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1st well manifold

2nd well manifold

3rd well manifold

To flare
To Closed
drain /
saver pit

LP header
HP header
Test header

USM

flare header

TEST
SEP.

FLKO

DRAIN
POT

to closed
drain/saver
pit

SURGE
VESSEL

Rotron
meter

M4
3

pump discharge header

Pump suction header

To closed
Drain/Saver
pit

PD meter

HP
SEP.
To the Terminal

M
strainer

EP 1

LP
SEP.

PIG LAUNCHER

To Inst gas header

EP 2

To Pump
fuel gas
header

To Gen
fuel gas
header

To Start gas header

N/B. All vessels have Drain lines to

Closed Drain/Saver pit
N/B. RED represents Gas line while
BLACK is liquid line
Main gas Scrubber
( 12bar max. )
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Dedicated Inst gas

Pump fuel gas
Gen fuel gas
Start Gas scrubber
scrubber ( 100PSI ) scrubber ( 2 - 3bar ) scrubber ( 2 - 3bar )
( 6 - 7bar )
flowstationbasics

2006

INSTRUMENTATION LEGEND
Big Joe pressure Regulator
Magnetrol level Switch
Masoneilan level Controller with High level (HL) Alarm function
Sunvic High High level (HHL) transmitter
Sunvic Low Low level (LLL) transmitter
Pumpline Hgh pressure Shutdown (Amot) switch (set at 38bar rising)
HP Gas High Pressure Shutdown (Amot) switch (set at 210psi rising)
LP Gas High Pressure Shutdown (Amot) switch (set at 75psi rising)
Low Inst Gas Pressure Shutdown (Amot) switch (set at 60psi falling)
Inst Gas Scrubber Shutdown (Bettis) valve
FLKV liquid outlet Shutdown (Bettis) valve
Master Shutdown (Robotarm) valve (MSDV)
Pump engine Governor
Level Control valve ( air to open [ATO] )
Relief valve
Pressure Control valves ( air to close [ATC] )
Choke
M

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PD meter

flowstationbasics

2006

PD meter Strainer
M4
3

M43 Level Indicating Controller

Manual Valve (open position)
Manual Valve (closed position)
Rotron meters
Instrument signal line

USM

Ultrasonic meter

CRUDE OIL PROCESSING

Crude oil from the well enters the manifold. Depending on the pressure category (HP or LP) they are switched into the appropriate vessels through the respective Headers eg.
HP wells into HP Header (which leads to HP separator) and LP wells into LP Header (which leads to LP separator). Taking an HP well for example; it enters into HP separator
(static pressure of 12bar); gets some of the Associated gas removed and leaves for the LP separator (3.5bar static). At the inlet of the separator, it mingles with the incoming
crude from the LP wells and both enter the separator (LP) where they are further stripped of more Associated gas. From the LP separator they enter the Surge vessel where
the final separation takes place. The Surge vessel is exposed to atmospheric pressure (though the static is slightly above atmospheric). From the Surge vessel the pumps
transfer the now stabilised crude oil/water to the Terminal (where the water is removed leaving only the crude oil ready for export).
The Test separator is used to test the wells - to measure the amount of crude oil/water and gas produced by each well. The Test meters [Positive velocity (PV) meters
commonly called Rotron meters] measure the amount of crude oil/water while Differential Pressure meters commonly known as "Barton meters" (together with the orifice
plate) measure the amount of gas.
The gas from each vessel heads for the FLKO vessel where they are tripped of some of the entrained liquid at the inlet by the Drain pot (a liquid trap that collects the entrained
liquids from gas and sends them to the Closed Drain/Saver pit). The gas finally enters the FLKO where the final removal of the remanent entrained liquid takes place. The now
almost dry gas leaves the FLKO and gets burnt at the Flare.
The PIG (Piping Integrity Gauge) launcher is used to launch the PIG into the delivery line for the removal of sludge in the line.

