Gas Processing Plant Research Articles

The Arctic and the North: A Russian Spatial Development Context

The negative experience of economic reforms during the 1990s showed that excessive bias towards export-import economic relations to the detriment of social reproduction, especially without reference to internal social and technological problems, threatens the integrity of the Russian market space. At present, the Arctic and other territories of the Russian North are exposed to the inherent instability of external markets for hydro carbons and mineral raw materials. Additionally, attitudes towards energy production and consumption have undergone profound changes in recent years. In accordance with the demands of the «green economy», attention has been increasingly focused on qualitative and structural aspects in place of quantitative indicators. In order to increase production of high-quality light oil and petrochemical products that are competitive on world markets, domestic fuel and energy companies have responded by modernising oil refineries and gas processing plants. With the transition of hydrocarbon production to exploiting smaller deposits, the decline of the coal industry and a growing scarcity of in-demand raw materials (gold, diamonds, rare earth metals, nickel, copper, titanium), the economic situation in the Russian North is increasingly characterised by small forest chemistry enterprises producing commercial products for medical, agricultural and household purposes. In addition, a growth in domestic and foreign demand for organic products supports reindeer husbandry, fishing and even foraging for mushrooms and berries. An important objective for national economic decision-makers consists in the implementation of technologies critical to the development of the northern regions. In the process of strengthening the Russian socio-economic space, active interaction between participating regional governments plays a significant role. The aforementioned issues are considered in the context of spatial development theory and other concepts underpinning the formation of northern economic systems. The study findings can be used to inform Arctic strategies, programmes and long-term plans for the socio-economic development of the Russian North.

Энергопереход и трансформация специфичности европейского газового рынка

In 2021, the European Union (EU) is entering a new phase of energy transition, reducing the use of fossil fuels to achieve climate neutrality by the mid-century. For a qualitative assessment of the impact of the EU gas market’s green policy, transaction cost theory and the concept of asset specificity is referenced in this article. During the first stage of market development, the level of asset specificity was high, while a decline can be observed with market liberalization. However, at the current stage, a radical transformation of specificity in the context of energy transition can be seen. Assets that used to guarantee higher profitability (gas pipelines, gas processing plants, liquified natural gas (LNG) terminals) will soon be disqualified. In this article, the long-term prospects for the natural gas market in Europe, and what will happen to key assets if the climate agenda dominates the issue of energy security, are considered; qualitative assessment of the changes and of the future of the assets on the European gas market is undertaken.

Carbon-Negative Scenarios in High CO2 Gas Condensate Reservoirs

A gas condensate reservoir in Northern Croatia was used as an example of a CO2 injection site during natural gas production to test whether the entire process is carbon-negative. To confirm this hypothesis, all three elements of the CO2 life cycle were included: (1) CO2 emitted by combustion of the produced gas from the start of production from the respective field, (2) CO2 that is separated at natural gas processing plant, i.e., the CO2 that was present in the original reservoir gas composition, and (3) the injected CO2 volumes. The selected reservoir is typical of gas-condensate reservoirs in Northern Croatia (and more generally in Drava Basin), as it contains about 50% CO2 (mole). Reservoir simulations of history-matched model showed base case (production without injection) and several cases of CO2 enhanced gas recovery, but with a focus on CO2 storage rather than maximizing hydrocarbon gas production achieved by converting a production well to a CO2 injection well. General findings are that even in gas reservoirs with such extreme initial CO2 content, gas production with CO2 injection can be carbon-negative. In almost all simulated CO2 injection scenarios, the process is carbon-negative from the time of CO2 injection, and in scenarios where CO2 injection begins earlier, it is carbon-negative from the start of gas production, which opens up the possibility of cost-effective storage of CO2 while producing natural gas with net negative CO2 emissions.

