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SPE
- SPE 22831
CoPYWIt1sS1,Societyof petroleumEnsmaafsInc.
rhb PSPOIwss WCPSWJ fortwo-tatbn d theS6fhMwd T*hnj~l CMfWMCS@ E~h~t~ oftm *MY ofpmf*~ EIWIWS ~d in Dallas,TX, ~t~r 69, 1~1.
rhispaperwasadactadforprasantatbnbyan SPEProgramComrnittaaMowhs rewewofhformatkmwntainadInan abstrsasubrnmedbytheaumor(s).Contentsofthepaper,
aspasintad, haVSnotban reviewadbyma SOCiatY
o! PetmkwmEIVMSIWS m SMs@I@ 10-tire by theauthor(a).ThernalHW = Pfmntti, *S II@n=eriW remr
EnWmem.IMoffii. ormembers.paws waled t SPEmasfmsswe suWed10WMcstm 10vWW
lny @itIon ofthe&oiatYofParfoiaurrr FJY
EdrofhlCommmOOS of~ M
tipw*~. P~w*h*dwm~d M-*mti. Mr-my MM*. --d~w~w~
01 whew SM by whom the PWH IS Ixawttad. Writs PIAMkaWnSMaMw, SPE,P.O.SoxS3SS3S,Flich#daorr,TX 7S4SS.SSSS
U.S.A.Tabx, 730SS9SPEOAL.
Tha modlf led skirmner tanks have consistent IY Flq. 1 shows a typical process t low diaaram ot
demonstrated superior oi 1 recovery character st lcs a tank battery systam. [he tank DatterY cons 1st.s Ot
canwared to convent tons I desl gn ~n an 011 fi e Id tdnk gas-oil separators, t ree-water-knocK-out vesse Is,
battery system. The madltled tanks have baen in heaters, wash tanks, surge tanks and sKumner tankS.
cent inuous service for mare than a years in one of It may a I so have enhanced water t rest Ifw units sucn
ths oldest oil fields in the Arabian Gulf. The new as tlotatlon units or coalesces, dawnst ream of
dealgn has helped recover sklfrwsd 011 fran a mere 6 sklsmtrer tanks. A tsrlet aescrlotlott ot various eaul -
bpd (1.0 m3) to more than 65 bDd (8.7S m3) from Dmant 1s sufrmIar?zed below to have a better under-
Draducad water In a tank battery system alOne. Tha standing of assomated Problems+
recovery is exoected to unorove by uoto 200 bfId
(31.6 m3,) unce skirmner tanks in all tha tank batte- Ues-oil separator : rhis 1s normally tha tlrst
ries are upgraded to tha new deslqn. ma.lor processing eaulpment WhlCh a wall straarft
Swrcounters after COsIin9 out ot the sub-surtace.
wmoummru Separators may he aesl!lned as tWO-DnaSe or trtree
-phase and may b9 either horizontal. VertlCal or
The maser 011 fields throughout the world ara SPherlCal in COnf!gUratl@n.
typically 40 to 50 years old. These fleids have a
vast ,varlatv of oil, processing eciuifxttant ifWIUdlttq Free-water-knook-out (l_WKU) VeSSel : Ine 011-
tanks. The tanks ttave many fuilctlons llke washing water mixture after removal ot associated ~as In a
of crude oil, sklnsmnq of 011 tram csraduced water separator anters the FWKU vessel. Ihe Ewtii3may be a
and providing sufficient storage capacity for sala- harizontal or a vartlcal vessel. Ins FWKLI mav bs
blSi oil. tlttea with coalescer Packs to lmProve 011-Water
separation. 011, WhlCh Is removed trom tiie too Ot
Over tha years, praductlon Patterns hOVe the vessel, was to wash tank: and tne water 1S
changed considerably for many oil fields. This airected to a nearby SkWtffW3r tank. lvplcal all
situation has, ift turn, resulted in drastic chan!?as carrvov9r in water varies trun IWO to NW mm
in gas/oil ratios and hjgherl.water cuts. The side tlooo to 3000 cm3/m3), oepsnain~ on manv factors,
effect is a gradual detefiorationln ths efficiency including whather the vessels ara tltted with coale-
of field tanks, making tank internal deS19n obsolete seer Packs or nOt. .,
in many cases.
wash rahk : The wash tank, as the nema lmPlles.