INSTRUMENTATION
Instrumentation serves three purposes:
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Process Control,

flowstationbasics

2006

INSTRUMENTATION
Instrumentation serves three purposes:
Process Control,
Process Measurement and
Facility/equipment Safeguarding
Process Control
Two parameters are controlled - Level and Pressure. The level inside of the Separators are controlled by the Level Controller (LC) and Level Control Valve (LCV) while the static pressure is
controlled by the Back Pressure Controller (PC) and the Pressure Control Valve (PCV). The LC sends increasing output signal (with increase in level) to the LCV so the LCV will open more and
let more liquid out of the vessel thereby stopping further level increase in the separator and vice versa. Conversely, the PC sends increasing output signal (with decrease in Back pressure) to
the PCV so the PCV will close more to let less gas out of the separator thereby stopping further pressure decrease in the separator and vice versa. The former is called Direct Action and the
latter Reverse Action. Pressure signal of 3psi fully closes a LCV and fully opens a PCV while 15psi fully opens a LCV and fully closes a PCV hence LCV is termed air-to-open (ATO) while the
PCV is air-to-close (ATC). [Both LCV and PCV can also be described by their failure modes - "Fail closed" and "Fail open" respectively].
The Level Control described above is applicable to all vessels except the Surge vessel. No form of Back Pressure Control exists for the Surge vessel now. To control level in the Surge vessel,
the Pumps and the Recirculation valve are employed. The output from the Surge vessel LC goes to the M43 Level Indicating Controller (LIC) while the LIC output goes to the Recirculation valve
and the Engine speed Governors of the transfer pumps. At a signal range of 3-7PSI the pumps are at idle(minimum) speed and the Recirculation Valve moves between fully open(3psi) to fully
closed(7psi) position thereby using the variation of the recirculation of the pump discharge back into the suction ie.(Surge vessel outlet) as the only means of level control in the Surge vessel.
But if the level continues to rise such that the LIC output signal goes above 7psi(at which point the Recirculation valve closes fully preventing further recirculation) the pumps will start increasing
in speed with consequent increase of the signal until stability is reached. The maximum speed is reached at 15psi. Level control in the FLKO is achieved through Level switches (a.k.a
Magnetrol switches) and LCV's. The magnetrol switches signals their respective LCV's to either open fully(by giving them 15psi) or close fully(by giving them 0psi). This method of control is
called on-off while the former (varying signal between 3 and 15psi) is called proportional.
Process Measurement
Both phases of the Process are measured. The gas leaving from each separator is measured by a combination of the Orifice plate and a combined differential pressure, static pressure and
temperature recorder known as the Barton meter positioned at the gas outlet of each separator. The Bulk gas (ie gas from all the separators including the Surge vessel) is finally measured by
the Utrasonic meter (USM) on its way to the Flare from the FLKO vessel. The liquid phase from each well is measured individually by the Rotron meters as they leave the Test separator during
Well Testing. The Bulk liquid (ie. liquid discharged by the pumps - which accounts for the station gross crude oil production) is finally measured by the Positive Displacement (PD) meters on
their way to the Terminal.

Facility/equipment Safeguarding
Safeguarding is triggered when any of the controls fail or is stretched beyond its limits. It involves stopping any source of incoming liquid or gas (that will cause further increase in level or
pressure) and relieving all pressurised equipment of their static pressures. The shutdown devices are:
Robertshaw Panel - gets signal about the negative state of the process and signals the shutdown devices to fail safe.
Master shut down valves (MSDV's) receives the trip signal from the Robertshaw panel and close to stop incoming crude from the wells from getting into the separators.
PCV's - fail open on ESD initiation to depressurise the separators and send the gas to Flare.
Instrument Gas scrubber shutdown valve (Bettis) closes to cut off further supply of instrument gas pressure.
Fuel QAW valve receives signal from Robertshaw panel and closes to starve the engines of fuel gas as well as vent off the gas in the Fuel gas scrubber
Blowdown QAW valve opens on ESD initiation to assists the Fuel QAW valve in hastening the depressurising of the fuel gas scrubbers.
Instrument Gas QAW valve - closes the Instrument Gas shutdown valve on ESD initiation
The alarm devices are:
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Amot switches - senses high or Low pressure of the process as the case may be and signals theflowstationbasics
Robertshaw panel
Level alarm transmitters - senses high or low level as the case may be in the separators, surge vessel or FLKO and signals the Robertshaw panel