Flare emission reduction utilizing solid oxide fuel cells at a natural gas processing plant

The oil and gas sector produces a substantial volume of emissions mainly generated from flaring, which adds to the total energy loss in oil and gas plants and significantly impacts air quality. Therefore, reducing and recovering flare gas is essential since it benefits economic efficiency and environmental protection objectives. Several options have been developed for flare gas recovery. One of the promising approaches is integrating solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) into natural gas operations. The integration of SOFCs with a flare system in a natural gas processing plant that produces two billion standard cubic feet of natural gas daily reduces the emissions and generates electricity using the complimentary fuel.Moreover, by maintaining the flame’s heating value at the flare tip to ensure the plant’s safety requirement, 70% of the flare gas can be fed to SOFC as fuel. In an on-shore plant, SOFCs are fueled by 3.5 million standard cubic feet of purge gas, which will reduce the CO2 eq. per day from 263 tons to 101 tons and generates 20 MW of electricity. For the off-shore plant, the fuel for SOFCs is around 105 thousand standard cubic feet of purge gas, which reduces the CO2 eq. per day from 9 tons to 3 tons and generates 600 kW of electricity. Utilizing SOFCs in the natural gas flare system will generate extra electricity using waste gases and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

Field test investigation of the performance of corrosion inhibitors: a case study

Corrosion is considered one of the major problems that affect flow assurance during hydrocarbon production. This irreversible phenomenon has the ability to cause serious material failure in the oil and gas industry. Consequently, heavy capital and operational costs are required to prevent corrosion processes. Sweet corrosion of raw gas production facilities in an Algerian gas field manifests inside surface installations, which leads to gas production interruption and high intervention costs. To mitigate this type of corrosion, many methods can be applied such as the selection of appropriate materials, the injection of inhibitors, and the use of protective coating. In this work, the main points of gas production system that have been affected by corrosion and the inspection techniques used in the studied field were reviewed. Moreover, the efficiency of two types of two corrosion inhibitors (film-forming/neutralizing and film-forming chemicals) was studied by measuring the corrosion rate in the field and conducting chemical analyses on the produced water samples in the laboratory. The results of laboratory analyses regarding pH and iron content measurement point out that the injection of film-forming/neutralizing chemical significantly shifted the pH of the medium from acid to more neutral value and decreased the iron content, while the injection of film-forming inhibitor affected only the iron content by decreasing its tenor in the water samples. These results confirm the functions of each inhibitor to protect metal against internal corrosion. The comparison between the single- and double-function inhibitors reveals that the film-forming inhibitor (CK981DZ) outperforms the film-forming/ neutralizing chemical with an efficiency that exceeds 99% at low injection rate. Moreover, it provides good compatibility and stability all through its injection path. Meanwhile, the application of double function inhibitor (film-forming/neutralizing) significantly reduced the corrosion rate of carbon steel structures, but it involved the formation of deposits in the gas processing plant. The findings from this study can help give a better understanding of the methodology of corrosion inhibitor performance evaluation in real condition of gas production, also the criteria of inhibitor screening based on laboratory and field tests.

ESTIMASI TEMPERATUR CONDENSOR REFLUX (136 H09) PADA REGENERATION UNIT UNTUK PENGHEMATAN KONSUMSI TEG

The dehydration process is one of the processes that is often found in natural gas processing plants. TEG (triethylene glycol) is a glycol compound commonly used in natural gas dehydration processes. TEG is used as an absorbent for water absorption which is still contained in natural gas which can cause hydrate and corrosion. This absorption process is carried out at the TEG contactor, the TEG that has been used will be regenerated, if it has been regenerated, the TEG will be used again. The purpose of this research is to estimate the appropriate temperature for the TEG regeneration unit absorption process, because there are many TEG losses in this process. TEG losses occur in the TEG regenerator and are usually caused by the temperature of the reflux condenser which is not quite right, causing the TEG to be evaporated out into the atmosphere with water vapor. Losing the TEG is a problem for critical operations in dehydrated systems. The step used to reduce TEG losses is to heat the temperature of the condenser to 100°C by changing the reboiler temperature from 190°C to 197.3°C .

