DONG Energy Research Articles

Dirty to clean energy: Exploring ‘oil and gas majors transitioning'

This paper provides a conceptual context for exploring how oil and gas majors can shift from dirty fuels to clean energy forms. This energy evolution has become critical as climate change concerns challenge oil and gas corporations' future existence. In these socio-technical milieus, the Danish Oil and Natural Gas Company (DONG Energy) has evolved from a fossil-dominated undertaking to a green energy company, Ørsted. Thus, the paper introduces the concept of 'oil and gas majors transitioning' (OGMT), situates it within the 'energy transition' and 'energy transition governance' normative frameworks, applies it to the evolutionary journey of Ørsted as a case study, and provides insights on how other fossil fuel undertakings can also govern a possible transition to a green energy economy. The study suggests that mainstream oil and gas companies have great potential to transition to clean energy portfolios by optimising organizational steering, technical leverage, and intra- and inter-industry synergies. However, policy support from petroleum-producing host states remains pivotal to the success of OGMT.

Understanding and Modelling the Effect of Dissolved Metals on Solvent Degradation in Post Combustion CO2 Capture Based on Pilot Plant Experience

Oxidative degradation is a serious concern for upscaling of amine-based carbon capture technology. Different kinetic models have been proposed based on laboratory experiments, however the kinetic parameters included are limited to those relevant for a lab-scale system and not a capture plant. Besides, most of the models fail to recognize the catalytic effect of metals. The objective of this work is to develop a representative kinetic model based on an apparent auto-catalytic reaction mechanism between solvent degradation, corrosion and ammonia emissions. Measurements from four different pilot plants: (i) EnBW’s plant at Heilbronn, Germany (ii) TNO’s plant at Maasvlakte, The Netherlands; (iii) CSIRO’s plants at Loy Yang and Tarong, Australia and (iv) DONG Energy’s plant at Esbjerg, Denmark are utilized to propose a degradation kinetic model for 30 wt % ethanolamine (MEA) as the capture solvent. The kinetic parameters of the model were regressed based on the pilot plant campaign at EnBW. The kinetic model was validated by comparing it with the measurements at the remaining pilot campaigns. The model predicted the trends of ammonia emissions and metal concentration within the same order of magnitude. This study provides a methodology to establish a quantitative approach for predicting the onset of unacceptable degradation levels which can be further used to devise counter-measure strategies such as reclaiming and metal removal.

The Elsam Saga Danish Court Ruling on Excessive Pricing in Relation to the Delivery of Electricity (ELSAM III)

In an August 2016 ruling the Danish Maritime and Commercial High Court (So- & Handelsretten) confirmed that the Danish energy incumbent DONG Energy A/S (“DONG”) had infringed Article 102 and the Danish equivalent by charging excessive prices for the delivery of electricity in 2005-06. The judgment pertained to a 2007 decision by the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority (“DCCA”) which had subsequently been challenged by DONG on the basis that DONG was neither dominant nor had acted abusively. In DONG’s view it was merely supplying electricity at market prices and in accordance with commitments agreed with the DCCA in 2003. The case is the first of three inter-related abuse of dominance cases pending before the Danish courts regarding the Danish energy incumbent and its alleged abusive pricing of electricity. The judgment was almost instantly appealed. This comes at little surprise as another of the three cases involves claims for compensation now totaling approximately DKK 8 billion (EURO 1.07 billion). In the light of the magnitude of this compensation claim the legal fees and costs of challenging the underlying abuse cases would appear negligible. The August 2016 ruling is therefore only the first round of a legal battle that is expected to continue for the next couple of years. The case offers an interesting insight into how and how not to apply Article 102 to excessive pricing of electricity, as the DCCA 2007 decision sets out a number of principles in relation to the appropriate legal standards, costs and profits which were all reviewed by the court.