2006

Fuel QAW valve receives signal from Robertshaw panel and closes to starve the engines of fuel gas as well as vent off the gas in the Fuel gas scrubber
Blowdown QAW valve opens on ESD initiation to assists the Fuel QAW valve in hastening the depressurising of the fuel gas scrubbers.
Instrument Gas QAW valve - closes the Instrument Gas shutdown valve on ESD initiation
The alarm devices are:
Amot switches - senses high or Low pressure of the process as the case may be and signals the Robertshaw panel
Level alarm transmitters - senses high or low level as the case may be in the separators, surge vessel or FLKO and signals the Robertshaw panel
Points to note
HIGH LEVEL in any of the vessels or HIGH PRESSURE in any of the vessels except Surge vessel and FLKO will shutdown all MSDV's only.
HIGH LEVEL in the Test separator will only close the Test MSDV if the panel is on "TEST" mode. But if on "BULK" all MSDV's only will close.
Only the Surge vessel has a LOW LEVEL shutdown.
LOW LEVEL in the Surge vessel or HIGH PUMPLINE PRESSURE closes all the MSDV's and the Fuel QAW* valve.
If HIGH PRESSURE fails to activate a shutdown, the Relief valve of the vessel/vessels concerned opens/open (when the set pressures is/are reached) to remove the excess pressure from
that/those vessel/vessels.
HP separator HIGH PRESSURE shutdown activates at 220psi(aprox.14.7bar) rising.
LP separator HIGH PRESSURE shutdown activates at 80psi(aprox.5.5bar) rising.
LOW INSTRUMENT GAS shutdown activates at 40psi(aprox.2.7bar) falling.
HIGH PUMPLINE PRESSURE shutdown activates at 38bar rising(depending on facility).
LOW PUMPLINE PRESSURE shutdown activates at 5bar falling(depending on facility)
All the above shutdowns are called Operational ShutDown(OSD) and can only take place if the Robertshaw panel is on "AUTO" (only the fault alarm will show on the panel without any
shutdown if it is on "MANUAL")
The other type of shutdown is called Emergency ShutDown(ESD) and is activated manually at the Gate, beside the Robertshaw panel or at the Pump house.
ESD is also activated automatically by fire in the Pump and Gen houses by means of Fusible plugs(placed over the Engines/Pumps and Generators) linked to a QAW* valve which is
connected to the ESD line.
ESD once initiated activates all shutdown equipment irrespective of the mode of the panel ie. whether on "AUTO" or "MANUAL"
During shutdown all LCV's fail close while all PCV's fail open,

* QAW - Quick-as-a-wink
TROUBLESHOOTING

Faults

Causes

High level in any separator

Low or no level in any separator
Static pressure lower than nominal
Static pressure higher than nominal
High level in Surge vessel

Constant low output from LC. Improper level alignment with LC output. Blocked or stuck LCV. Static pressure lower than nominal.
Insufficient incoming crude into the separator. Constant high output from LC. Leaking or stuck LCV. Improper level alignment with LC
output.
Stuck PCV. Open PCV by-pass valve. Constant low output from PC. Insufficient incoming crude into HP separator. MSDV's closure.
Stuck PCV. Constant high output from PC. Surging of incoming crude into the separator. Restriction inside line(rarely occurs)
Constant low output from LC or LIC. Stuck Recirculation valve. Fault on Recirculation valve Positioner. Pump failure. Fault on Engine
Governor. Improper level alignment with LC output.

Low level in Surge vessel

Constant high output from LC or LIC. Stuck Recirculation valve. Fault on Recirculation valve Positioner. Fault on Engine Governor.
Improper level alignment with LC output. Insufficient incoming crude into the Surge vessel

Low instrument gas

Stuck HP Back PCV. Open PCV by-pass valve. Constant low output from HP Back PC. Insufficient incoming crude into HP separator.
Fault on Big Joe Regulator for Dedicated Instrument Gas Scrubber. MSDV's closure.

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flowstationbasics

2006