Cooking gas (LPG) Distribution to Rivers State Homes, Case Study: Choba Community

Liquefied Petroleum Gas has proved to be an essential source of fuel through the mild blue glowing flame it produces on ignition in the presence of oxygen. This source of heat has made it suitable for use as cooking gas. Various developed countries have been able to transport gas to homes for heating of homes and as cooking gas using grids while considering environmental conditions specific to that country. This study unveils a distribution mechanism for effectively transporting cooking gas safely to homes in Rivers State. This gas distribution plan is a one supplier strategy which could be government or private owned. Choba community was used as a choice case study because of its strategic position. Also, the gas properties such as RVP, Pressure and Temperature were analyzed together with the pipe properties. The project impacts on the major environmental components of the study area were assessed and considered. The distribution routes considered locations of present gas processing plants in Rivers State and optimized routes for transport was introduced. Local terminals to ease distribution, monitoring and safety were also included. The economic analysis of this study will show how the distribution of cooking gas to homes can increase the utilization of Nigerian gas and improve the benefits from Nigerian gas in the next 10 years.

Cooking gas (LPG) Distribution to Rivers State Homes, Case Study: Choba Community

Liquefied Petroleum Gas has proved to be an essential source of fuel through the mild blue glowing flame it produces on ignition in the presence of oxygen. This source of heat has made it suitable for use as cooking gas. Various developed countries have been able to transport gas to homes for heating of homes and as cooking gas using grids while considering environmental conditions specific to that country. This study unveils a distribution mechanism for effectively transporting cooking gas safely to homes in Rivers State. This gas distribution plan is a one supplier strategy which could be government or private owned. Choba community was used as a choice case study because of its strategic position. Also, the gas properties such as RVP, Pressure and Temperature were analyzed together with the pipe properties. The project impacts on the major environmental components of the study area were assessed and considered. The distribution routes considered locations of present gas processing plants in Rivers State and optimized routes for transport was introduced. Local terminals to ease distribution, monitoring and safety were also included. The economic analysis of this study will show how the distribution of cooking gas to homes can increase the utilization of Nigerian gas and improve the benefits from Nigerian gas in the next 10 years.

Экспериментальное исследование процессов эвакуации и спасения людей при пожаре с этажерки технологической линии газоперерабатывающего завода

To meet the requirements of Federal Law № 123-FZ dated July 22, 2008 «Technical Regulations on fire safety requirements», it is required to determine the estimated time of people evacuation and rescue from the hazardous production facility. To solve this problem, an experimental study of the processes of people evacuation and rescue from the structure of the real gas processing plant was conducted. Evacuation and rescue were carried out from the sections of the pipe rack most remote from the exits from it. The ways for the evacuation and rescue included both horizontal parts and stairs. Rescue was carried out using special stretchers, in which there was a dummy imitating an injured person. The time of evacuation and rescue was determined when moving both down and up, which can take place at the enterprises of the oil and gas industry. The time of movement in different sections was determined by the stopwatches. Based on the measured time and the parameters of the sections along which the movement took place, the movement speeds during evacuation and rescue were found. The evacuation experiments involved untrained people, while the rescue experiments involved professional rescuers. The average movement speeds in the evacuation simulation were as follows: down the stair — 100 m/min, up — 44 m/min, along the horizontal section — 193 m/min. The average movement speeds with a victim during the simulation of rescue were the following: down the stair —22 m/min, up —16 m/min, along the horizontal path — 102 m/min.

Performance optimization of an industrial natural gas dehydration process to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gases (GHGs) emission