This paper descrlbas various precautions to ba washes CrUd9 oil to rsmave suspended water Particles
taken while uograding the Produced water handl~nr4 frun oil. Crude oil enters the tank through a
facilities and modifications to skimmar tank degasser boot. The degasser Oaat removes excess gas
internal design to improve Quality and yield of from the crudst 011. The oil then enters tha tanK
recovered oil. Tns approach autlliwsd In this paper tffrough a scrreader ring lnstelled at an elevatlan O*
would be particularly useful for oil fields handling 18 (450 nsrd from tank bottom. Iha spreader ring
large Quantities of producad water. allows crude 011 to oarcolate SIOWIY tnrawn a Kd
of water. Oil is taken out tram tha top ot the
References and illustrations at end Ot DaPer. wash tarw to ed.latent surge tanks. rhs tree water
. --
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2. -ATE FROOUCED MATER TREATIMQFACILITIES TO WANGLEIMCREASEOWATERCUW SPE 22831
recovwed in the tank is drained out constantly Therefore, al l!%ting mors rstontion t$me than
through a W-l control valve nd routed to the required, ts not a good solutlon.
sklsuner tank. The lovol control valvo allws
fixed 10VC1 ofatit 5-0 (1624 ssn) ofwatcr In the (b) The mre concentrated the dlsperaed phase
wash tahk. (larger value of 0), the lesser the rosidenca
time needed to grow a given partlclo 812.. That
Surfp Tank : These aro final product tanks frcm 1s, coalasconco occurs mm rapidly In a con-
uhero crude oil Is pmped to the roffnery/shiwlng contrated dispersion.
taminal. Indlcatlve uf their names, surge tanks
provide sufflciant surge capacity to ensure adequate These are very important conclus~ons and high-
hesd and trouble free wmplngof crude oil. A small llght the need to study the entire process train and
amount of water settled In the tanks is periodically theequlpment very carefully. ,.
removed through semi-autuaetic decanting valves and
routed to sklnmw tanks. SKIMlERTANKOESIi3N ,1-
Sklmer Tank: This tank receives produced water A sklmer tank Is one of the simplest forms of
from FWKGS and little iauantlties from wash and surge water treating equipment. It Is nonnallydeslgned
tanks. Water, after retsntlon In skltmner tanks, la to provide a long retention time, to ailow coale-
generally disposed off in a suttable manner. Crude sconce and gravity separation to occur. Sklnmr can
011 recovered In skinmmr tank msy be either routed be designed either as a pressure vessel, or s ,an
back to wash tank, If SS6W level Is high, or may atmtwherlc tank: the latter destgn Is recommended.
be piped to surge tanks, If of salable quality. Atmospheric tanks offer large capacltles at lower
costs, and are particularly suited for oil fields
Thts oaper describes extensive modifications having htgh water production rates. An atmospheric
done to skfnmsr tanks to fmprove their efficiency. tank Is oft~n the final stage ofwat.r treatment.
The wash and surge tank Internals have lso been
modified, as s part of a tank replacement program. The final treatment of Produced water at
The. paper does not cover these details. atmospheric pressure is reccmended to nsure lower
quantity of dissolved 011. Hlghsr the treating
CIL-WATER SEPARATI~THEORY pressure, higher would be the mount of dissolved
hydrocarbons. Note that dlasolved hydrocarbons can-
The seoeration of 011 and water ahaaes Is one not be rmoved by gravity eepsratlon alone. Env$ron-
of the most consnon but least understood processes In ment Protection Agency (EPA) regulations do not
a production faclllty. account separately for the dissolved 011.
l)~sperslon and Coalescence are frequently An atmospheric sklmer tank Is generally desig-
used in describing the separation process. Olsper- ned to give a retenthn time of up to 30 inutes.
s~on refers to the process of discontinuous phase; It may have coeleecer pecks, or serpentine path
e.g., 011 befng sollt Into small droplets and pecks inside the tank or upstrernto Iwrove Its
distributed throughout the continuous phase, such as perfonnsnce,
water *n present case. O+spersion occurs, when a
large amount of energy is put Into the system In a Fig. 2 (right side) shows a conventional design
short period of time. of a typical skimw tank. PrCdUCSd water from FWKO
vessel enters the tank central pen tangentially.
