Projects

Field Troubleshooting and facilities Upgrading

Table of Contents

Description

Unconventional Field Troubleshooting

  • Multiphasic gathering network produced high slugging regime at CPF inlet
  • Pressure reduction from 80 to 15 barg in downstream flash separator. This caused self-refrigeration effect resulting in cryogenic temperatures of the liquid hydrocarbons
  • The non-stabilized hydrocarbon liquids stored in the atmospheric tank produced a boil-off stream of the lighter fractions of high MW gases into the atmosphere. This incident resulted in unsafe truck loading operation due to vented HCs at ground level resulting in VOCs concentration above LEL and permitted air quality levels

Challenge

  • The operator required a quick turn-around to resume operation under safe conditions
  • Prevent integrity problems due to continuous exposure to cryo-temperatures in the flash separator and atmospheric tank
  • Stabilize liquid hydrocarbons before storage to
    • Minimize atmospheric emissions of high MW hydrocarbon gases
    • Guarantee safer operation of liquid hydrocarbons truck-loading station
  • Prevent hydrates and wax deposition

Project Development

  • On the fly field assessment to gather information
  • Process reconfiguration with minimum intervention to prevent cryo-temperatures in process equipment and volatile liquids boil-off in the storage tank
  • Rapid identification and validation of readily available equipment (choke valve + glycol bath line-heater) in the area to revamp the process

Outcome

  • Through simple field analysis, our team was able to rapidly reconfigure the process using readily available equipment and granting safer operations while minimizing emissions of VOCs to the atmosphere

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