/Nm3 46.6 - 52.1 48.2 - 51.2
Hydrocarbon Dew Point
@ 2 - 70 bara ºC -3.0 -1.0 45 ºF @ 400 psig
Water Dew Point
@ 69 bara ºC -8.0 -10.0 7lb/MMSCF
Impurities
Oxygen mol % 0.50 0.001 0.2
Carbon Dioxide mol % 2.50 2.0 - 4.0 2
Nitrogen mol % 1.00 7.00 1-2
Hydrogen Sulphide ppm 5.00 1.00 4.00
Total Sulphur ppm 15.00 15.00
Mercury mg/Nm3 5.00
Delivery Temperature 5 - 30 ºC 1 - 38 ºC 120 ºF (max)
Delivery Pressure Bara 51.00 69.00
9
Water Content of Natural Gas
10
Wobbe Index
11
Gas Transportation
• For some applications gas may be transported from a remote facility to a
conditioning terminal - St Fergus - prior to gas sales. In this instance the gas
need only be partially processed for transportation between the remote site and
the terminal.
• The degree of processing will be application specific but is likely to include
• Water dewpointing
• Hydrocarbon dewpointing
• Acid gas treatment
• An alternative to water dewpointing is continuous addition of hydrate
suppressant and corrosion inhibitor. This is used in some SNS fields.
12
LPG Specification
Product Designation
Product Characteristics Commercial Propane Commercial Butane Commercial B-P Mixtures
Predominantly mixtures
Predominantly Predominantly of butanes and/or
propanes and/or butanes and/or butylenes with propane
Composition propylenes butylenes and/or propylene
Vapour Pressure
@ 100 ºF, max. 208 70 208
@ 37.8 ºC, max. 1434 483 1434
Volatile Residue
temperature @ 95% evaporation,
ºF, max -37 36 36
ºC, max -38.3 2.2 2.2
butane and heavier, liquid vol %, max. 2.5 - -
pentane and heavier, liquid vol %, max. - 2 2
Residual Matter
residue on evaporation of 100 cm3, max 0.05 cm3 - -
oil stain observation pass (*) - -
Corrosion, copper strip, max. No. 1 No. 1 No. 1
Total sulphur, mg/kg 185 140 140
Moisure content pass - -
Free water content - none none
(*) An acceptable product shall not yield a persistent oil ring when 0.3 cm 3 of solvent residue mixture
is added to a filter paper in 0.1 increments and examined in daylight as described in ASTM D-2158
13
Quality Tests for LPG
• The standard test for corrosivity (H 2S) is the Copper Corrosion Test (ASTM D-1838)
– A polished copper strip is immersed in the sample for 1 hour at 38ºC
– The test strip is then rated according to the following standards:
• No. 1 Slight tarnish (light to dark orange)
• No. 2 Moderate tarnish (red, lavender, brassy gold)
• No. 3 Dark tarnish (magenta, red, green)
• No. 4 Corrosion (black, dark grey, brown)
• There are several methods of determining the acceptable levels of moisture in propane
– The Cobalt Bromide Test
• The cobalt bromide is supported on white cotton wadding and exposed to a stream of propane vapour, chilled to 0 ºC
• The colour of cobalt bromide changes from green to lavender at about 30% relative humidity indicating wet gas
– The Valve-Freeze Method
• A specially constructed and calibrated orifice designed to simulate expansion of propane through a pressure
regulator
• A liquid sample is passed through the valve at a pre-set flowrate and the time taken for the valve to freeze and
interrupt flow determines whether or not the propane is commercially ‘dry’
– The Bureau of Mines Dew Point Test
• A simple field test designed to use calculate moisture content of natural gases
• Not recommended as the accuracy is dependant on temperature and pressure which are difficult to control
14
Valuation of Crude Oil
• When evaluating the value of a crude produced from a new field, it will be compared to the ‘benchmark’
crude, which for the North Sea is usually Brent Blend
• This takes into account the impact on the refinery of processing and any unusual qualities in the crude, for
example product yields and qualities
Blend ( or Grade) US$/bbl US$/bbl