Technology Focus: Oilfield Chemistry (September 2016)

Technology Focus In years past, analytics in the oil field meant running iron and manganese counts to determine corrosivity in a system or measuring a phosphorous residual to determine a phosphonate scale-squeeze chemical-flowback profile. Today, this is a given and the techniques used to perform this can be found in most, if not all, technical service laboratories or even can be implemented directly in the field. In the past decade, analytics in the oil field has grown to be a major discipline, integrally supporting the application of many different types of production chemicals and becoming viewed by some as a technology differentiator. We are all aware of inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy and how it can determine the full cationic content of a produced water. I am sure, however, that not everyone is aware of the expanse of techniques now available to determine the presence of multiple chemistries in a single commingled produced-water sample. As field developments become more and more complex, the need for differentiated analytical techniques becomes increasingly pronounced. Imagine the scenario in a deepwater production system where several wet trees tie into a common manifold and flow through a single flowline to a host facility. Each of the wells can be treated with a scale squeeze treatment of different chemistry, and techniques are now available to distinguish between these similar species. Bear in mind also that this situation can be complicated by the presence of additional chemistries injected into the flowline such as a further scale inhibitor, corrosion inhibitor, hydrate inhibitor, and paraffin or asphaltene inhibitor. The featured papers summarize some of the state-of-the-art techniques in use today to quantify production-chemical content accurately and reliably and therefore manage the flow-assurance risks. These techniques include advanced high-pressure liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry and time-resolved fluorescence. Many of these techniques have been available for some years, but use in the oil field was complicated by the high salt content and presence of other contaminants such as dissolved organics and acids. This has required a significant advancement in pretreatment techniques for the fluids being analyzed, such as selective-ion and desalination cartridges. Readers are encouraged to research the suggested additional reading and take some time to delve into the references contained in these papers. This literature contains an extensive review of the history and current state of the art of analytical science for the oilfield chemist and engineer. JPT Recommended additional reading at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org. SPE 179908 Accurate Detection of Tagged Polymeric Scale Inhibitors in Oilfield Produced-Water Samples by Vesa Vuori, Kemira Oyj, et al. SPE 179902 New Robust Analytical Development for Sulfonated Polymers in Oilfield Brines by Kirsty MacKinnon, Scaled Solutions, et al. SPE 173744 Application of Advanced Mass-Spectroscopy Techniques for Improved Scale Management in Conventional and Subsea Fields by Steve Heath, DONG Energy, et al. SPE 173712 Alkalinity in the 21st Century: An Improved Methodology for Carbonate Determination in Oilfield Brines by Russell A. Fisher, Baker Hughes, et al.

Dong Energy funds first power plant using bugs to clean up waste

Dong Energy funds first power plant using bugs to clean up waste

Integrated Approach to Sand Management in Mature-Field Operations

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 174180, “Integrated Approach to Sand Management in Mature-Field Operations,” by M. Ruslan and P.Y. Lee, Dong Energy, prepared for the 2015 SPE European Formation Damage Conference, Budapest, Hungary, 3–5 June. The paper has not been peer reviewed. An integrated approach to sand management is crucial to address sanding risk in producers and injectors in a North Sea mature field. The concept incorporates the Lean Six Sigma approach and is developed with a major focus on the rehabilitation of mature fields, where each barrel of oil counts and uncertainty (both technical and economical) is an increasing challenge. High decline in productivity and increased operational challenges are common issues for mature fields. Introduction The Siri asset comprises a series of marginal mature fields. They are located 220 km from the coast parallel to the northwestern edge of the Danish sector of the North Sea, with average water depth of 60 m. The relatively weak cemented fine- to very-fine-grained Paleogene sandstones from the Siri Canyon in the Danish North Sea are characterized by high content of glauconite, occasionally greater than 30%. The high glauconite content is a result of the sand being stored at the sediment-starved Stavanger platform before being shed into the North Sea by density and mass flows. After deposition, controlled by seafloor topography and pre-existing gullies, the sands experience remobilization in various degrees. The reservoir quality is generally good, with high porosities and high permeability. The asset is currently under waterflooding secondary recovery, with the main objective being pressure support and displacement efficiency in respective parts of the reservoir. Multiple enhanced-oil-recovery projects are ongoing or under evaluation, such as simultaneous water and gas injection and huff ’n’ puff gas injection.