Coalescence, the opposite of dlsperslon, is the Water Is distributed radially and moves towards
process of small droplets collld~ng and ccmbin~ng r~ser PIPSS locatsd near the ,tank periphery. Ths
Ihto larger droplets. Coalescence In water treating central pan gives a vortex motion to water and helps
system is more time dependent than dispersion. The in ralaasing any excess gas. The oil droplets rise
euuations below help understand the separation upwards counter current to the downward flow of
theory analytically. water. The small amount pf flash gas breaks out of
the solution and rises quickly. The gas bubbles act
The timfto grow a droplet size through coales- simllar to dissolved gas In a flotation unit and
csncs can be estimated by the followlng simplified helpoll droplets float to the surface. Water moves
and approximate squation: downward towards riser pipes. Riser Pipes are 10
each, 6 (150mn) diemter located avenly at the
d4 tank periphery. Water so collected at annular
t = chamber is taken out through a trunk located at the
(2*@l*K~) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1) outer periphery of the tank. This water Is directed
towards a disposal well.
Unfortunately, the equation cannot be solved
directly, since nefther KS nor s Is known for any Tta central pan has a 4 (100 M) sludge drain
particular treating system. However, it Is possible connection. It is used for Periodic flushlngof
to draw certain important conclusions s follows: solids buildup In the pen.
(a) After an tnitlal Period ofcoelescence In_ a Ofl collected at top falls beck to 011 colle-
treatlng device such as a ski-r tank, the ctlon ctwunber through 3 each rectangular slots cut
ebllity of addit.tonal retent@n time to cause In the.oil weir. 011 was taken. out through a 4
additional coalescence and captureof smell 011 (100 SUS) oil outlet plpetoadjacent wash tenk for
droplets diminishes rapidly. For ex~le, reprocessing. This operation was periodic due to
doubling the slzeof a sklrnr tank! (i.e., opsrating problems. Any xcess 9ss was vented
doubltng the retention titi) wI1l cause onlY through the breather valve located central.lyon the
18.9s fncrease In themeximm size droplet. roof of the tank. ,.
.. . ..
,i
.
As a makeshift arran9&ant, the akinwned oil was (h) The water inlet Pan has hen provided with 16
removed manually. The practice was to keep the oil nos. baffles. These bafflas help equal distri-
outlet valve closed all the time. This valve was bution of water and reduce short circuiting.
OPSnSd periodically WhSII &UffiCient oil film Dad, as
seen from gauge glass, had davelopad. The practice (i) The inlet water cons hasbaen loweredto allow
was time consuming, tedious and required constant an undlsturbad oil pad thicknessof i2. (305
operator attention. Sasidas, the oil recovered M) to is (460 mm). The top elevation of
could not be directed to final product tanks (aurga cone is about t2 (30S mm) lower than the
tanks) as sarm amount of water would always escape oll/watar interface as shown in the. fig. 2
with oil. (left aide). This ensures that the oil/water
interface is not disturbed by the inccsning
~IFIEDDESIGN influant.
Fig. 2 (left side) shows thamodifted sklnmw (j] Gas equallzer holes 3/4 (20mn) diameter 24
tank. fiote the following major changes in design each drilled throughout the wall aiwwating 011
which are detafled In the fig. 3: and clean water chambers. Thts is to release
the gas liberated in ttwclean water chamber.
(a) The existing clean water riser pipes that used
to provlda unstable fountain type head, have (k) Few small oil dfoPlets msY finallY acaW
been cut flush with the bottom plate. through the clean water riser Pipaa. These oil
particles can still be captured by Installing
(b) Inlet of clean water riser Pipes that waa cross baffles In the clean water annular
axtending almost up to tank center ?ine has chanhr. The cross baffles would allow water
been cut near the tank periphery to reduce to pass below and capture floating otl droplets
short circuiting and provide longer path. on surface. However, note that there is no
practical way to recover the oil collected at
(c) -Number of riser Pipes increased from 10 nos. to cross bhfflas. The oil maY only be removed
20 nos. In practice, as large a number of riser during tank shutdowns.
