Environmentally Friendly Well Testing

Abstract

Abstract Burning hydrocarbons during cleanup and well-testing operations produces toxic gases, soot, acid rain, unburned hydrocarbons and noise. Not only do these emissions have a damaging impact on the environment, but they also impose an economic impact: the cost of the oil and gas flared and the cost of the equipment used during the flaring operations. A joint task force between two offshore operating companies in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), with the help of the contracted service provider, worked to implement innovative solutions to achieve flaring-emission elimination targets and eliminate environmental risk. Innovative equipment modifications and design, coupled with new operational procedures, were implemented to neutralize the fluids used to prepare the well for production (allowing well effluents to flow through the test separator during the cleanup phase) and to use a boosting system to pump the oil into the sealine (fully eliminating oil flaring). The initial stages of the solution neutralized the acid flowed back to surface and eliminated the oil flaring. A multiphase flowmeter was then introduced to the system. Not only did the multiphase flowmeter enhance operation flexibility, confidence in the information acquired, and accuracy of the results, but it also eliminated gas flaring after the cleanup period. The minimal pressure drop across the meter and the high-pressure rating of the meter allow well effluents to flow naturally through the sealine without separating the well-effluent phases. Deployment of the multiphase flowmeter in the system reduced the gas flaring by about 60% during the overall job.