Modeling of the dynamics of wind to power conversion including high wind speed behavior

AbstractThis paper proposes and validates an efficient, generic and computationally simple dynamic model for the conversion of the wind speed at hub height into the electrical power by a wind turbine. This proposed wind turbine model was developed as a first step to simulate wind power time series for power system studies. This paper focuses on describing and validating the single wind turbine model, and is therefore neither describing wind speed modeling nor aggregation of contributions from a whole wind farm or a power system area. The state‐of‐the‐art is to use static power curves for the purpose of power system studies, but the idea of the proposed wind turbine model is to include the main dynamic effects in order to have a better representation of the fluctuations in the output power and of the fast power ramping especially because of high wind speed shutdowns of the wind turbine. The high wind speed shutdowns and restarts are represented as on–off switching rules that govern the output of the wind turbine at extreme wind speed conditions. The model uses the concept of equivalent wind speed, estimated from the single point (hub height) wind speed using a second‐order dynamic filter that is derived from an admittance function. The equivalent wind speed is a representation of the averaging of the wind speeds over the wind turbine rotor plane and is used as input to the static power curve to get the output power. The proposed wind turbine model is validated for the whole operating range using measurements available from the DONG Energy offshore wind farm Horns Rev 2. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Corrosion Investigations In 2-ethanolamine Based Post- Combustion CO2 Capture Pilot Plants

Corrosion is an essential operational factor to characterize for future demonstration and commercial carbon capture plants. In this paper, three approaches have been used to investigate corrosion in CO2 capture pilot plants: corrosion coupons, on-line monitoring and pilot plant inspection. These tests were realized in two pilot plants: Esbjerg, Dong Energy and Maasvlakte, TNO. Consistent results were obtained. In general, carbon steel and austenitic stainless steel behave well in most of the zones. Several more critical zones have been identified: stripper sump, high temperature lean solvent pipe, reboiler and reclaimer. Some corrosion mechanisms such as flow induced degradation, corrosion due to CO2 or the corrosive effect of the solvent degradation have been evidenced.

Inbicon makes lignocellulosic ethanol a commercial reality

Based on the IBUS process, Inbicon has built an advanced biorefinery at the port of Kalundborg in Denmark. In this biorefinery Danish wheat straw is converted to second generation (2G) ethanol, lignin pellets and C5 molasses. It is a demonstration plant working 24 h 7 days a week. In this way it is working as a commercial plant, but the size of the plant is not large enough to carry out a feasible production. It is possible to run as a commercial plant as the Danish Energy Agency has granted the design and construction phase and the European Commission's 7th Framework Programme for Energy Research (FP7) has granted the commissioning and first three years of operation.By the end of 2010 the demonstration plant has been totally commissioned and has gone into production phase. The first 2G ethanol has been sold to Statoil and is now distributed in 100 filling stations all over Denmark as Bio95 2G petrol. Lignin pellets are sold to DONG Energy and used as a high-quality solid biofuel in power plants. The C5 molasses is sold as biogas booster in local biogas plants. The demonstration plant has proved continuous operation from straw bales to fermentation and the expected yield of 2G ethanol (>198 L t−1 dry straw).The process is developed, the products are on the market, lignocellulosic ethanol is reality - but in the same way as for almost any other new energy technologies, further policy and market incentives are still needed before investors will construct the first full scale commercial plants.

Hierarchical model-based predictive control of a power plant portfolio

One of the main difficulties in large-scale implementation of renewable energy in existing power systems is that the production from renewable sources is difficult to predict and control. For this reason, fast and efficient control of controllable power producing units – so-called “portfolio control” – becomes increasingly important as the ratio of renewable energy in a power system grows. As a consequence, tomorrow's “smart grids” require highly flexible and scalable control systems compared to conventional power systems. This paper proposes a hierarchical model-based predictive control design for power system portfolio control, which aims specifically at meeting these demands. The design involves a two-layer hierarchical structure with clearly defined interfaces that facilitate an object-oriented implementation approach. The same hierarchical structure is reflected in the underlying optimisation problem, which is solved using Dantzig–Wolfe decomposition. This decomposition yields improved computational efficiency and better scalability compared to centralised methods. The proposed control scheme is compared to an existing, state-of-the-art portfolio control system (operated by DONG Energy in Western Denmark) via simulations on a real-world scenario. Despite limited tuning, the new controller shows improvements in terms of ability to track reference production as well as economic performance.

