For transportation of crude oil, the pumping power requirement varies as the crude oil viscosity changes. Increasing °API or line average temperature reduces the crude oil viscosity. The reduction of viscosity results in higher Reynolds number, lower friction factor and in effect, lower pumping power requirements. In the March 2009 tip of the month (TOTM),Continue Reading
Written on May 1, 2015 at 12:00 am, by Harvey Malino
Molecular sieves are used upstream of turboexpander units and LNG facilities to dehydrate natural gas to <0.1 ppmv water content. In the natural gas industry, the molecular sieves employ heat to drive off the adsorbed water. Figure 1 shows a typical flow schematic for a 2 tower system; Figure 2 shows a 3 tower system.Continue Reading
Written on March 1, 2015 at 12:00 am, by Clyde Young
In this Tip of the Month, we reflect back to December 2008, and get a reminder from the United States Chemical Safety Board (CSB) to remain focused on process safety and accident prevention during this time of lower oil prices. During the economic downturn of 2008, oil prices dropped significantly. The latest drop in crudeContinue Reading
In this Tip of the Month (TOTM) we will discuss how to determine CO2 solubility and flashing issues in water at pressures and temperatures commonly associated with gathering systems and production facilities. This is mainly important for CO2 Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) floods as the CO2 concentration is high and the initial separation is atContinue Reading
In the October and November 2014 Tips of the Month (TOTM), we demonstrated that Gas-Oil-Ratio (GOR) has a large impact on the capacity of crude oil gathering lines. If GOR is less than the saturation solution gas, the increase in GOR reduces the viscosity and density of crude oil which causes the pressure drop toContinue Reading
One of the most common problems in Oil and Gas Processing facilities is underperforming vapor / liquid separators. The most common types of gas-liquid separators are: Slug catchers Vessel / Finger-type “Conventional” separators Vertical / Horizontal Scrubbers (i.e. Compressor Suction Scrubbers) Gas “polishers” Coalescing Filters / Filter Separators Underperforming separators generally result from either: 1.Continue Reading
In the October 2014 Tip of the Month (TOTM), we demonstrated that Gas-Oil-Ratio (GOR) has a large impact on the capacity of crude oil gathering lines. In general as GOR increased the pressure drop increased which lowered the line capacity. In addition, at high pressures and low GOR, pressure drop was lower than the pressureContinue Reading
The use of multiphase flow systems is common practice in the oil and gas industry. Multiphase flow is often encountered in the well tubing, flow lines and gathering systems. For transport of oil and gas (and water) to downstream processing facilities the preference is normally a single pipeline in which both phases are transported simultaneouslyContinue Reading
In the October, November, December 2007 and February 2014 Tips of the Month (TOTM), we studied in detail the water phase behaviors of sweet and sour natural gases and acid gas systems. We also evaluated the accuracy of different methods for estimating the water content of sour natural gas and acid gas systems. The waterContinue Reading
Written on August 1, 2014 at 12:00 am, by Clyde Young
The first pillar of Risk Based Process Safety Management is “Commitment to Process Safety.” A formalized mentoring system can ensure workforce involvement, compliance with company and regulatory requirements, increase the competency of personnel and enhance the process safety culture of the entire organization. Within this element there are several essential features that lead to aContinue Reading