AbstractNatural gas dehydration using multi‐layer adsorption beds is one of the most essential processes in gas processing plants, where the water molecule is removed from raw gas by a continuous cyclic temperature swing adsorption operation. In the present research, a commercial adsorption unit for dehydration of natural gas has been studied, and the effects of the volume of adsorbents in the multi‐layer adsorption beds on the overall performance of the process have been investigated using a precise mathematical model. The numerical method of lines (NMOL) has been applied to solve the partial differential equations (PDEs) demonstrating the fixed bed. The real plant data from the industrial unit have been used for validation of the model. The simulated breakthrough time, bed pressure drop, and dried gas temperature are found to be in good agreement with experimental measurements with an error of less than 4%. The modelling results are applied to obtain the optimum adsorbents layers' configuration using response surface methodology (RSM). The objective functions are pressure drop and water breakthrough time, while variables are the length of two molecular sieve layers with different particle sizes, which are loaded in each adsorption column. The results indicated that an 18.45% reduction in the direct and indirect greenhouse gases (GHGs) emission (35 369.59 MT/year) during the regeneration cycle and a significant decrease in energy consumption (623 609 GJ/year) can be achieved by applying the optimal configuration. Moreover, 1 year of longer continuous operation (by avoiding nearly 45 regenerations) is another desirable outcome of the optimization.

INTELLIGENT PRODUCTION PLANNING AND OPTIMISATION TOOL FOR GAS PROCESSING COMPLEX

Structured production planning is very important to achieve good financial performance in the oil and gas industry. This is especially crucial in an integrated oil and gas supply chain which encompasses feed gas supply, gas processing plants, and petrochemical plants. In the current offshore production climate, the nature of feed gas qualities has evolved. Gas from offshore fields has progressed from having minimal to much higher CO2 content, exceeding the CO2 limits of existing gas processing plants. It is generally impossible to curtail productions from high CO2 gas fields, leading to a loss of revenue. Optimised blending of the feed gas sources is therefore vital to adjust to this changing environment. An intelligent production planning tool was designed to meet the multiple objectives of a gas plant and optimise production. The sales gas demand must first be met based on available feed gas supply and individual plant availability and reliability. Economic factors such as maximising profit from by-products were also factored in by ranking the loading of each processing plant and prioritising plants with higher recovery. Planning strategies were also tailored to each plant’s unique operational limits and turndowns, modes, and challenges. Combining these complex objectives and constraints into a powerful optimisation tool allows a new level of connected intelligence in the production planning of the gas processing complex. The innovative optimisation tool was officially released in 2019 and is currently utilised by production planners in different modes: long-term (5-year duration), medium-term (90 days), and daily operational planning. The planning tool was also designed to be digital-ready and equipped with much improved automation and robustness to embrace the digital transformation agenda. These optimised workflows would improve efficiency and ultimately result in better production planning and decision-making by plant personnel.
 Keywords: Production planning

APPLICATION OF WOBBE INDEX ANALYSER FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY OPTIMISATION OF COMBUSTION PROCESS CONTROL

The increasing needs to optimise the cost of operation for the oil and gas industry has put more significant demand for Engineers to seek innovative technology and enhanced process design application to save energy. One of the key areas to improve energy efficiency is combustion equipment which consumes a significant amount of fuel gas. The conventional method of air-fuel ratio control using excess oxygen at the exhaust stack is the most common mean of combustion control. This method is effective if the fuel gas composition is stable with minimum fluctuation in Gross heating value. In practice, most modern refineries, gas processing plants, and petrochemical plants have multiple fuel gas sources from flash gas or residue off-gas generated by the intermediate process. The composition can vary widely, making it challenging for conventional air-fuel ratio control via access oxygen. A sudden change of the fuel gas composition can potentially result in unpredictability combustion, leading to equipment inefficiency and the possibility of causing damage to the equipment & product quality, thus leading to economic loss.
 Wobbe index analyser can determine the exact heating value of fuel gas used for combustion and thus eliminate unstable fuel gas composition issues. The Wobbe index analyser provides compensated value to fuel gas control system to enhance the air-fuel ratio control, leading to more efficient energy management of combustion control equipment.