Reduction of CO2 emissions of coal fired power plants by optimizing steam water cycle

Abstract To fulfill the energy demand now and in the next decades, coal-fired power plants will be an essential part of the portfolio of power plants that supply electricity cheaply and in a reliable way. The specific CO2 emissions of these plants can be reduced by increasing the efficiency. For that reason KEMA did optimize the steam water cycle of ultra super critical (USC) coal-fired power plants within the EOS program. The improvements are based on the application of the so-called Master Cycle, and on the application of higher steam temperatures. In the Master Cycle cold reheat steam is used in an extra turbine and with steam extraction of this turbine feed water preheating is realized with reduced exergy losses. The turbine is called a tuning turbine reflecting the improved possibilities to tune and optimize the steam cycle with the new coupling where the regenerative heater train and the re-heaters have been decoupled. The Master Cycle is proposed by Dong Energy . The first approach deals with the USC technology with a steam temperature of 600 °C and reheat temperatures of 620 °C. This technology is available at the moment and is applied in new built coal-fired power plants. The second approach deals with the USC technology with a steam temperature of 700 °C and reheat temperature of 720 °C. The expectation is that this technology can be applied around 2025 with the same availability as the USC units with 600 °C. The thermodynamic analyzes are carried out with KEMA’s flow sheeting package SPENCE®. In all considered cases the thermal input was 2400 MWth. In case of the application of the Master Cycle a second reheat is introduced. Results will be discussed and presented in tables, t-s diagrams and h-p diagrams. Improvement of efficiency of coal fired power station technology can reduce the amount of CO2 emitted significantly. This paper shows that with current available technology and improvements an additional emission reduction of almost 10% can be realised by applying the USC 700 + MC. Compared to the world wide average an emission reduction of 66% can be achieved without CCS. In the continuation of the analysis post combustion technology will be integrated in the concept to analyze possible additional benefits of the master cycle with respect to steam supply for the regeneration of the solvents.

Geology of outer Horns Rev, Danish North Sea

In 2006, Dong Energy initiated the development of the Horns Rev II offshore wind farm in the North Sea (Fig. 1). In order to evaluate and map the characteristics of the surface features of the sea bed and to characterise the subsurface in the wind farm area, the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) conducted a geophysical survey of the area. The survey utilised a variety of instruments: sparker, side-scan sonar, marine caesium magnetometer and a multibeam echo-sounder. In addition, information on the subsurface sediments was obtained by cone penetration tests (CPT) and by drilling to 30–50 m below the sea bottom. Geological correlation of the CPT results with the other survey results was extremely complicated but was required in order to understand the architecture of the ice marginal glaciotectonic complex. Information on the geology is crucial for evaluation of the geotechnical problems of the region.

On Propagating Requirements and Selecting Fuels for a Benson Boiler

In this paper, the problem of optimal choice of sensors and actuators is addressed. Given a functional encapsulating information of the desired performance and production economy the objective is to choose a control instrumentation from a given set to comply with its minimum. The objective of the work is twofold: reformulation of the business objectives into mathematical terms and providing solution to the given optimization. Commonly, there exist overall business objectives which dictate how a plant should be instrumented and operated either directly or indirectly. The work shows how to propagate a global objective to local subsystems. Particular focus is on a boiler in a power plant operated by DONG Energy - a danish energy supplier. The business objectives have been propagated to the actuator level to allow for selection of an actuator configuration.

Genencor collaborates with DONG Energy for bioethanol

Genencor collaborates with DONG Energy for bioethanol