Disjunctive Optimization Model for the Production Planning and Blending of Crude Oil in a Conventional Oil Field

Abstract

This work presents a multiperiod nonlinear formulation based on generalized disjunctive programming (GDP) that integrates the production planning and pooling problems in a conventional onshore oil reservoir with fixed topology and a surface interconnection scheme. The model optimizes the well production and blending decisions, while complying with product specifications, such as the sulfur content required by refineries downstream of the oil field. It considers wells from different reservoirs belonging to a given oil field, which are interconnected through manifolds at a network of pipes. The nonlinear behavior of well pressure as a function of time and bilinearities in mass balances are also taken into account. The objective function maximizes the accumulated production of the end products. Numerical results show that obtaining end products as result of blending operations is affected by production planning in wells, the capacity of intermediate tanks, and sulfur specification.