Combustion of Hydrogen Sulfide-Containing Oil on the Surface of the Water and Possible Applications of Combustion Method at Sea

Abstract

Oil production in sea conditions is associated with certain difficulties of the field development process due to technological peculiarities of oil production at sea. The Caspian Sea is an enclosed pond with a very sensitive ecosystem, therefore, maritime operations here meet higher requirements than in open ponds. The uniqueness of the Caspian Sea is in the fact that its biological wealth has no analogues in the world, therefore, mining without complying with strict ecological requirements can cause irreparable harm to the environment. This work deals with the analysis of the possibility to use controlled combustion in situ in case of accidents on the Kashagan oil field which is located in the Caspian Sea. The Kashagan oil field is distinguished by a high content of hydrogen sulphide. In order to study the operational possibilities of oil combustion in situ, the process of evaporation and combustion of desulfurized oil from the Kashagan field depending on salinity of water was studied in this work. The process of evaporation of hydrogen sulphide from hydrogen sulphide-containing oil and the peculiarities of its combustion on water surface were studied in this work. It has been stated that the main difference in oil combustion with a high content of hydrogen sulphide is that the oil combustion process leads to the increase of sulfur concentration in oil residue after combustion.