Determination of Methanol Loss Due to Vaporization in Gas Hydrate Inhibition Process Using Intelligent Connectionist Paradigms

The clathrate hydrate formation in pipelines and treatment systems of gas and natural gas liquid (NGL) is an undesirable operating phenomenon. It interrupts the gas flow continuity, reduces safety level, and imposes substantial costs on both gas and NGL processing plants. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent or at least postpone this undesired and high-risk phenomenon. The application of inhibitor agents to shift phase equilibrium of gas hydrate formation to lower temperatures and higher pressures is a mature technology. Methanol (MeOH) is a well-known thermodynamic agent in the hydrate inhibition process that cyclically injects to the gas phase and then recovers and reuses. Significant amounts of methanol vaporize/loss during its recovery in a three-phase separator. An accurate determination of this loss is necessary to estimate the amount of methanol make-up. Therefore, this study tries to determine the methanol loss using six intelligent connectionist approaches, i.e., least-squares support vector machines (LS-SVM), adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems, and artificial neural networks. The LS-SVM was finally detected as the most accurate paradigm for the considered purpose. Methanol loss estimation by the LS-SVM model is in excellent agreement with 196 real-field datasets in the literature, i.e., AARD = 0.295% and R2 = 0.9999. An economic study shows that methanol loss may impose more than 132 million US Dollars per year to a gas plant that processes 674 million standard cubic meters of gas per day.

Predicting Vapor–Liquid Equilibria for Sour-Gas Absorption in Aqueous Mixtures of Chemical and Physical Solvents or Ionic Liquids with ePC-SAFT

Sour-gas absorption is the main unit operation used in refineries and petrochemical and natural gas processing plants for the effective reduction of climate-wrecking gases, mainly CO2 and H2S. Abso...

A New Research Infrastructure for Investigating Flow Hydraulics and Process Equipment at Critical Fluid Properties

AbstractAn optimized equipment design for natural gas processing and liquefaction plants becomes increasingly difficult with changing process conditions: Particularly low values of surface tension create rising challenges on the design of phase separators and column internals. The TERESA test rig at HZDR was designed to allow the investigation of multiphase thermohydraulics and phase separator performance under critical fluid properties in industrial dimensions. A versatile pipe test section is available in DN200 and equipment internals may be tested in a sectional DN300/DN500 test separator. The applied test fluid shows a high vapor‐liquid density difference between 1470 and 940 kg m−3, viscosity as low as 0.12 mm2s−1, and surface tension down to 1.3 mN m−1. Volumetric liquid and vapor flow rates may be varied up to 9 and 530 m3h−1 in the test rig, respectively.

Carbon Storage Potential of North American Oil & Gas Produced Water Injection with Surface Dissolution

Carbon dioxide (CO2) geological storage traditionally involves capturing a CO2 stream from a point source such as a power station or from cement, steel, or natural gas processing plant, transporting it and compressing it, prior to injection as a supercritical phase into a suitable geological reservoir overlain by a cap-rock or seal. One of the main perceived risks in CO2 geological storage is migration or leakage of the buoyant CO2 stream through the seal, via faults or fractures, or other migration out of the storage complex. Injection of CO2 dissolved in water may be one solution to mitigate the leakage risk. This approach could take advantage of large volumes of wastewater already being reinjected into saline aquifers worldwide but particularly in North America, thus reducing costs. This study examines the potential to “piggyback” off the existing wastewater injection industry as a novel carbon storage option.

Noble gas tracers in gas streams at Norwegian CO2 capture plants

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) may play a significant role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Noble gases are potential tracers to monitor subsurface CO2 storage sites and verify their containment. Naturally occurring noble gases have been used successfully to refute alleged CO2 leakage in the past.We present results from several sampling campaigns at two Norwegian CO2 capture facilities, the demonstration plant Technology Centre Mongstad (TCM) and the natural gas processing plant with CO2 capture and storage on Melkøya. The gas streams in the capture plants were monitored with a combination of on-site mass spectrometry and subsequently analysed discrete samples. This allows us to define the factors controlling noble gas concentrations in captured CO2, to monitor temporal variation of noble gas concentrations and finally evaluate the potential to use noble gases as inherent environmental tracers for labelling CO2 in storage reservoirs.At both sites, CO2 is captured using amine gas treatment. Noble gas concentrations in the gas streams were observed to decrease by several orders of magnitude during the processing. Isotopic ratios are air-like for CO2 captured after natural gas combustion at TCM and natural gas-like for CO2 captured from natural gas processing on Melkøya. Further, we detected a solubility trend caused by the amine solvent at TCM with higher solubility for heavier noble gases.We find that the relative concentrations of noble gases in the captured CO2 are defined by the gas from which the CO2 is captured and the design of the amine gas treatment process. Both factors were observed to cause temporal variation in the captured CO2.Using mixing and noble gas partitioning calculations we show that the significant depletion in noble gas concentrations, together with degassing of noble gas enriched formation water, means that the injected CO2 will inherit the noble gas signature of the storage formation, even following the injection of significant CO2 volumes. Any CO2 leaked from the storage formation is thus likely to have a crustal noble gas signature, characteristic of the storage site, which can be targeted for monitoring.