PIPSS as practical should be provided to reduce
turbulence and to avoid stagnant areas. (1) Ths open type water outlet trunk has ~n
Theoretically, a doubla walled tank allowing a cloaed witha bolted cover. This ensures less
continuous peripheral outlet would @ th Ideal amount of dissolved alr in the disposal water.
choice, though considered impractical.
(m) PrOPSr lavel gauge glasses have baen installed
(d) :Ut;gt (305 rmn) high weir installed at water to monitor thaoil/watew interface, both in the
This wair extands throughout the tank main tank and behind the sheen baffle. Silicon
circum;erance. This weir establishes oil/water coated non-stickin9 We %auiw 91ass tu~s have
interface in the tank. It is also used to been used.
measure tha approximate produced water flow
rate in the tank battery system. OESIGM.CALUJLATIONS 1
(e) A 6* (f50m) Witi sheen baffle installed at Tha oil and water weirs installed in the
the water outlat. This baffle captures the skinmasr tenk Uae thS dOSi9n concOPts of tYPical
SSS11 oil droplets that misht escape thrw9h 3-phase separator. Thaheight of oil Weir frcm the
the clean watar riser pipes. tank twttcmcontrols theworklng level of fluids in
the tank. The net elevation difference between the
(f) Threa each fixed height slots found intha oil oil and water weirs and the specific gravity differ-
weir have been replaced with a single 12 (305 once controls the thickness of oil ~d.
mm) long oil weir, This weir is of bolted
ccnstructia with a seal ing gasket and The required elevation difference between oil
installedin a 18- (460smd WidSOil collecti~ and water weirs is calculati by thaewation (2).
box . The haightof this weir with respect to The equation isdavelcped by Wuatin9 t~ static
fixed circumferential water weir can be heeds at tank bottm as ahcwn in fig. 4.
4. REMOVATE ~ED WATER TREATIHQ FACILITIES TO HANOLE INCREASEDWATER CUTS SPE 22831
-LUBI~
Interpretation
of equation no. 1.
The data in ach table has bean arranged in The field experience has shcm that a proPerlY
rising order of oil concentration in the influant. dasignsd skiur tank is capableof handling larea
From all the tables, itisob-rved t~t th r~val mount o+ dispersed oil. A skimr tank can offer
fficiency improves as the oil dispersed phase In removal fficiency upto 90%, which cmres WS1l
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SPE 22831 D.G.K. WRTI & NANAD R. AL-NUAIHI 5
J
with &y comercfally avaflable, but exrwsive from Produced Water,; Production Faciltty
water treating eauitxasnt. The required conditions to 8ookware Soriea, ItiRDO, Bcston, HA 02116, USA.
achieve good performance f:- the skinner tanks are,
optimum daslgn of the upstream piping nd other (3) Arnold Ken. and Haurlce StOUa!t. Jr.: Oesignlng
ssociated equl~nt and the skimsar tank internals. Oil and Gas Production Systems,: World Oil
(March 1985) P69-78, (May 1985) P91-98.
.Note that an oversized aystam by Itself, helPs
separation of 011 nd water prior to reaching the (4) Correspondence betweanlturtl D.G.K. and Arnold
intended equipment, But, a flow reatrlctlon or a Ken.: Paragon Enginaar*ng services Inc; Houston
level contro? device, such as a control valve in the Texas 77040, USA regarding design of 3-DhiIS9
circuit, may neutralize the potential banef~ts. Separators, (March 1987).
.-
la7
SPE 22831
TABLE-2: OtdSkimmerTank in Senfice
Sarnpfafua No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 4 Avaraga
Sall@ing Dataa ?2-1-33 le-1-m 5-2-S9 1-2-33 Fwdin@B
Upafraam of Skfmmar Tank 2207 234a 2410 2439 2334
Downatraam of SkimmarTank 1932 2033 2031 2143 2064
Parcantage Ranlwai 12.5% l&296 la79b 13.9% 13.1%
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GAS EQUAL!ZER HOLES
~uPP. OIL WEIR
Ni
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BAFFLE D+
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................... NOT RECOMMENDED
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TANK
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RECOMMENDED
Fig. ~- Weir Calculations
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