SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING & PHYSICAL SCIENCES

Chemical Engineering

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B41OA

OIL AND GAS PROCESSING

Semester 2 – 2013/14

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Friday, 9 May 2014

Duration: 2 Hours

Instructions to candidates:

Answer THREE questions in total - at least one from each

section.

(2 separate booklets – answer Section A in one book and

Section B in the other)

Candidates are expected to make reasonable assumptions

where necessary.

Marks for sections of questions are shown in round

brackets.

Candidates are expected to show all calculation steps,

equations used and assumptions made (if any).

Data sheets are attached with this paper.

 B41OA

SECTION A

A1. (a) What are gas hydrates and the necessary conditions for their formation?
Plot a typical hydrate stability zone for a multi-component system,
identifying phase envelope as well as various hydrate regions.
(5 marks)

(b) Explain why gas hydrates are described as non-stoichiometric

compounds.
(3 marks)

(c) Use brief notes to describe three different techniques that could be used
for hydrate blockage removal (use sketches to show the process on a P-T
diagram).
(8 marks)

(d) Calculate the potential hydrate formation pressure for the following gas
mixture at 280 K, using the original gas gravity method (assume a
MW = 29 for air) and distribution coefficient technique. Use the figures
attached separately.
(7 marks)

Component Mole% Molecular mass

C1 80 16
C2 10 30
C3 5 44
i-C4 5 58

(e) If the system pressure is 2.0 MPa, is there any risk of hydrate formation?
Why? What are your suggestions?
(2 marks)

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 B41OA

A2. (a) Describe the issues surrounding pressure losses and flow re-start
associated with wax formation in oil pipelines.
(6 marks)

(b) Name four of the methods used in determining wax phase boundary and
describe the two major problems with most of the existing experimental
techniques.
(6 marks)

(c) Draw a typical asphaltene phase envelope on a P-T diagram. Identify and
explain the various regions, in particular, Asphaltene Appearance and
Disappearance Curves.
(7 marks)

(d) Describe the mechanism of asphaltene precipitation and some of the

processes that may result in asphaltene deposition.
(6 marks)

END OF SECTION A

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 B41OA

SECTION B

B1. A horizontal three-phase gas/oil separator is to process 12 m3/min of oil and

3 m3/min water. The separator will operate at 60% full of liquid and require a
5 minute residence time for the oil and 8 minutes for the water layer. Determine
the following:

(a) length and diameter of the separator;

(6 marks)

(b) location of the oil/water NLL;

(4 marks)

(c) the size of an oil drop that will be separated from this separator;
(5 marks)

(d) the water and oil residence times are different in this case. Explain what
the issues are with this arrangement and what the consequences are for
running the separator at the stated residence times.
(5 marks)

(e) If this unit were placed on board a floating production platform, outline
what steps you would recommend to mitigate the impact of motion of the
platform on the separator’s performance.
(5 marks)

Physical properties
Oil gravity is 35°API, oil viscosity is 3.8 cP, gas density at standard and separator
conditions is 1.21 kg/m3 and 30.5 kg/m3, respectively. Take the water density as
990 kg/m3, and viscosity 1.2 cP.

Assume the slenderness ratio is 3.5:1

See attached equation sheet for additional information.

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 B41OA

B2. A recent oil field has been discovered where the reservoir pressure is rated at
30 bara. Reservoir engineers indicate that water flood would be needed at
some point during the field life.

(a) Explain how water injection can be used to recover oil from the reservoir
and the pitfalls in using a high water injection rate.
(7 marks)

(b) Removing dissolved oxygen by absorption is one process needed to treat

water extracted from the sea for injection. Outline why this operation is
necessary and what other processing stages might be employed.
(5 marks)

(c) A packed tower absorption column is used to reduce the dissolved oxygen
content of 5000 m3/day of water from 80 x 10-3 grams per litre to
0.08 x 10-3 grams per litre. The column uses methane as the stripping gas
with a gas to liquid molar ratio of 0.04:1. The column pressure is 2 bar
abs, and operating temperature is 5°C. Using the additional data below
estimate the number of transfer units and hence the height of packing
required.
(10 marks)

a. If the proposed platform is a floating structure, would you consider any

precautions to the sea water treatment system?

(3 marks)

Additional Data
Henry’s law constant for oxygen in water at 5°C is approximately 2.55 x 104 atm/mole
fraction oxygen. Assume the value of HOL is 0.83m. Assume the density of methane
at 1.2 atm, 5°C is 0.81 kg/m3.

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 B41OA

B3. The BP Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline spans three countries and is some

1768 km in length. The line is on average 40 inches in diameter and normally
carries 1 million barrels of oil per day. The Azerbaijan portion of the line is 450
km long from the starting terminal to the border crossing in Georgia.

(a) Describe the features of such long pipelines which make them different
from pipelines round process plants.
(5 marks)

(b) The pipeline is constructed of high grade steel pipe, with absolute
roughness of 2 microns. Calculate the frictional pressure drop along the
Azerbaijan to Georgia segment of this line.
(4 marks)

(c) The wall thickness of the line is 12.7mm and the stated maximum working
pressure is 100 barg. Given the answer to part b, what would you
recommend in the way of pumping stations to be used in the 450km length
part of the pipeline? Estimate the distance between each pump, assuming
there is no elevation change in the line.
(4 marks)

(d) The elevation profile of this pipeline is shown in the diagram provided
separately. Mark on this diagram, the following:

(i) the frictional pressure drop along the pipeline;

(ii) location of the vapour pressure limit line;
(iii) the location of any booster pumps.
(8 marks)

B3 Cont’d…/

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 B41OA

B3 Cont’d/

(e) If there was gas as well as oil inside this pipeline, what would you expect
to happen to the frictional pressure drop. Comment on what the potential
flow patterns in the pipeline could be.
(4 marks)

Properties of the oil

Water content 0.3 vol%
Density 852 kg/m3, Viscosity 60 cP
Moody chart is supplied separately
Vapour pressure at pipe inlet temperature 100 kPa

SUBMIT THE PIPELINE PROFILE WITH YOUR ANSWER SCRIPTS.

END OF PAPER

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