THE NOISE EXPOSURE EFFECT ON WORK FATIGUE AND STRESSON WORKERS IN THE OIL AND GAS PROCESSING PLANT OF PT. X

This research aims to determine noise exposure effect on work fatigue and stress on operators in the oil and gas processing plant of PT. X. The method used in this research is descriptive quantitative approach to causality research. The population in this study were all workers in the oil and gas processing plant of PT. X. From this population the sample taken is based on the number of research indicators of 40 so that the minimum number of samples is 5 times the number of indicators estimated or as much as 5 x 40 = 200. Study analysis was carried out using (SEM: Structural Equation Model) analysis with the help of the Lisrel 8.0 program. The results showed that there was an effect of noise exposure on work fatigue in workers in the oil and gas processing plant of PT. X and there is the effect of noise exposure on work stress on workers in the oil and gas processing plant of PT. X.

Field-scale biopiles for remediation of sulfolane-contaminated soil

Sulfolane is an organosulfur solvent, which has been widely used to remove acid components from sour natural gas. In recent years, it has been detected in soil and groundwater near gas-processing plants in North America, becoming a potential threat to ecosystems and human health. Previous bench-scale studies have shown that aerobic degradation is a promising method for treating sulfolane in contaminated soil. In this study, field-scale aerobic biopile technologies were evaluated to treat sulfolane-contaminated soil in western Alberta, Canada. Six field-scale (25–300 m3) soil biopiles with different nutrient and aeration conditions were constructed on the sulfolane-contaminated site. The sulfolane concentration, carbon dioxide (CO2)/oxygen (O2) level and moisture content in the soil piles were monitored throughout the remediation period. The results indicated that sulfolane can be degraded slowly in the soil biopiles without nutrient addition and aeration. The soil biopiles with nutrient addition and aeration yielded the best performance in degrading sulfolane with a rate of 42 (mg/kg)/day. It is concluded that soil biopiles is an effective technology to remediate sulfolane-contaminated soil under field conditions.

Comparative techno-economic assessment of integrated PV-SOFC and PV-Battery hybrid system for natural gas processing plants

Natural gas will remain among the leading sources of energy, at least for the next few decades. Further, it is necessary to make natural gas processing operation a cost-competitive, clean, and efficient energy source, and less dependent on the grid. A comparative investigation based on two case studies is presented in this paper for a natural gas processing plant; an integration of Photovoltaic panels with Battery Energy Storage System (PV-BESS) and an integration of Photovoltaic panels with Solid Oxide Fuel cell (PV–SOFC) technologies. The aim is to be more independent from the grid for efficient operations and to reduce the emissions by introducing renewable energy in gas processing operation plant.A techno-economic analysis is performed for both cases considering a PV capacity of 33.5 MW. The outcome of this study indicates that for 25 years of operation, the Levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for PV-BESS is found to be 0.16 US$/kWh, and for PV-SOFC is 0.11 US$/kWh, which makes the PV-SOFC option more economical and feasible than PV-BESS. Besides, in the projected scenario where investment cost is expected to reduce, PV-SOFC’s IRR is 3% and has a positive NPV of 5 Million USD$ for an internal rate of 4%. Furthermore, the LCOE for PV-SOFC in this scenario is around 0.04 USD$ per kWh, which is still less than the LCOE of PV-BESS and less than the tariff set by the Qatari electric authority for bulk industries.