Fri. 31/01/03 Fri. 22/09/06
OPEC Basket 30.58 57.55
Dubai Fateh 29.13 57.94
Bonny Light 33.07 62.15
N. Sea Brent 32.50 60.49
Urals/ Mediterranean 31.45 57.48
W. Texas Intermediate 33.53 54.46
World Average - 56.38
15
Valuation of Crude Oil
• When evaluating the value of a crude produced from a new field, it will be compared to
the ‘benchmark’ crude, which for the North Sea is usually Brent Blend
• This takes into account the impact on the refinery of processing and any unusual
qualities in the crude, for example product yields and qualities
• Any new crude is likely to be de-valued in order for a refinery to take the risk of
processing an unknown feed, this discount may be in the range of $0.10 to $1.00 per
barrel
• As the refineries experience handling the crude and market acceptance grows, these
discounts may be moderated
• The method of loading the crude oil can also affect its initial market value, the
perceived or actual risks of offshore loading such as delays due to the weather could de-
value a crude compared with pipeline delivery which is assumed to be more reliable
• Pre-production assay samples of all the wells to be produced are blended in the
appropriate production ratios to generate data for the valuation analysis
• Crude is separated into three key distillation cuts, Naphtha, Middle Distillate and
Residue as a basis for valuation.
16
Crude Yields
• Naphtha • Approximate values March 2006
– Light naphtha (C5 - 95ºC) follows (US$ per metric tonne):
– Medium Naphtha (95 - 150ºC) – C4 $435-490/ te
– Heavy Naphtha (150 - 180ºC) – Naphtha $506-514 / te
• Middle Distillate – Middle Distillate $530-540/ te
– Kerosene (180 - 260ºC) • Gas Oil Specific Gravity
– Gas Oil (260 - 327ºC) – The European oil retail market is
– Heavy Distillate (327 - 370ºC) volume based
– To ensure consistency, cargo's are
• Residue sold using the internationally agreed
– Vacuum Gasoil (350 - 565ºC) specific gravity of 0.845
– Vacuum Residue (565+ ºC) – For example, if the sales price is
$300/tonne and the actual gravity is
0.85, the actual sales price is:
0.845/0.850  300 = $298.24
17
Value Adjustment
• Specific crude values are adjusted to take account of variations in the
physical properties and compositional properties of the distillation cuts
• Naphtha C5-165 ºC
– no correction
• Gas Oil 165-350 ºC
– s.g. adjustments made
• Vacuum Gas Oil 350 - 550 ºC
– s.g., sulphur and viscosity adjustments
• Fuel Oil 550+ ºC
– s.g., sulphur and viscosity adjustments
18
Brent Blend
• The properties of the North Sea benchmark crude are as follows:
– Gravity ºAPI 38.5
– Sulphur, wt % 0.36
– Pour Point, ºC 0
– Acid Number, mgKOH/g 0.05
• Crude Distillation Yields (wt %)
– C1 - C4 2.7
– Naphtha (C5 - 180ºC) 26.1
– Middle Distillate (180 - 370 ºC) 34.4
– Residue (370+ ºC) 36.9
• Middle Distillate Properties
– Kerosene smoke point, mm 22.8
– Gasoil cetane index 51.7
– Gasoil density @ 15ºC 0.848
– Gasoil sulphur content, wt% 0.22
19
Crude Oil Contaminants/Adjustments
Typical Limit Attracting

Quality Penalties Basis of Penalty
Blending, shipping and
Acidity 0.3 mg KOH/g working capital costs
Logarithmic relationship of fuel
oil prices at different sulphur
Sulphur Continuous levels
Catalyst costs in conversion
Metals 3 ppm (Ni + V) process
Conradson Carbon 5.7 wt% Loss of throughput
Nitrogen 1000 ppm in Vac. Gas Oil Yield Loss
Gas Oil S.G. Continuous Weight/volume relationship
Market prices for fuel oil and
Fuel Oil Viscosity Continuous gas oil
Conradson Carbon - A measurement of hydrocarbon mixtures tendency to leave carbon deposits (coke) when burned as fuel or subjected to intense
heat in a processing unit such as a catalytic cracker. The ConCarbon test involves destructive distillation -subjection to high temperature which causes
cracking, coking, and drives off any volatile hydrocarbons produced--and weighing the residue which remains. A somewhat similar test, Ramsbottom
carbon, also measures mixtures tendency to form coke. For reasons of laboratory convenience, analysts ordinarily restrict the Ramsbottom method to
hydrocarbons which flow 90 C. To obtain a useful indication of carbon residue formation by light distillates, such as high-speed diesel, the industry
often measures coke formation by the last 10 percent of the material to boil. This technique goes by names such as "ConCarbon residue on 10 percent
bottoms
20
Metal Contaminants
• Metals in crude oil (specifically; nickel, vanadium and sodium) are considered for three
distinct reasons
• Catalyst Poison
– In fluid catalytic cracking, nickel and vanadium act as a catalyst poison resulting in an
increased yield of hydrogen and coke at the expense of more valuable products
– The refiner can deal with this problem by either increasing the catalyst replacement rates or
blending feedstocks
– The absolute limits on metals are very site specific and range from 1-2 ppm for a conventional
VGO (Vacuum Gas Oil) cracker to 60 ppm for a state of the art residue cracker
• Residue Specification
– Anode grade coke for use in aluminium smelting commands a premium, the metals
specification is stricter of these grades of coke and consequently requires a feedstock (560ºC +
residue) of less than 400 ppm nickel plus vanadium
• Fuel Oil Specification
– Residual fuel oil has both a sodium and vanadium specification which refiners must meet
– For most of Europe this specification is 300 ppm vanadium, 150 ppm sodium
• Refiners will generally blend feedstocks to achieve this specification
21

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Upstream Process

• For pipeline transmission other variables require to be controlled. These are

RVP is determined experimentally as follows.

Typical RVP spec is 0.7 bara (10 psia) at 38 ºC.

• Temperature - A maximum temperature at the delivery point may be specified,

Blend ( or Grade) US$/bbl US$/bbl

Dubai Fateh 29.13 57.94

Bonny Light 33.07 62.15

N. Sea Brent 32.50 60.49

Urals/ Mediterranean 31.45 57.48

W. Texas Intermediate 33.53 54.46

World Average - 56.38

Typical Limit Attracting

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